Gulf Oil Platform Explosion and Spill

Gulf Oil Spill "Not Over": Dolphins, Turtles Dying in Record Numbers

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

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.
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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. (See "Gulf Oil Spill: One Year Later.")

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?")

read the full report at the link :
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140408-gulf-oil-spill-animals-anniversary-science-deepwater-horizon-science/

Love Always
mudra

Scientists Discover Huge ‘Bathtub Ring’ Of Oil On Sea Floor From BP Spill

Scientists have discovered yet another unforeseen effect of BP’s historic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: a 1,235-square-mile “bathub ring” of oil on the deep ocean’s floor.

Research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science on Monday showed that approximately 10 million gallons of oil settled and coagulated on the floor of the Gulf near the Deepwater Horizon rig, which spilled a total of 172 million gallons of oil into the ocean in April 2010. That oil left a footprint on the ocean floor about two times the size of the city of Houston, Texas, and approximately the size of the state of Rhode Island, the study said.

Study author David Valentine told the Associated Press that tests to determine the oil’s chemical signature were not performed because the oil has degraded in the four and a half years since the spill occurred, but also said it’s obvious where the oil is from, since it settled directly around the site of the damaged rig. BP disputes the claim, telling Fuel Fix that the researchers need to chemically identify the source of the oil before they can credibly blame the company.

Still, the research serves to try and answer some of the lingering questions from the 2010 oil spill, the largest in U.S. history. One of those questions is where all the oil went — approximately 2 million barrels were never found — and another is how the spill impacted the health of the deep sea. In July, a scientist who led a study on the impacts of the BP spill and found a wider range of impact on the deep sea than previously believed, told ThinkProgress that he was worried about how much we don’t yet know.

“What we still don’t know, and what we need to all keep in mind, is that there’s the potential for sub-acute impact,” Penn State University’s Charles Fisher said at the time. “In other words, things that might have happened to corals’ reproductive system — slower acting cancers, changes in the fitness of the animal. These are very hard to detect and they’ll take a long time for us to see whats going on.”

read on: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/10/28/3585245/bp-oil-spill-bathtub-ring/

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mudra

US: Oil spilled in 2010 Gulf disaster more than BP estimate


NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge determined Thursday that more oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico following a rig explosion in 2010 than BP estimated, a decision that could potentially cost the London-based oil giant more than $13 billion in one of America's worst environmental disasters.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled that 3.19 million barrels were discharged into the Gulf after a rig explosion at BP's Macondo well. The number is more than the 2.4 million barrel figure BP had argued for and less than the government's estimate of about 4.2 million. The government figure could have meant $18 billion in maximum penalties under the Clean Water Act.
Penalties are to be determined in a trial set to open Tuesday. In pre-trial briefs, the government has argued that the oil giant should pay as much as $4,300 per barrel spilled.
The discharge figure Barbier settled on Thursday means maximum penalties could reach about $13.7 billion — but he has not yet decided how much per barrel BP must pay. BP has argued that the penalties should be lower than what the government is asking for, but has not offered a specific figure.

Read more at http://www.wral.com/us-oil-spilled-in-2010-gulf-disaster-more-than-bp-estimate/14359938/#rzds0UdAUTIlAdKI.99

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mudra

‘Great Invisible’ checks the oil after BP disaster in the Gulf

Mark Hinson, Tallahassee Democrat 




(Photo: AFP/Getty Images/Democrat archives)



It’s hard to put a human face on an inferno but filmmaker Margaret Brown sure gives it a convincing shot in the documentary “The Great Invisible.”
Brown, who has made movies about self-destructive singer Townes Van Zandt and segregated Mardis Gras traditions in Mobile, Ala., aims big and aims small during her exploration of the aftermath following BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil-rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in April 2010.
Brown tracks the story from high-level, finger-pointing hearings in the halls of Congress to fancy dinners with Big Oil fat cats. She also takes the back roads to talk with shell-shocked survivors who were on deck during the oil-rig blast as well as the struggling oyster-shuckers in economically pummeled Bayou La Batre, Ala.

What emerges is a tapestry-style tale that is as enlightening as it is enraging, and one full of unexpected contradictions and complexities. Just when you think Big Oil is the ultimate greedy villain, Brown points out that the government owns all the drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico and was making a fortune right along with oil companies.

On Sunday afternoon, The Tallahassee Film Festival and FAME will present “The Great Invisible” on the five-story screen at the IMAX Theatre on Kleman Plaza. That should really add some scope to the size of the disaster. After the screening, a panel discussion will take place at Versi, a bar located across the plaza from the IMAX.

read on: http://www.tallahassee.com/story/entertainment/2015/02/26/great-invisible-checks-oil-bp-disaster-gulf/24057215/

The Great Invisible (Post-Screening Discussion)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ixO_Ydx3MQ


Love Always
mudra

http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/07/11/alec-baldwin-helps-uncover-3000-square-miles-of-oil-blanketing-the-gulf-floor-since-bp-disaster/

Last week, BP reached an $18.7 billion settlement for civil lawsuits over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which was the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Yesterday on his radio show, Here’s The Thing, Alec Baldwin spoke with journalist and author Antonia Juhasz, who has covered the spill extensively. In 2011, she wrote Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill and this June she was featured in Harper’s Magazine for taking a submersible to the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.

What she discovered down there may surprise those who think the Gulf has completely recovered in the five years since the spill. In her exploration of the ocean floor, Juhasz got closer to the BP Macondo well-head than anyone had gotten since it was sealed five years ago. WYNC, which broadcasts Baldwin’s show, explains what Juhasz found:

Her story in the June issue of Harper’s Magazine details what she didn’t see down there—any vibrant sea life—as well as what she did see: a huge carpet of oil 3,000 square miles in size. And evidence indicates that companies are preparing to resume drilling in the region. Juhasz has been monitoring energy companies for over a decade, and has seen how routine spills have become, but as she explains to host Alec Baldwin, she still feels shock and anger over the ongoing impacts of these spills on the environment.

Radio interview at link

Thank you Vidya.
No money will ever be able to wipe out the damage done in the Gulf.
These people are criminals of the highest order.
Do they even realize ?



Love from me
mudra