This morning the Federal Government kicked off the first day of the BP oil spill trial by stating that the disaster, which caused millions of gallons of oil to spill into the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, was caused by the company putting profits before safety. Justice Department attorney Mike Underhill went on to accuse BP of cultivating a “culture of corporate recklessness.” The trial will further investigate the rig that caused the catastrophic spill to decide how many billions of dollars BP will have to pony up for the incident.

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Post tags: bp oil spill, BP oil trial, deepwater horizon, eco design, green design, halliburton, Mike Underhill, sustainable design, Transocean

A federal judge has approved an agreement for BP PLC to plead guilty for manslaughter and pay a record $4 billion in criminal penalties for its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The oil giant could end up paying billions more for the environmental destruction that followed the 2010 catastrophe, which caused more than 200 million gallons of crude oil to spew into the Gulf of Mexico causing massive harm to marine animals, birds and sea life while polluting the shorelines of several states.

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Post tags: bp oil spill, BP oil spill penalty, deepwater horizon oil spill, environmental destruction, Gulf Coast oil pollution, gulf of mexico disaster, national fish and wildlife foundation, offshore oil drilling, oil drilling, oil pollution, oil spill, U.S. Justice Department oil spill, U.S. National Academy of Sciences

The US Department of Justice announced today that Swiss company Transocean Ltd, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded and sank in 2010, has agreed to pay $1.4 billion for the oil spill that spewed millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Under the settlement, the company will plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act, and it will agree to pay $1 billion in civil penalties and $400 million in criminal fines. The announcement comes just six weeks after BP agreed to pay $4.5 billion in damages for the massive oil spill.

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Post tags: BP, bp oil spill, deepwater horizon, Department of Justice, DoJ, environmental destruction, gulf of mexico, Gulf oil spill, gusher, oil spill, Transocean

Just over two years ago, an explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by BP killed 11 crew members and sparked the worst oil spill in US history. The accident released almost 5 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico and caused irreparable damage to marine and wildlife habitats, but no criminal charges had been filed — until now. NPR reports that the first criminal charges in connection with the spill have been filed against former BP engineer Kurt Mix, who has been arrested for obstruction of justice for deleting text messages after the spill.

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Post tags: BP, bp oil spill, criminal charges, deepwater horizon, environmental destruction, fossil fuels, gulf of mexico, Gulf oil spill, Kurt Mix, offshore oil drilling, oil gusher

In 2008, two years before the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, another BP offshore oil rig suffered a blowout in the Caspian Sea. According to a new report on EcoWatch.org which was released today, the company had concealed the details of the earlier accident from the energy industry and the U.S. government. The investigation reveals a trail of cost-cutting measures and shoddy construction methods similar to what unfolded in the Gulf during 2010.

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Post tags: Azerbaijan, baku, BP, bp oil spill, cover up, deepwater horizon, deepwater horizon disaster, deepwater horizon oil spill, ecowatch.org, environmental impact of offshore oil drilling, gulf of mexico, Gulf oil spill, moratorium on offshore drilling, offshore oil drilling, offshore oil production, offshore oil rig, offshore oil rig risks, offshore oil risks, offshore oil well, oil rig, oil spill, risk of oil spill, risks, robert f. kennedy jr. gulf of mexico

After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago — which was the worst oil spill in the country’s history — President Barack Obama placed a moratorium on all new offshore drilling ventures to provide time to research safer drilling practices. That moratorium was lifted about a year ago, and now drilling is back in business and going strong. Some say that the amount of oil rigs in operation will soon surpass the number of rigs drilling before the accident. At the forefront of the new boom is our old friend British Petroleum, the company that is currently settling out of court with victims of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. BP currently has five oil rigs open and drilling in the Gulf, and it expect to have three more fired up and ready to go by the end of the year.

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The trial that will decide BP’s culpability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was set to begin in the US District Court in New Orleans today, but has been postponed to allow the oil company to continue to discuss settlements with plaintiffs in the case. Experts say the oil company faces up to $52 billion in fines and liabilities, making this case the largest corporate offense in history that requires a fine paid to the U.S. government. The disaster is sure to become one of the most expensive environmental disasters in history and the postponed trial is set to decide exactly how expensive it will be. The new start date is set for March 5th and the trial is expected to last at least two years.

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Post tags: bp oil spill, bp on trial, bp settlements, bp trial, deepwater horizon, deepwater horizon oil spill, environmental destruction, environmental disaster, gulf of mexico oil spill, Gulf oil spill, oil spill, worst oil spill in history

On Friday, as part of a federal investigation, BP released a series of internal e-mails sent directly after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and started to leak oil into the Gulf of Mexico that seem to reveal that the company knew just how disastrous the situation could be. The day of the spill, BP had an expert model the situation at the Deepwater Horizon well and the modeler came up with a possible leakage of 3.4 million gallons per day. BP managers then instructed everyone at the company who knew about the truth to keep quiet about this knowledge, all the while telling the public that they estimated a mere 42,000 gallons per day were leaking from the well. It seems that if BP had the gumption to just come out and tell the truth, the oil spill containment mission might have received the full gusto that it required.

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The media is buzzing this morning with news that federal prosecutors are preparing the first criminal charges against BP in connection with the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The disaster, which killed 11 people and took over 5 months to seal, made headlines last year as the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Sources say prosecutors are focusing on numerous engineers and employees at British Petroleum who may have provided false safety and risk information about the well to regulators.

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Post tags: BP, bp criminal charges, bp news, BP oil, bp oil rig, bp oil spill, breaking news, criminal charges oil spill, deepwater horizon, deepwater horizon criminal charges, deepwater horizon disaster, deepwater horizon news, deepwater horizon oil spill, inhabitat-news, oil spill charges, oil spill news

It is coming to fists again over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This time, however, it isn’t the people of the gulf against big oil, it is the oil companies against each other. BP is accusing Halliburton of knowingly destroying the results from a test on cement slurry at the site and seemingly losing computer modeling of the cement at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Both are considered pieces of evidence that could prove Halliburton installed faulty cement at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, causing the well to rupture and spill 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

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Post tags: BP, bp oil spill, dangers of drilling for oil, deep water drilling for gas, deep water drilling for oil, deepwater horizon, faulty cement, gulf of mexico, gulf of mexico oil spill, Gulf oil spill, halliburton, halliburton faulty cement, halliburton oil well, oil drilling safety, oil slick, oil spill

Just a few days ago we reported that a mysterious oil sheen that has appeared in the Gulf of Mexico not far from the BP Deepwater Horizon Well that burst last year. It turns out that our suspicions have been realized and the oil bubbling up to the surface matches that of BP’s “sealed” well. Scientists confirmed that they have established a chemical link between the sheen and the hundreds of millions of gallons of oil that spewed into the Gulf last summer.

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Post tags: BP, bp environmental damage, bp oil spill, Daren Beaudo, gulf of mexico, gulf oil spills, gulf water damage, macondo well, new gulf oil spill, Oil Leakage, Oil sheen, oil spill, press register, Stuart Berman

A mysterious sheen on the Gulf of Mexico is making waves, with all eyes focusing in on BP as the culprit. Floating near the Green Canyon Block of the Gulf of Mexico, the potential spill is suspiciously close to BP’s Macondo well, which ruptured last year. Although denying they are the cause, BP has sent in boats and mini submarines to investigate the supposedly sealed well.

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Sigh. Yet another oil spill has ravaged America’s great outdoors. As recovery crews work tirelessly along the Yellowstone River to clean up the mess caused by ExxonMobil’s damaged pipeline, a BP pipeline in Alaska burst during maintenance testing, sending some 4,000 gallons of methanol and oily water onto the Alaskan Tundra. Reports say that the leak has frustrated the oil giant as they’re still trying to rebuild their reputation after the Gulf oil spill, but the only people who should be frustrated are Americans. Hasn’t enough of our environment already been ravaged by our country’s dependence on oil? It’s high time our politicians took renewable energy way more seriously.

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Snow Global is a series of snow globes created in response to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Made by Neil Conley, each globe contains a hand-carved brass miniature of a species directly affected by the disaster: the Brown Pelican, the Kemps Ridley Sea Turtle, or the Bottlenose Dolphin. For each globe sold, 18% percent will be donated to the ongoing clean-up in the region.

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Post tags: bp oil spill, bp oil spill snow globes, deepwater horizon, eco snow globes, green design, gulf of mexico, neil conley, oil spill snow globes, Snow Global, snow globes

You’d think that if your company was responsible for the worst oil spill in the history of the United States, bonuses for the year would be out the window. But that’s not the mindset of BP, the company at the center of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. According to its annual report, the company awarded two senior executives bonuses of more than $160,000. WTF?!

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Post tags: 2010 oil spill, bp executive bonuses, bp executives, BP oil, bp oil spill, bp oil spill disaster, deepwater horizon, deepwater horizon disaster, deepwater horizon explosion, gulf of mexico oil spill, Gulf oil spill

A faculty-student research team at at Southeastern Louisiana University recently launched a study that will explore how the Rangia clam can be used to filter oil from polluted water. Previous research has found that Rangia clams have the ability to store concentrated levels of hydrocarbons without becoming ill. Although these clams are small in size, they’re also filter feeding organisms that can consume and digest different types of pollutants such as bacteria or viruses. The main goal of this study is to determine the effectiveness of these clams if used as filters to remove oil and other pollutants from bodies of water that are difficult to access.

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Post tags: bp oil spill, caitlyn guice, clean up gulf oil spill, clean up of bp oil spill, filter feeding organism, Gulf oil spill, hydrocarbons, natural water filter, natural water filters, oil destruction of environment, oil filter, Phillip Voegel, Rangia clam, Southeastern Louisiana University

Cast your mind back to May. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill was at its peak and when it looked like all was lost, one man stepped forward with a ground-breaking solution – Kevin Costner. Costner, famous for starring in films such as The Untouchables, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Field of Dreams, announced that his company, Ocean Therapy Solutions, had developed a technology that could separate oil from water. The device apparently worked so well, that BP ordered 32 of the half-million dollar centrifuge machines for use in Gulf cleanup operations. However, Costner is now facing legal action from another member of Hollywood’s elite – Stephen Baldwin, over the ingenious invention.

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Post tags: bp oil spill, bp oil spill costner, bp oil spill ocean therapy solutions, costner baldwin, kevin costner, kevin costner ocean therapy solutions, kevin costner vs stephen baldwin, lawsuit costner, ocean therapy solutions, oil seperating technology, stephen baldwin, stephen baldwin ocean therapy solutions

We recently learned that BP, who we all know for causing the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, has also been overlooking safety on their pipeline operation in Alaska and on their other massive gulf rig the Atlantis. The gulf response is still in full effect and though it was proven in late August that more than 79% of the oil was still floating in the Gulf, the US government opened some of the coastal waters to fishing. While workers are still toiling away cleaning coastal areas we’re finding out that nature has its own crafty ways of soaking up oil. Though fisherman have been given the go ahead to pull their catches from Gulf waters, scientists have now found that oil has officially entered the food chain.

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Post tags: bp disaster, bp oil spill, deepwater horizon, fisheries, fishing industry, gulf of mexico disaster, gulf of mexico fishing, gulf of mexico oil spill, Gulf oil spill, gulf spill cleanup, how much oil is left in the gulf, how to clean an oil spill, oil spill, oil spill cleanup

Even though our country is still up to its ears in oil in some places in the Gulf, BP continues to disappoint with shocking reports on shoddy oil infrastructure. First it was the other Gulf of Mexico BP oil well, the Atlantis, which was dubbed a “ticking time bomb”. Now a new report has declared that BP’s Oil pipeline in Alaska — the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which leaked large amounts of oil in 2006 and earlier this year — is in many areas more than 80% corroded; in an internal memo it got a “F” grade for maintenance. The report noted 148 pipes in the North Slope of Alaska that are currently under distress and in danger of leaking toxic substances across the pristine Alaskan wilderness.

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Post tags: alaska pipeline, bp maintenence issues, bp oil spill, bp pipeline, bp safety violation, gulf coast oil spill, habitat destruction, oil pipeline, trans alaskan pipeline

A new report by Member Scholars of the Center for Progressive Reform on the principle cause of the Gulf Coast Oil Spill concludes that the spill was entirely preventable and points blame at regulatory agencies, BP and the oil industry for not being vigilant about warning signs. The study points its biggest finger at incredibly lax oversight by the now defunct government agency in charge of regulating offshore drilling, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) — which has been replaced by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. It notes that a policy of precautionary measures against known risks — however, slight — could have easily prevented the biggest environmental disaster in American history.

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Post tags: BP, bp oil spill, british petroleum, environmental health, epa, landfills, mineral management agencey, sustainable design, toxics, trash, Waste, who caused the bp oil spill, who caused the gulf oil spill, whos fault was the bp oil spill