Category Archives: Spill Size
When Hurricane Ivan blew across the Gulf of Mexico in 2004, it severely damaged an offshore platform and 28 associated oil wells owned by Taylor Energy Company. The site has been leaking oil ever since, without any discernible spill response from Taylor or the U.S. Coast Guard. Environmental groups monitoring the site – at the surface and via satellite – estimate that “hundreds of gallons have leaked from the site [...]
Read More »On April 22, 2010, top BP officials knew that the crippled Macondo Well would release roughly 82,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico if the leak was unobstructed. An oil spill expert with impeccable credentials had told them so. Yet, two days later, as the federal government was scrambling to mobilize an effective response to the unfolding disaster, BP announced publicly that the well was leaking [...]
Read More »It’s official: The White House engaged in an aggressive campaign to pressure scientists into drastically underestimating the initial size of the BP oil spill – a campaign that impacted the scope, speed and overall effectiveness of the response. There are also legal ramifications, as fines are to be levied against BP based on how much oil is estimated to have been released into the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s how Mother [...]
Read More »Yes, it’s happened again. In another costly example of the untenable risks tied to deep-water drilling, Shell is reporting a 13,000-gallon spill less than 30 miles from where the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank to the seafloor last year triggering the worst oil spill in our nation’s history. From a Dec. 19 Reuters report: The U.S. Coast Guard was investigating a 13,000-gallon spill from an oil rig leased to [...]
Read More »It’s a hauntingly familiar sight: Airplanes buzzing over the Gulf of Mexico spraying toxic dispersant in a flight path from Breton Sound bearing southeast to the Macondo Prospect, the epicenter of last year’s monster oil spill. Yet despite these regular Corexit sprayings, the oil slicks and sheen persist – visible from the air – in the waters surrounding the Deepwater Horizon site. According to On Wings of Care pilot Bonny [...]
Read More »The Big Fix – the wildly successful, critically acclaimed documentary film on the BP oil spill – is making big waves across the country and around the world. Fresh from its explosive North American premiere and its “standing ovation” debut at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, The Big Fix is making an exclusive week-long run at Chalmette Movies in New Orleans Nov. 4-10. Do not miss this opportunity [...]
Read More »Faith in the federal government has died on the Gulf Coast – or more accurately, it was killed. The trust between Gulf citizen and government was battered by the disastrously slow and inept federal response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and a stake was driven through its heart by the Obama Administration’s incessant coddling of BP during last year’s massive oil spill. By all accounts, those two critically important federal [...]
Read More »Big Oil claimed another environmental victim last week, as more than 40,000 gallons of sweet crude from a ruptured pipeline spewed into Montana’s pristine Yellowstone River. The 700-mile waterway – critical to farm irrigation and beloved for its superb trout fishing – runs through one of America’s most popular summer vacation destinations, Yellowstone National Park. The river drops over the glorious upper and lower falls at the head of the [...]
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