• Ocean

Ten Years Ago, An Explosion and the Worst Environmental Disaster In History Ensued

• #DWH
• BP
• conservation
• Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
• environment
• Natural Resource Damages
• oil and gas
• oil spill
• science

Late on April 20, 2010, the deepest oil well in history at that time (operating at a vertical depth of 35,050 feet) exploded killing 11 people and it began spewing oil.  An estimated 210 million gallons flowed into the ocean over the course of 87 days.

Why This Matters:  It is a faded memory, but for those who lost everything in the spill, it is hauntingly familiar to the current COVID crisis.

• Ocean

Ten Years Later, Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Still A Threat To Gulf Natural Resources

• #DeepwaterHorizon
• BP
• conservation
• environment
• Gulf of Mexico
• oil spill

Numerous organizations (Oceana, National Wildlife Federation, and Skytruth among others) have looked back at the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on the Gulf of Mexico in the ten years since — and sadly, the impacts of the worst oil spill in history are still being felt on Gulf resources — dolphins, turtles, whales, birds among others — and the risks of another catastrophic spill are still high.

Why This Matters:  I (Monica) was involved from day one of the response to the spill and through the early restoration work for two years after it ended, and we tried mightily to minimize the damage and begin restoration immediately

• Water

Supreme Court Holds CITGO Is Liable In 2004 Philly Oil Spill – Must Pay for Clean up

• CITGO
• Delaware River
• Oil Pollution Act
• oil spill
• refinery

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that under the Oil Pollution Act and the terms of its contract with the shipping company, CITGO Asphalt Refinery must repay the government and the shipper for the $133 million they spent to clean up the 6000 barrel oil spill that occurred when the oil tanker hit an abandoned […]

• Energy

Trump Administration Overrules Engineers on Drilling Safety In Rule Rollbacks

• Deep Water Horizon
• drilling
• oil and gas
• oil spill
• safety rules

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that at the direction of the Trump Administration it purged from the administrative record the written objections of its own engineers to the loosening of certain safety rules and procedures governing offshore drilling equipment.   The Journal found that internal deliberations with experts on the staff in which the experts expressed their concern about the safety of the looser rules are not reflected in the final decision memos issued by agency political appointees with close ties to the oil and gas industry.

• Ocean

Gulf Oil Spill More Toxic Than First Thought, But Red Snapper in Gulf Rebounding

• Deep Water Horizon
• fisheries
• oil spill
• red snapper
• shrimpers

A new study that was published last week in Science Advances, says that satellites were not able to fully detect oil in large areas of the Gulf of Mexico during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, and posits that “invisible and toxic oil” made the spill as much as 30% larger than some experts have estimated.

• Energy

Oil Spills Across the Americas Threaten Precious Ecosystems

• Bolsonaro
• Brazil
• Keystone
• oil spill

Marine scientists in Brazil are closely monitoring a mysterious oil spill from August that has reached the Abrolhos Bank along the central part of the Brazilian coastline–which is the largest biodiversity hot spot in the South Atlantic Ocean.

At the same time, it was revealed last week that the Keystone Pipeline leaked 383,000 gallons of oil in its second big spill in two years. 

• Energy

Deadly Gas Pipeline Explosion Rocks Kentucky

• Enbridge
• explosion
• natural gas
• oil spill
• pipeline

A large regional pipeline owned by Enbridge that carries natural gas from the Mexican border in Texas to New York City exploded in rural Kentucky early Thursday morning, killing one and injuring five others in what one resident described as a tornado of fire.  CBS News reported that the explosion destroyed railroad tracks and several trailer homes causing tremendous damage in its vicinity — it was so big it could be seen by weather radar — and it took several hours to bring under control by local fire officials. 

• Ocean

Pristine Patagonia Oiled in Major Spill

• Chile
• Navy
• ocean
• oil spill
• Patagonia
• pollution
• pristine

At the southernmost tip of South America, ten thousand gallons of diesel fuel spilled into the sea off the coast of Chile’s Patagonia, in one of the most pristine areas of the world.

• Energy

Taylor Energy’s 15-Year Oil Spill — No End Or Action in Sight

• Gulf of Mexico
• liability
• NOAA
• oil spill
• Taylor Energy

As we have reported previously, in 2004, an oil production platform owned by Taylor Energy Company sank in a mudslide triggered by  Hurricane Ivan. This sparked an oil spill that has been quietly leaking millions of barrels into the Gulf of Mexico for the past 15 years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s recent flow rate calculations revealed that between 378 to 4,536 gallons of oil has been spilling into the Gulf per day, as opposed to the estimated 3 to 5 gallons per day claimed by Taylor Energy.

• Water

Houston Ship Channel Closed After Oil Spill From Tanker Collision

• chemical fire
• explosion
• houston
• marine life
• oil spill
• Reformulate
• shipping
• toxic

After two barges struck an oil tanker, at least nine thousand barrels of gasoline “blending stock” called Reformate spilled into the Houston ship channel, causing it to be closed, and creating a noxious odor in the neighborhoods nearby the spill.  Texas state officials are collecting air monitoring samples and say they will notify the public if any of the readings are at dangerous levels.  

• Ocean

Oil Spill Threatens World’s Largest Coral Atoll

• Australia
• fossil fuels
• oceans
• oil spill
• Soloman Islands

by Yoel Fessahaye A nightmare is unraveling in the jewel-toned waters of the Solomon Islands. According to CNN and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade, a ship carrying 700 metric tons of heavy oil ran aground in Solomon Islands’ Kangava Bay, near East Rennell — the only natural UNESCO World Heritage site in […]

• Ocean

Trump Administration Allows 1,700 Safety Exceptions For Offshore Drilling Operations

• Deepwater Horizon
• Oceana
• offshore drilling
• oil and gas
• oil spill
• POLITICO

The Trump Administration has allowed 1700 “exceptions” of the “Well Control Rule” that the Obama Administration put in place in 2016 to improve drilling safety as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Today, in a hearing on Capitol Hill, the Interior Department defended these actions saying that the exceptions were granted only if the requester demonstrated that the exception to the rule was equally protective.