By Ben Raines May 19, 2010, 5:00AM In its 2009 exploration plan for the Deepwater Horizon well, BP PLC states that the company could handle a spill involving as much as 12.6 million gallons of oil per day, a number 60 times higher than its current estimate of the ongoing Gulf disaster. In associated documents […]
By KEVIN McGILL and VICKI SMITH Associated Press WritersMay 21, 11:35 AM EDT GRAND ISLE, La. (AP) — Thick, sticky oil crept deeper into delicate marshes of the Mississippi Delta, an arrival dreaded for a month since the crude started spewing into the Gulf, as anger and frustration mounted over efforts to plug the gusher […]
By Ben Raines May 21, 2010, 5:00AM U.S. Coast Guard officials have apparently known for years that there could be significant problems in the federal and industry response to a major oil spill. The report that followed a 2004 “Spill of National Significance” training exercise concluded, “Oil spill response personnel did not appear to have […]
By Jenny Hurwitz, The Times-Picayune May 21, 2010, 12:07PM Government officials in Grand Isle are closing all beaches until further notice, citing the fact that oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill is washing up on the shore. “They’re starting to see dead wildlife,” said Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts. Roberts said there is more […]
By Ben RainesMay 21, 2010, 5:00AM Mobile-area scientists warned BP PLC officials and Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen a week ago that the use of dispersants both on the surface and underwater at the Deepwater Horizon well could have grave consequences for the Gulf ecosystem. The scientists, Bob Shipp of the University of South Alabama […]
Caption by Michon Scott Nearly a month after a deadly explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, the damaged well on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico continued to spill oil. In the weeks since the accident occurred, the oil slick has periodically drifted northeast toward the Mississippi Delta and reached the the Chandeleur […]
NOAA extended the boundaries of the closed fishing area in the Gulf into the northern portion of the loop current as a precautionary measure to ensure seafood from the Gulf will remain safe for consumers. The closed area is now slightly less than 19 percent of the Gulf of Mexico federal waters. Dr. Jane Lubchenco, […]
Swimming with a whale shark off the Alabama coast By Janet McConnaughey, AP WriterMay 19, 2010, 11:37AM NEW ORLEANS — The world’s biggest fish may be highly vulnerable to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and one of its favorite feeding grounds is in the area of the spill. Whale sharks feed on the surface, […]
By Marian Wang, ProPublica – May 18, 2010 2:24 pm EDT The two types of dispersants BP is spraying in the Gulf of Mexico are banned for use on oil spills in the U.K. As EPA-approved products, BP has been using them in greater quantities than dispersants have ever been used in the history of […]
(CBS/AP) It may be the most disturbing site yet: the first heavy sludge now oozing into the marshes of Louisiana as the slick continues to grow in size out in the gulf. CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reports it’s an ominous sight. The oil is thick and black and stretches about a quarter mile down […]
