Archive for February, 2011Monday, February 28th, 2011
BP has become increasingly difficult to work with in efforts to repair the damage done by the explosion of its oil rig in April 2010, stated Garret Graves, the vice chairman of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force. The restoration plan is set to be completed by October 2011, but BP “appears to be pulling the drawbridges up a bit,” reported the Associated Press on February 28, 2011. The state of Louisiana hoped that BP would take actions to pay for the restoration of oyster grounds, wetlands, and a fish hatchery that were all damaged by the BP spill, but BP has not fulfilled promises it made in November 2010 to set up quick restoration projects.
Saturday, February 19th, 2011
A report from Contra Costa Times on February 19, 2011 states that oil from the BP spill is not degrading as anticipated, according to research from University of Georgia marine scientist Samantha Joye. At the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in Washington, Joye presented video and slides of the Gulf of Mexico’s sea floor from her submarine dive in December 2010. The findings contrast colleagues’ research showing that magic microbes consumed the majority of the oil. Joye’s research, however, demonstrates that the microbes consumed only ten percent of the oil. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Lab scientist Terry Hazen, the findings differ due to Joye’s more widespread search. The oil continues to consume sea creatures such as crabs, brittle stars, and tube worms. The damage is result of not only the large amount of methane mixed into the gulf, but also the soot left from the burning oil of the Maconado well. In light of these findings, Joye believes a full recovery by 2012, the timeline anticipated by BP Claims Czar Kenneth Feinberg, is unlikely.
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Foreshadowing the explosion on April 20, 2010 aboard the Deepwater Horizon, a former official with BP’s drilling operations resigned just months before the spill due to disagreements over safety procedures. Kevin Lacy, BP’s formers senior vice president for drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, allegedly resigned in December 2009 because of the lack of safety improvements and adherence to protocols aboard the rig and in comparison to its industry peers. This allegation is from the amended version of the class action lawsuit filed last year against BP that claims the company inflated its stock price and hid information about safety practices before the oil spill. Lacy’s departure coincided with several other personnel changes in the BP’s Gulf of Mexico region, such that four of the five senior drilling officials aboard the Deepwater Horizon were at their posts only for a few months before the disaster occurred.
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Three members of Congress, U.S. Representative Jo Bonner, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, and U.S. Representative Steven Palazzo, criticized Kenneth Feinberg for the criteria in determining eligibility for BP claims compensation, reported Alabama Liveon February 15, 2011. In a letter to Feinberg, Bonner outlines seven specific critiques against the criteria for BP claims, ranging from the lack of guidelines in proving damages to the ambiguity over required documentation. Bonner alleged that Feinberg has consistently denied claims to businesses impacted from the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
“Tens of thousands of fishermen, oyster shuckers, business owners, hotel operators and hairdressers still await payment. Many others whose claims have been turned down question the evenhandedness. And without the data to determine who is right, attorneys general and members of Congress question the openness,” the Associated Press reported on February 15, 2011.
Kenneth Feinberg manages the claims proceedings and maintains that while the system is clogged by the volume of oil spill claims, he has done his best to balance public knowledge with individual confidentiality. Claimants, however, feel that the lack of federal oversight in Feinberg’s operations leaves unverifiable payment distributions and suspicions of whether BP is influencing the process. To date, the fund has doled out $3.4 billion of the $20 billion to 169,000 individuals. In response to the claim criticism, Feinberg is urging people to appeal the fund’s decisions. The Coast Guard has agreed with all of the fund’s decisions in the 264 appeals reviewed thus far.
Friday, February 11th, 2011
The April 2010 BP oil spill along the Gulf Coast continues to devastate the tourism industry in the region, reported San Jose Mercury News. The beaches along the Gulf Coast drew one million less visitors in 2010 than 2009, even with the extensive discounts, stated a report by the Alabama Tourism Department. In addition to the beaches, the Gulf State Park recorded nearly half a million fewer visitors in 2010 than in 2009, while parks across the rest of Alabama saw an increase. In hopes of increasing the once booming tourism industry, the Alabama Tourism Department is featuring its beaches on the cover of this year’s vacation guide, calendar, and the state map.
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011
BP Claims Czar Kenneth Feinberg and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility are receiving heavy backlash for their proposed plan to calculate damage payments owed to those affected by the BP oil spill, reported Nola.com. The proposal seeks to account for monetary losses as a result of the disaster by subtracting income earned between May 2010 and December 2010 from the average income earned in 2008 and 2009. Claimants argue this method disregards income and business revenues received during the four months prior to the April 20, 2010 disaster. One such critique came from Tony Buzbee, remarking that this hole “is a crucial weakness because, in many industries, the first four months of the year represent the greatest opportunity for the business to generate revenues.” Many lucrative holidays also fall within this period, including Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, Spring Break, and Easter.
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
The Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System and other investors claim in a lawsuit that in the years before the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion, BP repeatedly ignored warning signs and necessary well maintenance in favor of cost-cutting measures, despite “repeated guilty pleas, warnings, employee death and injuries, and criminal and civil penalties.” The investors seek reforms in BP management and damages from the executives and board members to be paid to the company. Investors’ lawyers claim that BP is responsible for monetary losses, and should have taken measures to avoid additional disasters after the explosion at its Texas City refinery in 2006 that killed 15 workers, as well as the ruptured Alaskan pipeline in 2006 that spilled 267,000 gallons of oil into the bay. Kenneth R. Feinberg, the administrator of the $20-billion compensation fund for gulf oil spill victims, is not independent from BP and must stop telling potential claimants that he is, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled on February 2, 2011. Judge Barbier said Feinberg must clearly disclose in all communications that he is acting for and on behalf of BP in fulfilling its obligations as the responsible party under the Oil Pollution Act. Feinberg has stated that Gulf region will make a full recovery from the oil spill disaster by the end of 2012, with a 30% recovery in 2011.
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| Archive for February, 2011Monday, February 28th, 2011
BP has become increasingly difficult to work with in efforts to repair the damage done by the explosion of its oil rig in April 2010, stated Garret Graves, the vice chairman of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force. The restoration plan is set to be completed by October 2011, but BP “appears to be pulling the drawbridges up a bit,” reported the Associated Press on February 28, 2011. The state of Louisiana hoped that BP would take actions to pay for the restoration of oyster grounds, wetlands, and a fish hatchery that were all damaged by the BP spill, but BP has not fulfilled promises it made in November 2010 to set up quick restoration projects.
Saturday, February 19th, 2011
A report from Contra Costa Times on February 19, 2011 states that oil from the BP spill is not degrading as anticipated, according to research from University of Georgia marine scientist Samantha Joye. At the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in Washington, Joye presented video and slides of the Gulf of Mexico’s sea floor from her submarine dive in December 2010. The findings contrast colleagues’ research showing that magic microbes consumed the majority of the oil. Joye’s research, however, demonstrates that the microbes consumed only ten percent of the oil. According to Lawrence Berkeley National Lab scientist Terry Hazen, the findings differ due to Joye’s more widespread search. The oil continues to consume sea creatures such as crabs, brittle stars, and tube worms. The damage is result of not only the large amount of methane mixed into the gulf, but also the soot left from the burning oil of the Maconado well. In light of these findings, Joye believes a full recovery by 2012, the timeline anticipated by BP Claims Czar Kenneth Feinberg, is unlikely.
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Foreshadowing the explosion on April 20, 2010 aboard the Deepwater Horizon, a former official with BP’s drilling operations resigned just months before the spill due to disagreements over safety procedures. Kevin Lacy, BP’s formers senior vice president for drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, allegedly resigned in December 2009 because of the lack of safety improvements and adherence to protocols aboard the rig and in comparison to its industry peers. This allegation is from the amended version of the class action lawsuit filed last year against BP that claims the company inflated its stock price and hid information about safety practices before the oil spill. Lacy’s departure coincided with several other personnel changes in the BP’s Gulf of Mexico region, such that four of the five senior drilling officials aboard the Deepwater Horizon were at their posts only for a few months before the disaster occurred.
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Three members of Congress, U.S. Representative Jo Bonner, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, and U.S. Representative Steven Palazzo, criticized Kenneth Feinberg for the criteria in determining eligibility for BP claims compensation, reported Alabama Liveon February 15, 2011. In a letter to Feinberg, Bonner outlines seven specific critiques against the criteria for BP claims, ranging from the lack of guidelines in proving damages to the ambiguity over required documentation. Bonner alleged that Feinberg has consistently denied claims to businesses impacted from the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
“Tens of thousands of fishermen, oyster shuckers, business owners, hotel operators and hairdressers still await payment. Many others whose claims have been turned down question the evenhandedness. And without the data to determine who is right, attorneys general and members of Congress question the openness,” the Associated Press reported on February 15, 2011.
Kenneth Feinberg manages the claims proceedings and maintains that while the system is clogged by the volume of oil spill claims, he has done his best to balance public knowledge with individual confidentiality. Claimants, however, feel that the lack of federal oversight in Feinberg’s operations leaves unverifiable payment distributions and suspicions of whether BP is influencing the process. To date, the fund has doled out $3.4 billion of the $20 billion to 169,000 individuals. In response to the claim criticism, Feinberg is urging people to appeal the fund’s decisions. The Coast Guard has agreed with all of the fund’s decisions in the 264 appeals reviewed thus far.
Friday, February 11th, 2011
The April 2010 BP oil spill along the Gulf Coast continues to devastate the tourism industry in the region, reported San Jose Mercury News. The beaches along the Gulf Coast drew one million less visitors in 2010 than 2009, even with the extensive discounts, stated a report by the Alabama Tourism Department. In addition to the beaches, the Gulf State Park recorded nearly half a million fewer visitors in 2010 than in 2009, while parks across the rest of Alabama saw an increase. In hopes of increasing the once booming tourism industry, the Alabama Tourism Department is featuring its beaches on the cover of this year’s vacation guide, calendar, and the state map.
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011
BP Claims Czar Kenneth Feinberg and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility are receiving heavy backlash for their proposed plan to calculate damage payments owed to those affected by the BP oil spill, reported Nola.com. The proposal seeks to account for monetary losses as a result of the disaster by subtracting income earned between May 2010 and December 2010 from the average income earned in 2008 and 2009. Claimants argue this method disregards income and business revenues received during the four months prior to the April 20, 2010 disaster. One such critique came from Tony Buzbee, remarking that this hole “is a crucial weakness because, in many industries, the first four months of the year represent the greatest opportunity for the business to generate revenues.” Many lucrative holidays also fall within this period, including Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, Spring Break, and Easter.
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
The Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System and other investors claim in a lawsuit that in the years before the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion, BP repeatedly ignored warning signs and necessary well maintenance in favor of cost-cutting measures, despite “repeated guilty pleas, warnings, employee death and injuries, and criminal and civil penalties.” The investors seek reforms in BP management and damages from the executives and board members to be paid to the company. Investors’ lawyers claim that BP is responsible for monetary losses, and should have taken measures to avoid additional disasters after the explosion at its Texas City refinery in 2006 that killed 15 workers, as well as the ruptured Alaskan pipeline in 2006 that spilled 267,000 gallons of oil into the bay. Kenneth R. Feinberg, the administrator of the $20-billion compensation fund for gulf oil spill victims, is not independent from BP and must stop telling potential claimants that he is, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled on February 2, 2011. Judge Barbier said Feinberg must clearly disclose in all communications that he is acting for and on behalf of BP in fulfilling its obligations as the responsible party under the Oil Pollution Act. Feinberg has stated that Gulf region will make a full recovery from the oil spill disaster by the end of 2012, with a 30% recovery in 2011. |
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