TagTaylor Energy

Fire is a jarring reminder of Gulf drilling risks

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The news broke in the middle of the night: Another major fire at an offshore drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. Each time this happens, the news brings back painful memories of April 20, 2010, and the shocking explosion at BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig. The catastrophic effect of that tragic explosion and fire has been well documented (including a recent...

Outrage as 11-year-long Gulf oil spill called “an act of God”

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When it comes to environmental outrages in the Gulf of Mexico, I thought I had seen and heard everything…until today. The issue at hand is the so-called Taylor Energy oil spill off the Louisiana coastline — a slow motion ecological train wreck that’s been taking place for more than a decade. Now there’s no question that — when it comes to sheer volume and amount of...

Devastating report on the “other” oil spill in the Gulf

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From time to time, I’ve been honored to use this blog to highlight the work of a colleague and a tireless crusader for the environment, Bonny Schumaker. A former NASA engineer and a pilot, Bonny began to focus on the Gulf in the days immediately following the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, and her aerial photography has brought the public information about not just the BP oil spill but...

The secret oil spill that’s eating away at the Gulf

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The 2010 BP oil spill has had many unintended consequences. Here’s another one: It tends to suck a lot of the oxygen from other serious environmental issues facing the Gulf of Mexico — especially now with a flood of publicity on the 5th anniversary of the catastrophe. But even before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, 2010, this precious natural resource on...

The Gulf oil spill that’s been going on for 9 years!

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I’ve written many times about the aerial flights in the Gulf by Bonny Schumaker of the group On Wings of Care. Since the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in 2010, Bonny has spent considerable time here on the Gulf Coast, documenting the truth about the BP oil spill. It was Bonny who played a key role in alerting both federal authorities as well as the media to the presence of continuing oil...

New photo evidence that Gulf is drenched in oil, as BP trial drags on

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Sometimes it feels like conversations about the Gulf of Mexico — nearly three years after BP’s Deepwater Horizon catastrophe unleashed roughly 5 million barrels of fresh crude — take place in parallel universes.  Inside a courtroom here in New Orleans, BP and its high-priced lawyers continue to push for lower estimate of how much oil was spilled, while their unending barrage of...

Louisiana Uses BP Funds to Construct Indoor “Mini Swamp” in Downtown Manhattan

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An unassuming warehouse on the banks of the Hudson River provides cover for the most absurd – not to mention irresponsible – use of BP tourism funds to date. Inside is a 1,600-square-foot artificial swamp, just like the kind you’d find down on the bayou in Louisiana (except fake) – complete with live alligators, turtles and 15-foot cypress trees draped in Spanish moss. Why, you ask? What...

When the Party Gets Too Loud: New Orleans Residents Wither Under Noise Pollution

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The French Quarter in New Orleans is the heart and soul of the southern party scene. All the essential ingredients are here, in abundance: great drinks, even better food, revelers of every stripe and music – live, loud music deep into the night. From Jazz Fest to Mardi Gras and all the gumbo and crawfish festivals in between, the French Quarter knows how to throw a party. Although the Quarter is...

Site Off Louisiana Coast Has Been Leaking Hundreds of Gallons of Oil Every Day – For 7 Years

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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...

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