Deepwater Horizon

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How to Stop Spill? Lawmakers Try Prayer

Today's the day to ask for God's help in stemming the flow

(Newser) - The efforts by mere mortals to stop the crude oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from the disabled Deepwater Horizon have been a series of failures, followed by partial, and precarious at that, successes at diverting the flow. So Louisiana state legislators decided it was necessary to appeal to...

Gulf Shrimpers, Out of a Job, Work for BP

Oil giant pays victims competitive wages to clean up its mess

(Newser) - For shrimpers on the Gulf of Mexico unable to practice their trade because of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, one employment option remains: working for BP, the company that destroyed their livelihood. The oil giant's "Vessels of Opportunity" program covers costs and pays trawlers close to what they would...

BP Well Almost Blew Up Months Earlier

Good thing they learned from their mistakes

(Newser) - BP knew its Macondo well was in trouble long before it exploded—because it was dealing with cracks in its seal way back in February. The company spent 10 days trying to seal up the holes, experiencing repeated difficulties that suggest it was using the wrong kind of cement. Cracks...

Obama Gulf Speech 'Too Professorial'

10th-grade level speech too high for target audience, language guru says

(Newser) - President Obama's Oval Office address on the Gulf disaster was a misfire because it went over the heads of much of its target audience, according to language guru Paul Payack. Obama's sentences were too long and complex, making him sound aloof, out of touch, and professorial, said Payack, whose company...

Obama: 'We Will Make BP Pay'
 Obama: 'We Will Make BP Pay' 
Jun 15, 2010 7:35 PM CDT

Obama: 'We Will Make BP Pay'

He accuses company of 'recklessness'

(Newser) - President Obama accused BP of "recklessness" in the first Oval Office address of his presidency tonight and swore not to rest until the company has paid for the damage it has caused to lives, businesses, and shorelines. He announced that he had asked former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus to...

Oil Spill Estimate Surges (Again)

Ceiling is now 60K barrels a day, up from 40K

(Newser) - Another talking point for the president tonight: Government scientists have once again raised the estimate of how much oil is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. The well is spewing between 1.47 million and 2.52 million gallons a day, or somewhere between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels....

BP Emails: 'Who Cares? It's Done'

Engineers discussed, dismissed safety risks

(Newser) - BP engineers were well aware of all the risks they were taking with the Deepwater Horizon well, but essentially chose to ignore them because they were under pressure to finish the job quickly, emails obtained by Congress reveal. “We have flipped design parameters around to the point I got...

'Chaotic' Gulf Cleanup Efforts Slammed

Unclear chain of command, poor response plans have made a mess of cleanup

(Newser) - The mess in the Gulf of Mexico is much worse than it would have if there had been one good response plan in place instead of five shoddy ones, officials of all stripes tell the New York Times . The cleanup effort, experts say, has been bedeviled by a lack of...

BP Rig Registered With Tiny Pacific Nation to Skirt US Oversight

Classified a ship, Deepwater Horizon evaded stiffer US safety standards

(Newser) - Turns out it wasn’t America’s job to inspect or set safety standards for the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon rig. That responsibility fell to the Marshall Islands—a tiny, impoverished cluster of atolls in the Pacific Ocean. Why? Because oil rigs are classified as ships, the Los Angeles Times explains,...

Congress: BP Took 'Shortcuts' to Save Money

Investigators say firm compromised safety before explosion

(Newser) - Congressional investigators have sent a letter to Tony Hayward demanding he address some “serious questions about the decisions made by BP in the days and hours before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon.” The letter, which comes from Henry Waxman and other House Energy Committee Democrats, alleges that...

Petroleum Is Everywhere ... Including Your Shower
 Petroleum Is Everywhere 
 ...  Including Your Shower 
OIL SPILL FALLOUT
Jun 13, 2010 5:17 AM CDT

Petroleum Is Everywhere ... Including Your Shower

Chemicals touch on every aspect of modern life

(Newser) - Before you vow to exact revenge for the BP oil catastrophe by swearing off petroleum, take a look around: It's everywhere. Not just in the gas tank of your car, but all over the car, in your closet, in your kitchen, even in your shower. "A bottle of shampoo...

Gulf Oil Spill Fallout Baffles Scientists

Scientists have little experience with oil from below

(Newser) - The Gulf oil spill will affect all living things in the area—but determining what those consequences will be is stumping the best minds in environmental science. There's never been an oil spill of the magnitude of the Deepwater Horizon accident on the ocean floor, and data is scarce on...

AP Journalist Takes a Dive in the Oily Gulf

(Newser) - Intrepid AP journalist Rich Matthews took an oily dip into the Gulf and found it to be quite a scary experience. Five seconds into the dive his mask was smeared with oil. Below the surface, he could see only oil; there was nothing alive under the slick. It was dark...

BP: It Will Soon Be Only a 'Trickle'

Company optimistic amid growing skepticism

(Newser) - On a day when skepticism about BP's oil-cleaning ways is at a high pitch, take this for what it's worth: The company tells AP that the gushing oil "should be down to a relative trickle by Monday or Tuesday." (Or maybe the key word is "relative."...

BP Paper Trail Shows Many Warnings on Safety Shortcuts

Workers were pressured into not reporting safety problems

(Newser) - BP bosses can't claim they weren't warned that the company risked disaster if it didn't start obeying safety and environmental laws, according to internal memos an insider has leaked to ProPublica. A series of investigations, focusing on the company's Alaska operations, found that management, putting oil production far ahead of...

Obama Weighing 'Whose Ass to Kick'

 Obama Weighing 
 'Whose Ass to Kick' 
AND he'd fire BP CEO
Jun 8, 2010 7:36 AM CDT

Obama Weighing 'Whose Ass to Kick'

He'll make company pay 'if it's the last thing I do'

(Newser) - President Obama offered an impassioned defense of his administration’s handling of the oil spill today, promising to make sure BP paid for the disaster “if it’s the last thing I do.” In an interview on the Today Show , Obama said he would have already fired Tony...

Obama to Reopen Drilling in Gulf Shallows

Deep water drilling moratorium to stay put

(Newser) - The government's almost ready to release new safety standards that will allow companies to start searching for oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico again, President Obama said yesterday. Obama was seeking to reassure Gulf residents worried that the moratorium introduced after the Deepwater Horizon will destroy thousands of...

BP 'Very Pleased' With Progress

Cap is still catching only about a third of gushing oil

(Newser) - The latest update from BP keeps things about the same: News isn't good, but it's not quite as horrible as it once was. The company said this afternoon that the new cap is still working and collected 250,000 gallons of oil in its first 24 hours. That's less than...

Tar Balls Hit Fla. Beaches as Obama Returns to Gulf

Residents plan 'last swim' before more oil arrives

(Newser) - Beachgoers in Florida got their first taste of the Gulf oil spill today as tar balls—some as large as hubcaps—washed up on Panhandle beaches. BP crews at some locations swept up the refuse, instructing visitors not to touch the balls. Although Florida has yet to declare swimming in...

BP Gets Lid in Place, But Oil Still Spews

It will take a while to know whether it's working

(Newser) - After several hours, BP crews managed to get a lid in place over their gushing well, though how effective it will be remains unclear. The live feed shows that oil is still spewing from the site—the cut of the broken riser pipe wasn't as clean as planned, making for...

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