Environmental Must-Reads – November 28, 2012

E

BP Oil Spill Arraignment Paves Way For Later Guilty Plea

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lawyer for BP PLC entered a not-guilty plea for the company as it was arraigned Tuesday on charges stemming from a deadly 2010 rig explosion and massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP arraigned in oil spill case, pleads not guilty

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lawyer for BP PLC entered a not-guilty plea for the company as it was arraigned Tuesday on charges stemming from a deadly 2010 rig explosion and massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP Appears in Court to Enter Criminal Plea Over Spill

BP Plc (BP/) appeared in federal court in New Orleans to answer U.S. charges brought over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, entering a not guilty plea that won’t affect its $4 billion criminal settlement with the U.S.

BP arraigned in 2010 Gulf oil spill case, enters initial plea; guilty plea expected later

NEW ORLEANS — A lawyer for BP PLC entered a not-guilty plea for the company as it was arraigned Tuesday on charges stemming from a deadly 2010 rig explosion and massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

In BP oil spill, two drilling veterans scapegoated, attorneys say

Few Americans have ever heard of Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine. They have spent much of their lives offshore, drilling holes in the seafloor for the oil giant BP. Over many decades in the business, each rose to the rank of well site leader, a job commonly known on a rig as “the company man.”

BP arraigned in oil spill case, pleads not guilty

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A lawyer for BP PLC entered a not-guilty plea for the company as it was arraigned Tuesday on charges stemming from a deadly 2010 rig explosion and massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

3 BP workers face US judge over Gulf disaster felony charges

NEW ORLEANS — Three men who worked for British oil giant BP at the time of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico rig explosion and oil spill are expected to plead not guilty and announce their intent to fight felony charges arising from the disaster when they are arraigned in federal court today.

Norway Regulator Tells BP to Implement Safety Measures at Oil Platform

Norway’s Petroleum Safety Authority has ordered BP PLC (BP.LN) to implement immediate measures to comply with fire- and explosion-prevention requirements at its Ula P oil platform following an oil and gas leak in September at the North Sea facility.

BP oil spill restoration funds haven’t yet made their way to Texas

Funds from BP Plc (NYSE: BP) to restore damage caused by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill have yet to make their way to Texas.

Exxon Niger spill spreads for miles

An oil spill at an ExxonMobil facility offshore from the Niger Delta has spread at least 20 miles from its source, coating waters used by fishermen in a film of sludge.

Decomposed body found in Gulf may be missing man from oil rig fire

NEW ORLEANS — The coroner’s office is trying to determine whether the decomposed body of a man recovered from the Gulf of Mexico is a worker missing since a fire erupted on an offshore oil platform on Nov. 16.

Body found in Gulf of Mexico might be missing Filipino

An offshore supply vessel discovered an unidentified body in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday morning. The body, which was found 2.5 miles off the coast, was taken to the Jefferson Parish coroner’s office, where an autopsy will determine whether the body is that of Jerome Malagapo, a Black Elk Energy worker missing since one of that company’s platform exploded on Nov. 16, said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Carlos Vega.

Officials trying to identify body pulled from Gulf

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – The Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office is trying to determine whether the decomposed body of a man recovered from the Gulf of Mexico is a worker missing since a fire erupted on an offshore oil platform on Nov. 16.

Assumption sinkhole “burps” vegetation, hydrocarbons

An 8-acre swampland sinkhole between the Grand Bayou and Bayou Corne communities in Assumption Parish burped up vegetation and hydrocarbons from its watery depths Tuesday, parish officials said.

Giant Louisiana sinkhole “burps” up debris

Officials with the Assumption Parish Police Jury say the giant Louisiana sinkhole in Bayou Corne “burped” around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Alliance to receive BP tourism grant funds Wednesday

MOBILE, Alabama – The Alabama Restaurant and Hospitality Alliance has been awarded more than $250,000 in grant funding from BP to promote its “Summers Last Longer” program.

Methane detector tracks pipeline leaks

Five hundred feet above the Central Valley, a line on Stephen Conley’s laptop screen jumped.

Conley peered over from the pilot seat of his single-engine plane. The line showed methane levels in the surrounding air as he flew downwind from a natural gas pipeline buried in the green hills below. A sharp spike could mean that the pipeline had sprung a leak, venting gas into the sky. Methane is the fuel’s main ingredient.

Unnatural disasters: What can be done about natural gas pipeline explosions?

The natural gas explosion in Springfield, Mass., is a calamitous reminder of what can happen when the nation’s vast oil and natural gas distribution network fails.

NY will miss fracking rules deadline

New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation confirms it will miss a key deadline and delay approval of hydro fracking in New York once again

90-day extension in fracking rules

Bowing to the calendar if not to the concerns of activists, the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced Tuesday that it would file for a 90-day extension to finalize its regulatory blueprint for the controversial natural gas drilling technique known as hydrofracking.

Fracking Still Unregulated Despite Quake Connection

Californians understand two big challenges very well. First, we need more energy. Second, we live in earthquake country. But what if solving the first increased the danger of the second? The controversial drilling method called “fracking” could potentially open up vast new supplies of oil and gas, but some believe it could also open up the earth. Since we first reported on fracking, a few things have happened. A well-known filmmaker has taken up the cause, and regulation of fracking is still nowhere to be found.

U.S. and Canada-Wide Protests Target Pacific Trails’ Proposed Fracking Pipeline

Activists in Canada, the U.S. and all the way to Trinidad and Tobago are staging protests on November 27 in support of a blockade against a natural gas pipeline and fracking project  in northern British Columbia.

Fears over fracking spilling into popular culture

Fracking already has transformed the nation’s energy landscape, but it’s also begun to worm its way into American pop culture.

The controversial drilling technique, responsible for huge increases in domestic production of oil and natural gas, is now the focus of major films, rock ‘n’ roll songs and late-night monologues.

New Website Makes Information on Fracking Chemicals More Accessible to the Public

On Nov. 14, an environmental organization, SkyTruth, launched a website to give the public improved access to information on the chemicals used in a natural gas extraction process commonly referred to as fracking. The Fracking Chemical Database makes data from FracFocus.org (the industry-funded chemical disclosure site) easier to search and download for research and analysis.

Groups upset at Wyoming’s shield for industry fracking secrets

In Wyoming, oil and natural gas producers disclose more information about hydraulic fracturing than in any other state in the country.

The nation’s environmental groups, though, claim they’re withholding information.

China planning ‘huge fracking industry’

Chinese plans to expand fracking for shale gas prompt fears over local water and international climate impacts

Fight Over Toxic Fracking Injection Wells Continues in Ohio

Malvena Frost, who owns the property on which the Atha injection well is proposed in Rome Township in Athens County, Ohio, does not want an injection well on her land. She “fears her only source of drinking water, a private well … will be contaminated,” according to public comments submitted on her behalf to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) by her attorney, Mike Hollingsworth.

New York Health Professionals Outline Health Risks of Fracking

Led by Dr. David O. Carpenter, Director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany’s School of Public Health, a number of health experts launched a new initiative, Concerned Health Professionals of New York, to outline the health risks of fracking and to renew their call for an independent, comprehensive Health Impact Assessment. The health experts in Albany spoke on behalf of the broad medical and scientific community in New York State, where hundreds of medical professionals and scientists have been outspoken about concerns that fracking poses a threat to public health.

Fracking Debate Friday—Does Hydrofracking Do More Harm Than Good?

On Nov. 30 from 7 – 8:30 p.m., the Campbell Public Affairs Institute will host a debate on hydrofracking in the Maxwell Auditorium on the Syracuse University campus.

The proposition to be argued is:  “This Assembly Believes Hydrofracking Does More Harm Than Good.”

Putting the sled before the reindeer: New York must not issue new fracking rules before completing health review

Earlier today, Governor Cuomo told a group of reporters that later this week the state will be filing for a 90-day extension to its initial Nov. 29 deadline for releasing proposed regulations for fracking in New York.  Because of an obscure provision of state law, this may mean that the state Department of Environmental Conservation intends to issue revised proposed fracking rules in the next couple of weeks.

 

Add comment

Stuart H. Smith is an attorney based in New Orleans fighting major oil companies and other polluters.
Cooper Law Firm

Follow Us

© Stuart H Smith, LLC
Share This