Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Settlement Will Fund Restoration - Largest Settlement in History of Federal Law Enforcement

On April 20, 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizon mobile drilling unit exploded, caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in the death of 11 workers and injury of 17 others. The damaged oil well discharged oil and natural gas for 87 days after the explosion, resulting in the release of approximately 3.19 million barrels (134 million gallons) of oil into the Gulf—the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Six years later, on April 4, 2016, a federal court in New Orleans entered a consent decree resolving civil claims against BP. This historic settlement resolves the U.S. government’s civil penalty claims under the Clean Water Act, the governments’ claims for natural resources damage claims under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and also implements a related settlement of economic damage claims of the Gulf States and local governments. Taken together, this resolution of civil claims is worth more than $20 billion and is the largest settlement with a single entity in the history of federal law enforcement.

Under the consent decree BP will pay a CWA civil penalty of $5.5 billion (plus interest), $8.1 billion in natural resource damages (this includes $1 billion BP already committed to pay for early restoration) under OPA, up to an additional $700 million (some of which is in the form of accrued interest) for adaptive management or to address injuries to natural resources that are currently unknown but could come to light in the future, and $600 million for other claims. Under the economic damages settlement noted above, BP will pay $4.9 billion to the Gulf States (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas) to resolve their economic damage claims. In other, related agreements, BP will pay up to another $1 billion to resolve similar claims the company faces from various local governments in the Gulf region. This settlement includes both the largest civil penalty ever paid by any defendant under any environmental statute, and the largest recovery of damages for injuries to natural resources.

BP to pay $20M+ to Gulf States for 2010 oil spill

 

Posted with Blogsy

Gulf Coast 2010 BP Oil Spill Photo Gallery Updated

I've updated my 2010 Gulf Coast BP Spill photographs at https://www.cedaredenphoto.com/Gulf-Coast-Post

Gulf sperm whales may be most polluted in the world

By Dennis Pillion | dpillion@al.com
on August 06, 2013 at 1:19 PM, updated August 06, 2013 at 1:21 PM

PENSACOLA, Florida -- Researchers with Ocean Alliance are finishing up the third year of a field study of sperm whales in the Gulf of Mexico and the group says preliminary findings indicate that sperm whales in the Gulf are showing significantly higher levels of heavy metals, including nickel and chromium, than sperm whales in other parts of the world.

The research team, a collaborative effort between Ocean Alliance and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has been studying Gulf sperm whales by using a biopsy dart to collect a small skin and blubber sample from the animals. The cells are cultured on board the 93-foot Odyssey research vessel for further tests.

"The cautionary signs are really suggesting to us that these may be some of the most polluted whales we've found in the world," Ocean Alliance CEO Iain Kerr said in a press conference at the Palafox Pier in Pensacola. 

See rest of the story at http://blog.al.com/gulf-coast/2013/08/ocean_alliance_gulf_sperm_whal.html#incart_river

BP Oil Spill - dead bird pictures

Despite the glitzy adds for the Gulf Coast paid for by BP, extreme environmental damage has been done and continues to this day.






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Source: taken on shore of major rookery island

Location:Louisiana Inland Coastal Waters

Speculation that oil unearthed by Isaac from BP oil spill

NEW ORLEANS – Weathered oil in the form of tar has washed up on some Louisiana beaches from Gulf waters churned by Hurricane Isaac, prompting restrictions of fishing in some waters and tests to determine whether the source is submerged oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Read more: http://fxn.ws/Q5TrJL
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Published September 05, 2012
FoxNews.com

Study: Dispersants used in Gulf oil spill could damage marine food web

By Kari Huus, msnbc.com (Follow Kari Huus on Facebook)

During the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which dumped nearly 5 million barrels of crude into the water, responders applied some 1.8 million gallons of chemical dispersant to break up the oil slick.

The chemicals, which were sprayed on the surface and pumped near the gushing pipe on the ocean floor, largely prevented the slick from saturating delicate coastal marshes, but they had their own environmental impact that scientists are only now beginning to understand.

A study published Tuesday provides one possible piece to that puzzle, indicating that chemical dispersants of the type used in 2010 hurt microorganism populations that are a key link in the marine food chain, with dire implications for fish and larger sea animals.

"Our study was interested in the tiny organisms that support the base of the food web," said Alice Ortmann, who led the study at Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama. "These are the small things support all the big things in the ocean."

The research conducted in a controlled lab setting showed that dispersants and dispersed oil "significantly reduced" the growth of phytoplankton and ciliates — essentially, fish food.

It also showed that oil that was left alone — and thus degraded while floating on the water's surface — was found to cause no significant damage to these organisms.

The study, published in the online science journal PLoS ONE, suggests one of the environmental trade-offs made in the disaster response.

Dispersants are soap-like agents that break up oil slicks into smaller particles. Using them introduces some toxicity — albeit far less than oil, scientists agree. But in breaking up the oil, the dispersants can expose organisms in the water, while possible sparing those on the surface, like pelicans.

At the time of the disaster response, the large volumes of dispersants being applied sparked accusations that BP — the owner of the Deepwater operation — was trying to hide the oil from view for public relations reasons as much as out of environmental considerations.

"We are still reviewing the study, but the state can say that the use of dispersants in the volume and conditions under which it were applied were unprecedented," said Garrett Graves, chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana. "We did raise objections to this application of dispersants during the spill, the unknown impact on our Gulf, and that we were being used as lab rats."

That impact remains unknown, Ortmann said, because these findings were based on lab results.

"This is what we saw in our incubations," she said. "What happens out in the ocean we don’t really know yet."

Independent studies like this one will supplement a large, long-term effort called the Natural Resource Damage Assessment administered by federal and state trustees. The assessment is an attempt to account for all the damage caused by the oil spill to the environment and human activities that depend on it.

"We’ll come up with a tab to say 'BP, you are responsible for this injury'," said Tim Zink, spokesman for NOAA, one of the federal agencies leading the effort. "The way they pay it back is through restoration projects" for shorelines, land protection and dunes and efforts to restore turtle or bird populations.

About $60 million has been disbursed for initial restoration projects, even as the effort to assess the damage continues.

A separate investigation by NOAA is looking into a dramatic spike in dolphin deaths — more than 720 from the time of the explosion in April 2010 to July 29 this year.

NOAA report on dolphin strandings/deaths

"Oil is being investigated as one of the key factors," said Tim Zink, spokesman for NOAA’s damage assessment and remediation efforts.

Meantime, studies of live dolphin populations that were in contact with the oil in the Gulf have turned up troubling findings, including pulmonary issues, chronic low weight, anemia and low levels of hormones that could affect the animals' ability to survive, Zink said.

Another recent study by a team of researchers published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in March has documented damage to coral in the vicinity of the broken well at a depth of about 4,000 feet, an ecosystem that normally would not be affected by oil spills.

"The sheer magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its release at depth make it very different from a tanker running aground and spilling its contents," said Haverford College chemistry professor Helen White, lead author of the study, who was cited in a report on the Penn State website.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest in U.S. history, occurred in one of the continent's most productive ecosystems. It dwarfed the 11 million gallons spilled by the Exxon Valdez tanker in Prince William Sound in 1989.

"Fully understanding the short and long-term impacts of the explosion, oil and natural gas released, dispersants, and other factors is likely to take several years," said Graves.

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Source: MSNBC.com
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/02/13073352-study-dispersants-used-in-gulf-oil-spill-could-damage-marine-food-web?lite

Oil is more toxic than previously thought, study finds

By Dean Kuipers, Los Angeles Times
December 27, 2011, 12:00 p.m.

Bad news for the Gulf of Mexico: a study released this week sheds new light on the toxicity of oil in aquatic environments, and shows that environmental impact studies currently in use may be inadequate. The report is to be published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study, spearheaded by the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory in collaboration with NOAA, looked into the aftermath of the 2007 Cusco Busan spill, when that tanker hit the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and spilled 54,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the bay.

The key finding involved the embryos of Pacific herring that spawn in the bay. The fish embryos absorbed the oil and then, when exposed to UV rays in sunlight, physically disintegrated. This is called phototoxicity, and has not previously been taken into account when talking about oil spills.

“This phenomenon had been observed in the laboratory, but had never been observed in the field, and there were even some skeptics out there wondering if this was just a phenomenon that people would see under lab conditions,” said Gary Cherr, director of the marine lab and professor of environmental toxicology.

Read the rest of the story . . .

Gulf Coast Task Force Releases Ecosystem Restoration Strategy For Public Review

CONTACT                                                                                

 EPA Press Office                                                                       

 202-564-4355                                                                            

                                                                                        

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                  

 October 5, 2011                                                                        

                                                                                        

 Gulf Coast Task Force Releases Ecosystem Restoration Strategy For Public Review        

                                                                                        

 Agenda outlines blueprint for reversing decline of Gulf Coast ecosystem                

                                                                                         

 WASHINGTON - The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, chaired by U.S.          

 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, today released for      

 public review and feedback its comprehensive preliminary strategy for long term        

 ecosystem restoration. The strategy, which will be presented to President Obama at the 

 end of the public review period, represents an historic opportunity for addressing     

 long-standing issues contributing to the decline of the Gulf’s critical ecosystem.  The

 preliminary strategy is the first effort of its kind to be developed with the          

 involvement of parties throughout the region, including the states, tribes, federal    

 agencies, local governments and thousands of interested citizens and organizations. The

 plan strategy, which builds upon on-going efforts underway in the Gulf Coast states    

 includes specific steps for on-the-ground action and represents the Task Force’s       

 commitment to putting Gulf coastal restoration on an equal footing with other national 

 priorities.                                                                            

                                                                                        

 One year ago today, President Obama established the Task Force by executive order, in  

 response to recommendations from a report by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, to       

 continue the Administration’s ongoing commitment to the Gulf region. The group is made  up of representatives from the five Gulf States and 11 federal agencies, including the 

 Environmental Protection Agency, Council on Environmental Quality, Department of the   

 Interior, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Agriculture,    

 Department of Justice, Department of Transportation, Office of Management and Budget,  

 Office of Science and Technology Policy and Domestic Policy Council.                   

                                                                                         

 "Even before last year’s oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico endured decades of decline that 

 threatened the environmental and economic health of this region. This strategy is      

 designed to prepare the region for transitioning from a response to the spill into a   

 long-term recovery that supports the vital ecosystem and the people who depend on it," 

 said Administrator Jackson. "The health of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem starts and ends

 with its people and its communities. The individuals and families who visit the Gulf,  

 who work in the region, who depend on its resources, and especially those who call it  

 home, know its needs and challenges best. They will be integral to creating and        

 executing this long-term strategy."                                                    

                                                                                        

 “The Task Force’s draft strategy identifies fundamental obstacles that have plagued    

 restoration and protection efforts in Louisiana and other states for decades.  The     

 report attempts to begin reversing 80 years of mismanagement,” said Garret Graves, Task

 Force vice-chair and chair of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of      

 Louisiana.  “It identifies critical issues such as changes in river management, the use

 of dredged sediment, navigation channel bank stabilization, and the need to expedite   

 the snail’s pace process of implementing water resources projects.  History has proven  that being reactive on disaster mitigation costs exponentially more.  This report is an

 important first step in moving toward a proactive strategy as recognized through the   

 implementation of the state's coastal master plan.  There is much work still left to be  done and we look forward to continuing to work with Task Force agencies and our fellow 

 Gulf States to finally stabilize our coast and protect the Gulf communities.”          

                                                                                         

 The natural resources of the Gulf’s ecosystem are vital to many of the region’s        

 industries that directly support economic progress and job creation, including tourism 

 and recreation, seafood production and sales, energy production and navigation and     

 commerce.  Among the major initiatives with specific actions recommended by the        

 preliminary strategy to protect and restore those natural resources are:               

                                                                                        

 •    Stopping the Loss of Wetlands                                                     

                                                                                         

 Stopping the loss of critical wetlands, sand barriers and beaches is a key             

 recommendation of the preliminary strategy. Key habitats for a wide range of fish and  

 other animals are being lost or reduced across the Gulf.  The creation of channels and 

 levees from dredging in the Lower Mississippi often can “disconnect” the vast wetland  

 delta from the source of sediments that built the delta over thousands of years.   The 

 strategy aims to restore the supply of sediments needed to build up eroding wetlands   

 and to ultimately reconnect these valuable resources to their historic source of       

 sediments, particularly in the Lower Mississippi.  To help do this, the strategy       

 recommends placing ecosystem restoration on an equal footing with historic uses such as

 navigation and flood damage reduction by approaching water resource management         

 decisions in a far more comprehensive manner that will bypass harm to wetlands, barrier

 islands and beaches. The strategy also recommends implementation of several            

 congressionally authorized projects in the Gulf that are intended to reverse the trend 

 of wetlands loss.                                                                       

                                                                                        

 •    Reducing the Flow of Nutrients into the Gulf                                      

                                                                                         

 The strategy calls for working in the Gulf and upstream in the Mississippi watershed to

 reduce the flow of nutrients into the Gulf by supporting state nutrient reduction      

 frameworks, new nutrient reduction approaches, and targeted watershed work to reduce   

 agricultural and urban sources of nutrients.  The strategy recommends addressing the   

 complex issues surrounding the transport of nutrients in excess to our Gulf coast by   

 broadly supporting action-oriented innovations from all sectors that address both the  

 environmental as well as the economics of effective nutrient management.               

                                                                                         

 •    Enhancing Resiliency Among Coastal Communities                                    

                                                                                        

 The strategy calls for enhancing the quality of life of Gulf residents by working in   

 partnership with Gulf with coastal communities themselves -- the living laboratories   

 for facing the challenges posed.  The strategy specifically recommends working with    

 each of the States to build the integrated capacity needed through effective coastal   

 improvement plans to better secure the future of their coastal communities and to      

 implement existing efforts underway.                                                   

                                                                                        

 Additionally, the Task Force will begin immediately reviewing existing policies,       

 programs and regulations that are slowing down restoration progress, particularly in   

 the habitat restoration area.  The Task Force will also explore innovative ways to     

 implement restoration, measure success and support the restoration with science.       

                                                                                         

 The following are statements on the release of the preliminary strategy from           

 representatives of the member states on the task force:                                

                                                                                         

 N. Gunter Guy, Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural      

 Resources said, “The combined efforts of the federal and state members of the Task     

 Force have resulted in the release of a preliminary strategy focused on restoring the  

 Gulf Coast ecosystem.  Alabama looks forward to receiving feedback from the public on  

 the strategy and commits to continue working to improve Alabama’s Gulf Coast           

 communities and protecting its natural resources.”                                     

                                                                                        

 Mimi A. Drew, Florida’s representative on the task force and Special Advisor to the    

 Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard, Jr. said,

 “Today’s release of this important report is the culmination of more than a year’s     

 worth of collaboration and hard work to identify priorities and a strategy to improve, 

 restore and protect the fragile and vital Gulf ecosystem. The Gulf of Mexico provides  

 huge environmental and economic benefits to Florida and we look forward to input from  

 the public to refine this plan.”                                                        

                                                                                        

 Trudy D. Fisher, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental     

 Quality said, "The Task Force marked an unprecedented commitment at the federal and    

 state levels to create a shared vision for a healthier Gulf Coast ecosystem. We are    

 confident that the resulting strategy will set the stage for future cooperation and    

 success.  Mississippi will be a critical partner as the work continues."               

                                                                                        

 Helen S. Young, Deputy Commissioner of Coastal Resources in the Texas General Land     

 Office commented, "The collaborative federal, state, and local process that involved   

 visits to the five Gulf states and listening sessions with locals highlighted the      

 states' shared issues and unique needs.  For instance, it emphasized the importance of 

 Texas's barrier islands, which are the first line of defense against storm surge like  

 Hurricane Ike produced in 2008, making it the second costliest hurricane in recent     

 times with damage of $127 billion.  The Strategy also underscores the significance of  

 the Gulf of Mexico to the national economy and identifies the issues of greatest       

 concern for the region.  Restoration efforts based on the strategy will help ensure    

 that these critical environmental and economic resources remain viable."               

                                                                                        

 This preliminary strategy represents the Task Force’s strong commitment to the         

 restoration of the Gulf Coast.  The strategy was developed following more than 40      

 public meetings throughout the Gulf to listen to the concerns of the public. It is     

 available to the public for review and feedback at www.epa.gov/gulfcoasttaskforce,     

 until 11:59 p.m. EST October 26, 2011.  The Task Force will release the final version  

 in December.                                                                           

_______________________________________
Thanks to Anne Weinberg
weinberg.anne@epa.gov on behalf of:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency · 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW · Washington DC 20460 ·  

 202-564-4355

Large Set of Oil Spill & Environs Photos On-Line

You will find a large set of photos from the oil spill area, Louisiana, at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cedareden/sets/72157625783207926/

More will be appearing soon . . .

BP cleanup a 'cover-up,' La. says, pointing to oil via msnbc.com iPhone app

http://on.msnbc.com/hKxjuZ

BP cleanup a 'cover-up,' La. says, pointing to oil

4:54 PM ET, Fri, January 7, 2011

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

PORT SULPHUR, Louisiana - Federal and Louisiana officials got into a heated argument Friday over the cleanup of oiled marshes during a tour of an area that remains fouled 8½ months after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. 

State and Plaquemines Parish officials took reporters on a boat tour of Barataria Bay, pointing out an area where oil continues to eat away at marshes and protective boom is either absent or has been gobbled up by the oil. The heavily saturated area that reporters saw was 30 feet to 100 feet wide in sections. No cleanup workers were there when reporters toured the area. 

The marshes are critical to the Louisiana coast because they protect the shore from hurricanes and serve as a nursery for Gulf sea life. 

"This is the biggest cover-up in the history of America," Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser told reporters, gesturing with his gloved right hand, which was covered in oil. 

. . . 

Read entire story at http://on.msnbc.com/hKxjuZ

Panel: Feds blocked worst-case Gulf spill figures

7:16 p.m. ET, Wed., October 6, 2010

DINA CAPPIELLO
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration blocked efforts by government scientists to tell the public just how bad the Gulf oil spill could become and made other missteps that raised questions about its competence and candor during the crisis, according to a commission appointed by the president to investigate the disaster.

In documents released Wednesday, the national oil spill commission's staff describes "not an incidental public relations problem" by the White House in the wake of the April 20 accident.

Among other things, the report says, the administration made erroneous early estimates of the spill's size, and President Barack Obama's senior energy adviser went on national TV and mischaracterized a government analysis by saying it showed most of the oil was "gone." The analysis actually said it could still be there.

"By initially underestimating the amount of oil flow and then, at the end of the summer, appearing to underestimate the amount of oil remaining in the Gulf, the federal government created the impression that it was either not fully competent to handle the spill or not fully candid with the American people about the scope of the problem," the report says.

The administration disputed the commission findings, saying senior government officials "were clear with the public public what the worst-case flow rate could be."

In a statement Wednesday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco and White House budget director Jeffrey Zients pointed out that in early May, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen told the public that the worst-case scenario could be more than 100,000 barrels a day, or 4.2 million gallons.

For the first time, the documents — which are preliminary findings by the panel's staff — show that the White House was directly involved in controlling the message as it struggled to convey that it, not BP, was in charge of responding to what eventually became the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Citing interviews with government officials, the report reveals that in late April or early May, the White House budget office denied a request from NOAA to make public its worst-case estimate of how much oil could spew from the blown-out well. The Unified Command — the government team in charge of the spill response — also was discussing the possibility of making the numbers public, the report says.

The White House budget office has traditionally been a clearinghouse for administration domestic policy.

The report shows "the political process was in charge and science really does not have the role that was touted," said Christopher D'Elia, dean of environmental studies at Louisiana State University.

But Jerry Miller, head of the White House science office's ocean subcommittee, told The Associated Press in an interview at a St. Petersburg, Fla., scientific conference on the oil spill that he didn't think the budget office censored NOAA.

"I would very much doubt that anyone would put restrictions on NOAA's ability to articulate factual information," Miller said.

The explosion in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers, spewed 206 million gallons of oil from the damaged oil well, and sank the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

BP's drilling permit for the well originally estimated the worst-case scenario to be a leak of 6.8 million gallons per day. In late April, just after the spill began, the Coast Guard and NOAA received an updated worst-case estimate of 2.7 million to 4.6 million gallons per day.

While those figures were used as the basis for the government's response to the spill — they appeared on an internal Coast Guard situation report and on a dry-erase board in NOAA's Seattle war room — they were never announced to the public, according to the report.

However, they were, in fact, announced, as news stories from May 2 to May 5 show, though the figures received little attention at the time.

For more than a month after the explosion, government officials were telling the public that the well was releasing 210,000 gallons per day. In early August, in its final estimate of the spill's flow, the government said it was gushing 2.6 million gallons per day — close to the worst-case predictions.

The documents also criticize Carol Browner, director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, saying that during a series of morning-show appearances on Aug. 4, she misrepresented the findings of a federal analysis of where the oil went and incorrectly portrayed it as a scientific assessment that was peer-reviewed by inside and outside experts.

"I think it's also important to note that our scientists have done an initial assessment, and more than three-quarters of the oil is gone," Browner said on NBC's "Today" show.

But the analysis never said it was gone, according to the commission. It said it was dispersed, dissolved or evaporated — meaning it could still be there. And while NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco was more cautious in her remarks at a news conference at the White House later that day, the commission staff accuses the two senior officials of contributing to the perception that the government's findings were more exact than they actually were.

Florida State University professor Ian MacDonald, who has repeatedly clashed with NOAA and the Coast Guard over the size of the spill, the existence of underwater plumes and oil in the sea floor, said he felt gratified by the report.

From the beginning, there was "a contradiction between discoveries and concerns by academic scientists and statements by NOAA," MacDonald said in an interview with the AP at the oil spill conference.

And he said it is still going on. MacDonald and Georgia Tech scientist Joseph Montoya said NOAA is at it again with statements saying there is no oil in ocean floor sediments. A University of Georgia science cruise, which Montoya was on, found ample evidence of oil on the Gulf floor.

___

Associated Press Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed reporting from St. Petersburg, Fla.