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NOAA and FDA Announce Gulf Seafood well within safety standards

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 02 November 2010 in Oil Spill

A study conducted by NOAA and the FDA, building upon the extensive testing and protocols already in use by federal, state and local officials for the fishing waters of the Gulf, NOAA and the FDA are using a chemical test to detect dispersants used in the Deepwater Horizon-BP oil spill in fis...

White House Lifts Ban On Offshore Drilling

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 23 October 2010 in Oil Spill

The Obama administration announced Tuesday that companies able to meet new safety standards will be allowed to drill in the Gulf of Mexico, ending a six-month moratorium that had been scheduled to end next month. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the new rules imposed after the BP spill — the wor...

Canada Drilling in the Gulf, "Business as Usual"

Posted by plantitfilm on Sunday, 17 October 2010 in Oil Spill

OTTAWA — In late August, a drillship contracted by Chevron Canada Ltd. finished exploring for oil more than 2 1/2 kilometres below the ocean surface off the coast of Newfoundland — the deepest offshore well in Canadian history. Yet under Canadian offshore-drilling rules, it will be two ye...

Oil from BP spill traveled 500 kilometers: scientists

Posted by plantitfilm on Monday, 04 October 2010 in Oil Spill

Traces of oil from a ruptured BP well in the Gulf of Mexico have been found at a depth of 1,000 meters (3,200 feet) and up to 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the spill site, according to a new analysis. A team of scientists aboard the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise reported results Thursday...

One More Insult in the Gulf

Posted by plantitfilm on Monday, 06 September 2010 in Oil Spill

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today reopened to commercial and recreational fishing 5,130 square miles of Gulf waters stretching from the far eastern coast of Louisiana, through Mississippi, Alabama, and the western Florida panhandle. The Mariner Ene...

BP And The Gulf Oil Spill – Do We Have Pinocchio In Our Midst?

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 31 August 2010 in Oil Spill

I have to admit that I am rapidly becoming a believer that every time a see a BP or government official spew forth the latest update, I see their nose’s grow. BP had to remove Tony Hayward, his nose would no longer fit on the CNN TV set! The well is capped, well sort of. Oil is no longer sp...

Study shows deepwater oil plume in Gulf degraded by microbes

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 25 August 2010 in Oil Spill

In the aftermath of the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, a dispersed oil plume was formed at a depth between 3,600 and 4,000 feet and extending some 10 miles out from the wellhead. An intensive study by scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Labor...

A team of Berkeley Lab researchers led by microbial ecologist Terry Hazen (seated in middle) determined the physical, chemical and microbiological properties of the BP deepwater oil plume in the Gulf of Mexico and found faster than expected biodegradation rates. (Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab Public Affairs)

September Slated for Final Kill of BP Oil Spill

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 21 August 2010 in Oil Spill

It now looks like BP’s blown well in the Gulf of Mexico won’t be completely killed until September. BP engineers are conducting a series of tests in preparation for a procedure called a bottom kill to ensure the well can withstand the pressure from the operation. No oil has leaked from the well sin...

Massive oil plume discovered in the Gulf

Posted by ep-admin on Thursday, 19 August 2010 in Oil Spill

Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have detected a plume of hydrocarbons that is at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a result of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, reports a study published in Science. The 1....

Obama: Gulf beaches open for business

Posted by ep-admin on Friday, 13 August 2010 in Oil Spill

President Obama declared Gulf Coast beaches clean, safe and open for business Saturday as he brought his family to the Florida Panhandle and promised residents that the government wouldn't forget them once efforts to stop the leak are finished. On a warm and muggy day, Obama pledged to "k...

Rescue Plan for Endangered Sea Turtles in the Gulf of Mexico

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 03 August 2010 in Oil Spill

Wildlife experts in the United States have announced an ambitious plan to rescue hundreds of turtle nests and eggs from the potential impacts of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Using a strategy never tested before on such a massive scale, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will coordinate the ...

They Can Measure Rate of Oil Leak if BP Releases Clear Seafloor Video

Posted by plantitfilm on Sunday, 01 August 2010 in Oil Spill

Since BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded into one of the worst man-made ecological disasters in history, one big question has remained unanswered: Just how big of a mess is it? While BP asserts there's no way to know, marine experts say that if the oil giant would but release more video from its su...

They Can Measure Rate of Oil Leak if BP Releases Clear Seafloor Video

Posted by plantitfilm on Sunday, 01 August 2010 in Oil Spill

Since BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded into one of the worst man-made ecological disasters in history, one big question has remained unanswered: Just how big of a mess is it? While BP asserts there's no way to know, marine experts say that if the oil giant would but release more video from its su...

BP gets "wake-up call" and $32 billion in spill charges

Posted by plantitfilm on Wednesday, 28 July 2010 in Oil Spill

BP Plc's newly named chief executive on Tuesday called the Gulf oil spill a "wake-up call" for the entire industry as the company tallied up its losses and disclosed two U.S. investigations. Bob Dudley, who will replace gaffe-prone Tony Hayward as chief executive on October 1, said safety would be ...

Majority Leader Reid Introduces Plan to Prevent Future Oil Spills

Posted by davebishop on Wednesday, 28 July 2010 in Oil Spill

Some positive news from the oil spill. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) today introduced a Clean Energy jobs and Oil Spill Accountability Plan. The following is a statement by Sarah Chasis, Director of the Oceans Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council: “The BP disaster in the Gulf is a sober...

Lawsuit Filed to Protect Gulf’s Whales and Turtles

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 28 July 2010 in Oil Spill

Interior Department Failed to Analyze Oil-Spill Risk The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a lawsuit against Interior Secretary Ken Salazar for failing to assess possible impacts on the Gulf of Mexico's endangered whales and sea turtles of a large oil spill resulting from drilling...

Battle to save Gulf sea turtles from oily death

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 28 July 2010 in Oil Spill

While BP struggles to finally seal the leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well, an equally desperate battle has been enjoined on the surface to save endangered sea turtles from meeting an oily grave. Jane Lubchenco, head of the US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said Tu...

New 'walking' fishes discovered in Gulf oil-spill zone

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 21 July 2010 in Oil Spill

Two new fish species — with pancake-flat bodies, wiggling lures on their faces, and elbowed fins for “walking” on the seafloor — have been discovered in the path of spewing Gulf of Mexico oil. Picture Courtesy of AMNH One of these pancake batfishes lives in the northern Gulf wh...

After Oil Spills, Hidden Damage Can Last for Years

Posted by plantitfilm on Wednesday, 21 July 2010 in Oil Spill

On the rocky beaches of Alaska, scientists plunged shovels and picks into the ground and dug 6,775 holes, repeatedly striking oil — still pungent and dangerous a dozen years after the Exxon Valdez infamously spilled its cargo. More than an ocean away, on the Breton coast of France, scientists surve...

BP well tests look good so far

Posted by plantitfilm on Monday, 19 July 2010 in Oil Spill

BP Plc extended for another 24 hours a critical test of its blown-out Gulf of Mexico well that so far has shut off the huge oil leak, the top U.S. official overseeing the spill response said on Saturday. The British energy giant, which cut off the flow of oil from the deep-sea well on Thursday when...