Category Archives: BP Spill

BP Spill, gulf of mexico clean-up, Gulf restoration

The Legal Examiner: BP & The Real State of the Gulf – Pollution Report for Friday, April 11, 2014

Leave a comment

http://neworleans.legalexaminer.com/toxic-substances/bp-the-real-state-of-the-gulf-pollution-report-for-friday-april-11-2014/

New Orleans, Louisiana

Posted by Tom Young
April 13, 2014 8:30 AM

Pensacola Beach was searched by Florida Department of Environmental Protection specialist Joey Whibbs on Friday, April 11, 2014. Whibbs collected 110 BP Deepwater Horizon tar balls weighing nearly three pounds. Photos courtesy FDEP.

The following is a summary of the 4/11/14 daily beach oiling report issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). I will endeavour to publish this summary each day the FDEP issues such a report. While the media and public believe that the effects of BP’s Deepwater Horizon Blowout and Oil Spill have been largely eradicated, this data suggests otherwise.

It is important to note that these reports of daily oil discoveries come at a time when BP is attempting to renege on its oft-stated “Commitment to the Gulf.” The company is repudiating the Contract it made with area businesses and individuals that compensates them for economic and environmental losses associated with BP’s spill.
Now BP claims that it is the victim. You be the judge, and if you are outraged, sign our petition to hold BP accountable, nearly four years after the company’s disaster.

My Summary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Oiling Report
Friday, April 11, 2014

On Friday, FDEP environmental specialist Joey Whibbs conducted a post-response monitoring survey on Escambia County, Florida beaches, with a focus in the Pensacola Beach area.

Numerous Surface Residue Balls (SRBs or “tar balls”) were found throughout the area.

These hardened balls are often filled with deadly, flesh-eating bacteria. Do not handle without protective gloves.

Friday’s findings indicate that oil from BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill is still quite prevalent. A total of 110 tar balls were collected during the survey, amounting to nearly three pounds of Deepwater Horizon oil product removed from these sections of beach – by one person.

Since the end of BP’s official cleanup efforts in June 2013, over 40,000 tar balls and 1,984 pounds of Deepwater Horizon oil have been documented and removed from Florida’s beaches alone (not including Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas). On an average survey day, the FDEP team covers no more than 1,000 yards of beach, less than 1% of Florida’s shoreline that was impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Therefore, these numbers represent a very limited snapshot of residual oiling on Northwest Florida’s beaches.

For instance, this is an example of the ground covered in an average survey:

From this data, it appears BP has left town well before the job was done. So much for the company’s “Commitment to the Gulf.”
See below for images of some of Friday’s collected oil.

FloridaBPOilSpill4=11=14

Portion of BP oil observed Friday, April 11, 2014 on Escambia County, Florida beaches. These hardened balls are often filled with deadly, flesh-eating bacteria. Do not handle without protective gloves.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

BP Spill, gulf of mexico clean-up, Gulf restoration, marine pollution, offshore oil, oil pollution

Common Dreams ‘This Is Not Over’: Gulf Life Still Reeling From Toxic BP Spill

Leave a comment

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/04/09-6
Published on Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Report on four year anniversary of worst oil disaster in US history details fourteen ailing species
– Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer

See powerpoint slide show at: http://www.slideshare.net/NationalWildlife/deepwater-horizonfouryearslater-nationalwildlifefederation?utm_source=slideshow02&utm_medium=ssemail&utm_campaign=share_slideshow

sea turtle
Photo: Jacqueline Orsulak / National Wildlife Federation

Nearly four years after BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil catastrophe, plants, animals, and fish in the Gulf of Mexico are still reeling from the toxic spill, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Wildlife Federation.

The report, which arrives just ahead of the disaster’s anniversary, examined 14 species of wildlife in the Gulf and found ongoing impacts of the disaster that could last for decades.

“Four years later, wildlife in the Gulf are still feeling the impacts of the spill,” said Doug Inkley, senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation. “Bottlenose dolphins in oiled areas are still sick and dying and the evidence is stronger than ever that these deaths are connected to the Deepwater Horizon. The science is telling us that this is not over.”

According to the findings, in 2013 dolphins were dying at three times normal rates, with many suffering from “unusual lung damage” and immune system problems.

In addition to the ongoing plight of dolphins in Gulf waters, the researchers found that every year for the past three years roughly five hundred dead sea turtles are found near the spill, “a dramatic increase over normal rates.” These sea turtles only recently recovered from near extinction—a recovery that has now been drastically threatened by the spill.

“The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle has long been the poster child for the possibilities of restoration in the Gulf,” said Pamela Plotkin, associate research professor of oceanography at Texas A&M University and director of Texas Sea Grant. “Once close to extinction, it has rebounded dramatically over the past thirty years. But four years ago, the numbers of Kemp’s ridley appear to have flat-lined. We need to monitor this species carefully, as the next few years will be critical.”

According to the report, sperm whales in the area are showing higher levels of “DNA-damaging metals” than others in other parts of the world—”metals that were present in oil from BP’s well.”

In addition, deep sea coral colonies, which “provide a foundation for a diverse assortment of marine life,” within seven miles from the site of the spill, were still “heavily impacted.”

Other findings, as stated by the group, include:

Oyster reproduction remained low over large areas of the northern Gulf at least through the fall of 2012.
A chemical in oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill has been shown to cause irregular heartbeats in bluefin and yellowfin tuna that can lead to heart attacks, or even death.
Loons that winter on the Louisiana coast have increasing concentrations of toxic oil compounds in their blood.

“Despite what BP would have you believe, the impacts of the disaster are ongoing,” said Sara Gonzalez-Rothi, the National Wildlife Federation’s senior policy specialist for Gulf and coastal restoration. “Last year, nearly five million pounds of oiled material from the disaster were removed from Louisiana’s coast. And that’s just what we’ve seen. An unknown amount of oil remains deep in the Gulf.”

The Gulf oil disaster—which is the worst in U.S. history—”will likely unfold for years or even decades,” NWF writes. “It is essential that careful monitoring of the Gulf ecosystem continue and that mitigation of damages and restoration of degraded and weakened ecosystems begin as soon as possible.”

Despite the ongoing travesty the Environmental Protection Agency announced last month that it removed its ban on BP contracts in the U.S. and new drilling leases, including in the Gulf of Mexico.

Shortly after, the oil giant won bids to start new drilling operations in two dozen separate locations, a total pricetag of $54 million.

BP Spill, gulf of mexico clean-up, Gulf restoration

National Geographic: Gulf Oil Spill “Not Over”: Dolphins, Turtles Dying in Record Numbers

Leave a comment

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140408-gulf-oil-spill-animals-anniversary-science-deepwater-horizon-science/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_r1p_us_dr_w#finished

Report warns that 14 species are still struggling from the 2010 disaster.

A dead sea turtle lies in oil in Louisiana’s Barataria Bay in 2010.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOEL SARTORE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Christine Dell’Amore
National Geographic
PUBLISHED APRIL 8, 2014

Four years after the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, several species of wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico are still struggling to recover, according to a new report released today.

In particular, bottlenose dolphins and sea turtles are dying in record numbers, and the evidence is stronger than ever that their demise is connected to the spill, according to Doug Inkley, senior scientist for the National Wildlife Federation, which issued the report.

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20, 2010, killing 11 people and spewing more than 200 million gallons (750 million liters) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Since then, various government agencies and nonprofits, including the National Wildlife Federation, have been studying the region’s wildlife to track the impacts of the oil.
The report, a compilation of published science since the spill, reveals that “the Gulf oil spill is far from over,” Inkley said.

“The oil is not gone: There is oil on the bottom of the Gulf, oil is washing up on the beaches, and oil is still on the marshes,” he said.

“I am not surprised by this. In Prince William Sound, 25 years after the wreck of Exxon Valdez, there are still some species that have not fully recovered.” (Related: “Oil From the Exxon Valdez Spill Lingers on Alaska Beaches.”)

However, BP, which operated the now-defunct oil well, claims that the report “is a piece of political advocacy-not science.

“For example, the report misrepresents the U.S. government’s investigation into dolphin deaths; as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s own Web site states, that inquiry is ongoing,” BP said in a statement provided to National Geographic.

“The report also conveniently overlooks information available from other independent scientific reports showing that the Gulf is undergoing a strong recovery. Just this week, a study published by Auburn University researchers found no evidence that the spill impacted young red snapper populations on reefs off the Alabama coast.”

Hit Hard
The report examined 14 species that live in the Gulf. Those include:
-More than 900 bottlenose dolphins have been found dead or stranded in the oil spill area since April 2010. If you stretched the corpses lengthwise, that’s 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) of dead dolphins, Inkley said. Scientists know that is more than in previous years because they’ve been recording deaths and strandings in the Gulf for a decade.

Ongoing research also shows that dolphins swimming in oiled areas are underweight, anemic, and showing signs of liver and lung diseases. (Related: “U.S. Dolphin Deaths Rise to 300; Cause Still a Mystery.”)

A top predator like the dolphin falling ill is a sign that species further down the food chain are also having trouble, Inkley said.

“When you have sick dolphins, it tells you there’s a problem here and it needs to be investigated.”

-There are five species of sea turtle that live in the Gulf, and all of them are listed as threatened or endangered by the Endangered Species Act. About 500 dead sea turtles have been found in the spill region every year since 2011-“a dramatic increase over normal rates,” according to the NWF. What’s unknown is how many turtles died at sea and were never recovered by scientists.

-An oil chemical from the spill has been shown to cause irregular heartbeats in the embryos of bluefin and yellowfin tuna. That’s a critical stage of development for the fish, so there’s a lot of concern that the damage could cause heart attacks or deaths, Inkley said. (Related: “Odd Animal Deaths, Deformities Linked to Gulf Oil Spill?”)

-Loons, birds that winter on the Louisiana coast, are carrying increasing concentrations of toxic oil compounds in their blood.

-Sperm whales that swam near the BP well have higher levels of DNA-damaging metals in their bodies than in the past. The metals in their bodies, such as chromium and nickel, are the same ones that were present in the well.

Long Way to Go
Overall, “we have a long way to go in understanding the full impact,” Inkley said.
To that end, NWF and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will continue monitoring wildlife in the oiled region-the latter is required to do so by the Oil Pollution Act.

Restoring the oiled ecosystems is a goal, Inkley said, but he added oil is tough to remove, especially in marshes and in the deep ocean. That’s why NWF is emphasizing prevention-in particular, adopting alternative energy resources that are not carbon-based and won’t cause oil spills.

“I’m still haunted by the ‘walking dead’ brown pelicans covered head to toe in the oil,” added Inkley.

“We must not let this happen again.”

Special thanks to Richard Charter

BP Spill, fossil fuels, fracking, oil pollution, tar sands

Common Dreams: BP Spill at Tar Sands Refinery Has ‘Crapped Up Lake Michigan’

Leave a comment

https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/03/26-4

Published on Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Company with tarnished past doubling tar sands processing near major water source
– Jacob Chamberlain, staff writer
another BP spill
BP oil spill into Lake Michigan (Screengrab: NBC Chicago)

Oil giant BP has caused yet another oil spill in a crucial water way this week, following an increase in tar sands refining at its Indiana plant on the shores of Lake Michigan.

BP notified the federal government’s National Response Center around 5 p.m. Monday that its Whiting Refinery was leaking oil into the lake, which is the source of drinking water for 7 million people in nearby Chicago, due to a malfunction in the refinery’s cooling water system.

The spill comes less than a year after BP started processing Canadian tar sands at the refinery. Tar sands oil, many environmental groups have warned, is the “the dirtiest fuel on Earth” and is “more corrosive, more toxic, and more difficult to clean up than conventional crude.”

Enumerating a long list of historical problems at the Whiting Refinery, Henry Henderson at the Natural Resources Defense Council notes Wednesday, “The week of the Exxon Valdez disaster anniversary and a week after the Council of Canadians released a report highlighting the threat that tar sands oil imposes on the Great Lakes, BP did what it always does: crapped up Lake Michigan.”

He continues:

While the scope of yesterday’s spill is clearly a tiny fraction of the Kalamazoo disaster, it’s still not clear what kind and how much oil made its way into Lake Michigan from the refinery. A day later, we still don’t know […]

It is that lack of transparency that drives environmentalists and government decisionmakers alike crazy. The public needs to know what has made its way into their drinking water sources and whether it is being adequately cleaned. Sure, state and federal regulators need to do better: press calls to state and federal EPA were routed directly to BP to answer.

“The malfunction occurred at the refinery’s largest crude distillation unit, the centerpiece of a nearly $4 billion overhaul that allowed BP to process more heavy Canadian oil from the tar sands region of Alberta,” reports the Chicago Tribune. “The unit … performs one of the first steps in the refining of crude oil into gasoline and other fuels.”

It was still uncertain Wednesday as to exactly how much of the oil spilled. BP said it had managed to stop the discharge by Tuesday and cleanup efforts continued throughout the day on Wednesday.

The EPA stated:

Under EPA oversight, BP has deployed more than 2,000 feet of boom to contain the oil. In addition, the company has used vacuum trucks to remove about 5,200 gallons of an oil/water mixture from the spill location. BP crews also are combing a nearby company-owned beach for oil globs and conducting air monitoring to ensure the safety of the public. The U.S. Coast Guard has flown over the area and has not observed any visible sheen beyond the boomed area.

Sens. Mark Kirk and Dick Durbin of Illinois said in a joint statement that they are “extremely concerned” about future spills. BP recently said they are doubling its processing of heavy crude oil at the refinery.

“We plan to hold BP accountable for this spill and will ask for a thorough report about the cause of this spill, the impact of the Whiting Refinery’s production increase on Lake Michigan, and what steps are being taken to prevent any future spill,” they stated.

A recent report by the Council of Canadians, warns that the Great Lakes are at risk of becoming a “liquid pipeline” for the dirtiest forms of oil and gas available, citing ongoing plans to transport “extreme energy” sources such as tar sands under and across the Great Lakes.

“We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg and only just beginning to understand the grave impacts these extreme energy projects are going to have on the Great Lakes,” said national chairperson of the Council Maude Barlow. “We often see these projects approved piecemeal but we have to step back and think about how all these projects are going to affect the Lakes.”

This week’s spill comes four years after BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the largest in U.S. history, which continues to plague the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite BP’s history, the EPA recently removed a ban on BP drilling contracts and new leases in the U.S., an offer BP was quick to capitalize on.

spill2

Crews clean up an oil spill along Lake Michigan in Whiting, Ind. (E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune, March 25, 2014)

______________________