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BP Gulf of Mexico
Six Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Oil Spill
By Laura Parker - AOL NewsWASHINGTON -- Of the tens of thousands of people who worked to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, many had competing loyalties and agendas. Unified, they were not. Complicating matters, local, state and federal officials felt enormous pressure to avoid being seen as in cahoots with BP. Because the federal government's response was slow off the mark, President Barack Obama got much of the blame. In the Oil Spill Commission's final report, the following excerpts from "Chapter Five: Response and Containment," give a first look at some of what went on behind the scenes: 1. The Myth of ...
Government Sues BP, Others Over Gulf Oil Spill
By Christopher Weber - Politics DailyThe Obama administration filed a civil lawsuit Wednesday against BP and eight other companies, seeking money for fines and clean-up costs in April's disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The complaint, filed in federal court in New Orleans, accuses the firms of a number of regulatory violations in the April 20 explosion and fire on the Deepwater Horizon rig, The Los Angeles Times reported. "We intend to prove that these defendants are responsible for government removal costs, economic losses and environmental damages without limitation,'' said Atty. Gen. Eric Holder. The government's claim ...
Obama Bans New East Coast Offshore Drilling: 3 Possible Reasons
By Steven Hoffer - AOL News(Dec. 1) -- Don't drill, baby, don't drill. Reversing its pre-BP oil spill disaster position, the Obama administration announced today that it will not engage in offshore drilling on the East Coast of the U.S. and the eastern Gulf of Mexico region, according to The Associated Press. The original policy, announced three weeks before the gulf oil spill, would have permitted authorized drilling from the Delaware coast to waters near central Florida, as well as in northern Alaska. The new policy, however, does maintain the possibility for drilling near Alaska. "Our revised strategy lays out a ...
BP's Well Is Dead, but Challenges Remain
By not in system - AOL News
(Sept. 20) -- The well that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico is finally dead, but residents will be feeling the pain for years to come. A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Dave Martin, AP Although BP's blown-out well in the gulf is "effectively dead," there is still plenty of oil in the water. Here, oil washes up ashore in June. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the ...
Sealing of BP Oil Well Doesn't Eliminate Questions and Anxiety
By Ben Sandmel - Politics DailyNow that the BP oil spill has been capped for two months -- and completely sealed for good as of Sunday -- national interest in its aftermath has slackened considerably. But unresolved issues continue to concern the people living along the Gulf of Mexico who are caught in a swirl of anxiety and contradictory data. Such pressing matters include these question: Is it safe to eat local seafood? Has all the spilled oil been accounted for? Will people who lost months of pay and profit really get full compensation from BP via the federal government? There are few conclusive answers, and ...
BP's Blown-Out Gulf Oil Well Finally Declared Dead
By not in system - AOL News
(Sept. 19) -- The well is dead - finally. A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday BP's well "is effectively dead." Allen said a pressure test to ensure the cement plug would hold was completed at 5:54 a.m. CDT. He said the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement has confirmed that the ...
BP Resumes 'Bottom Kill' to Seal Well by Weekend
By Lauren Frayer - AOL News(Sept. 14) -- BP's runaway oil well could be sealed off for good by the end of this week, after BP restarted drilling on a relief well that was halted for more than a month during the Gulf of Mexico's hurricane season. BP resumed drilling its relief well Monday for the first time since Aug. 10, when operations were halted by a tropical storm threat. Since then, stormy seas and a scientific debate over whether a so-called "bottom kill" is needed have stalled the process to permanently plug the well. After pouring heavy mud and concrete into the well's containment cap, the oil company ...
'Master of Disaster' Ken Feinberg: From 9/11 to BP
By Andrea Stone - AOL NewsWASHINGTON (Sept. 10) -- Kenneth Feinberg may have to rewrite the book on the Sept. 11 attacks. In "What Is Life Worth?" -- his 2005 account of his experience as special master of the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund -- the lawyer and mediator wrote that his work putting a value on the lives lost or scarred in the attack nine years ago Saturday was "the greatest challenge of my career." Joe Raedle, Getty Images Ken Feinberg, administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility for BP's $20 billion compensation fund, speaks with the media after a public meeting in June. That was before the BP oil ...
Risk of Leak Remains as BP Prepares to Lift Well Cap
By Mara Gay - AOL News(Sept. 2) -- BP plans to carefully remove the cap from its crippled oil well today in preparation for a procedure it hopes will plug the massive leak in the Gulf of Mexico once and for all. That procedure, known as "bottom kill," has been cited by the government as the only solution to stopping the oil for good. But the final steps to permanently seal the well are not without risks. Before the bottom kill can be attempted, engineers must remove the cap from the wellhead, replace the blowout preventer that failed to stop the April 20 explosion and hope that no oil escapes in the process. BP ...
Engineers to Remove Temporary Cap From Gulf Well
By not in system - AOL NewsNEW ORLEANS (Aug. 30) -- Engineers will soon start the delicate work of detaching the temporary cap that stopped oil from gushing from BP's blown-out Gulf of Mexico well and the hulking device that failed to prevent the leak - all while trying to avoid more damage to the environment. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the spill response, told reporters Friday that engineers will remove the cap starting Monday so they can raise the failed blowout preventer. The blowout preventer is considered a key piece of evidence in determining what caused the April rig ...
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