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Gulf Coast Disaster - Thursday, October 21

2010-10-21T17:01:14Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

- Court ruling: Safety drilling rules improperly issued
- Gulf coast faces $350b in climate change damages by 2030
- Conservation groups sue BP
- Omega Protein Corp. gets nearly $19 million in oil claim payments
- Indiana shrimp farming gets a bump from oil spill

Today’s summary
It was easy to forget the Exxon Valdez because Alaska was so long ago, so far away and 24/7 media coverage did not yet exist. But it’s going to be harder to forget the Gulf of Mexico oil spill because its images appeared on television for six months and the plight of thousands of people along the Gulf pulled at everyone’s heart strings. The disaster has fallen off the national news and the front pages. But sores continue to fester. A federal judge in New Orleans just issued another ruling that favors the oil industry. Conservation groups are suing BP for destroying wildlife. And in an action likely to incense Gulf coast residents, Omega Protein Corp is receiving nearly $19 million from the Gulf claims fund for its losses relating to a shortened fishing season from the oil spill. It certainly appears that the next phase of the Gulf oil spill will be playing out in court, in Congress and in the halls of public opinion.

Quotable Quote
"You tell me what that is. That's oil," a shrimper said after plucking a caught shrimp from a bin. "What else is it? What's gonna happen to this shrimp five years from now? Is anybody gonna be able to eat it? That's what I want to know."

And see this one, too
"The harmful effects of the BP oil well blowout on endangered and threatened wildlife will continue for many years," said Gregory Buppert, attorney for Defenders of Wildlife, one of the plaintiffs who sued BP for destroying the Gulf’s wildlife.

National News

AP: Court ruling: Safety drilling rules improperly issued
U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans has already signaled he’s a friend of Big Oil in his rulings on the Gulf oil spill. On Tuesday, he did it again, ruling that the Interior Department improperly issued new safety rules after it imposed a moratorium on deep water drilling in the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill.

Read more
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11930966

ABC: It’s not over yet
There is evidence that the Gulf of Mexico is healing. People are beginning to work again. But patches of thick oil are not dwindling, and there are still many spots where it has leached into the landscape. ABC News returns to the Gulf coast to report that the disaster still resonates on land and among the people of the Gulf.

Read more
http://abcnews.go.com/WN/bp-oil-spill-months-louisiana-gulf-coast-struggles/story?id=11927147

Bloomberg: Gulf coast faces $350b in climate change damages by 2030
The future for the Gulf coast is pretty grim in many ways, not just the protracted recovery from the devastating oil spill. A study released by Entergy Corp. estimates the Gulf coast may face $350 billion in economic damage by 2030 as extreme weather fueled by climate change wreaks havoc on the region.

Read more
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-20/u-s-gulf-coast-faces-350-billion-in-climate-damage-by-2030-study-shows.html

RTT News: Conservation groups sue BP
Another day, another lawsuit against BP. Three conservation groups filed a suit Wednesday in federal court in New Orleans against oil giant BP for the killing of endangered and threatened wildlife and the harm caused by its massive oil spill. Defenders of Wildlife, Gulf Restoration Network Inc., and Save-the-Manatee Club Inc., alleged in their complaint that more than 27 federally-protected species inhabiting the Gulf region were harmed by the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Read more
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1451413&SM=1

NPR: A new device to contain the next oil spill
The BP oil spill has generated lots of ideas for the future, most of them tools to deal with the next big oil disaster. Exxon Mobile is building a more efficient system to contain oil in deep water. A scientist said that once built and tested, the cap-and-siphon contraption could be deployed and in use within weeks of a future well blowout.

Read more
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130700256

Regional

Reuters: Omega Protein Corp. gets nearly $19 million in oil claim payments
Until now, BP’s $20 billion victim fund appeared to be focusing on the many people whose lives and livelihoods have been disrupted by the Gulf oil spill. Now comes word that Omega Protein Corp., a producer of Omega-3 fish oil and specialty fish meal products, has received $18.7 million in payments from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. The company sought reimbursement of costs or lost profits due to dwindled fish catch.

Read more
http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFSGE69J0LO20101020

USA Today: The bill for destroying wildlife
Environmental economists and scientists will be trying for years to put price tags on the animals killed and habitat destroyed by the massive Gulf oil spill in 2010. Federal and state authorities ultimately will send their bill to BP and the other companies responsible for the spill.

Read more
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2010-10-21-pelican21_ST_N.htm

Purdue News: Indiana shrimp farming gets a bump from oil spill
Indiana's aquaculture industry could help fill a void in shrimp production left by the BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast. With consumers wary about eating shrimp in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, Indiana’s shrimp farms are ready to step in with produce.

Read more
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/general/2010/101020QuagrainieAquacultu.html

Times-Picayune: Plaquemines Parish continues to mop up
It’s still cleanup time in Plaquemines Parish. Crews have collected thousands of gallons of oil-water from parish waterways and filled thousands more bags of oily waste and tar balls from parish shorelines in the last two months. And the work is not yet done.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/plaquemines_parish_continues_m.html

Feature

Wlox.com: A long line snakes around the corner as Gulf victims seek aid
The line of people outside the Gulf Coast Claims Facility in St. Martin, Miss., forms early, and grows quickly. People from all walks of life are standing in line, hoping for the best. Everyone knows the financial difficulties these people have endured since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. What folks may not realize is the mental problems these people have suffered as well, because of that spill.

Read more
http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=13351560

Check this one out, too

Times-Picayune: Charity groups: Gulf residents still need help
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/charity_groups_say_oil_spill_v.html

Gulf Coast Disaster - Wednesday, October 20

2010-10-20T18:08:15Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

- Where’s the money?
- Feinberg lays out fund plans through 2013
- Greenpeace sub dives to investigate 6 months out
- BP to drill in deeper water
- BP campaign contributions are toxic

Today’s summary
The sixth month anniversary of the Gulf oil spill lands on the calendar today with many unanswered questions and unresolved issues. One of the biggest is what is happening to BP’s $20 billion claims process and the scattered way that critics say it is being distributed to victims. "You will always find constructive criticism" when so many claims are being processed and so much money is being paid out and "the claims are coming fast and furious," claims administrator Kenneth Feinberg says. "You will always be able to find the claimant who has been misled or misunderstood or given the runaround. It's inevitable." But the numbers are looking good on the surface at least. As of Monday, 209,723 claims have been filed, with 73,346 having been approved for payment, according to the fund's website. About one-third of the claims - 72,056 - require additional documentation. So far, $1.49 billion has been paid out. If this were just about the numbers, it could be smoothed out easily. But it is about the rape of the Gulf of Mexico, the big guy versus the little ones, the feeling of helplessness in the wake of a manmade tragedy. The bottom line is that it is essential for government and for BP to make sure the people of the Gulf know they are not alone.

Quotable Quote
“This is a somber anniversary, and one that should remind the American people that the work to restore the Gulf is far from over” – Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass.

National News

Wall Street Journal: Where’s the money?
The Wall Street Journal takes a close look at the BP $20 billion fund that is supposed to ease the pain for Gulf coast residents. Despite claims czar Ken Feinberg’s promise to make it fast and get it in the hands of the victims easily, it has had many bumpy starts. Some Gulf businesses were paid in full right away, while their neighbors received nothing or only part of what they requested, without explanation, sparking complaints about inequity.

Read more
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703673604575549970587948384.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

Also see
Washington Post: BP’s money is changing the Gulf as much as the oil did
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2010/10/19/ST2010101907510.html?sid=ST2010101907510

AP: Six months later, much is unknown
It could be years before the Gulf oil spill is understood. Six months after the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion, the environment and economy of the entire northern Gulf of Mexico region remain in a state of uncertainty, with overturned livelihoods, out-of-work fishermen, reluctant tourists, widespread emotional anguish and untold damage to the sea and its shores.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/6-months-after-oil-spill-much-remains-unknown/1f5fc86663014a0799dcae77815a2abe

Fox10tv.com: Feinberg lays out plans for fund through 2013
In a letter to Ala. Sen. Jeff Sessions, claims czar Ken Feinberg lays out the timetable for his work. The Gulf Coast Claims Facility (“GCCF”) will remain up and running through August 2013, with the goal of compensating eligible claimants for future financial harm that may today be uncertain and unpredictable., Feinberg said.

Read more
http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/gulf_oil_spill/feinberg-responds-to-sessions

Los Angeles Times: Greenpeace sub dives to investigate 6 months out
This is no anniversary to celebrate but Greenpeace is marking the six-month occasion of the Gulf oil spill by sending a two-person submarine down in the vicinity of the BP well that blew out April 20, nearly a mile below the Gulf of Mexico's surface. What will they find? And will it help their movement to stop further deepwater drilling?

Read more
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/10/gulf-oil-spill-six-month-anniversary-brings-disaster-back-in-focus.html

AP: BP to drill in deeper water
BP has no plans to stop deepwater drilling despite the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A BP executive said Tuesday that BP and the oil industry will drill in deeper waters and go farther in their search for oil reserves, and must understand the risks so they can mitigate them in the future.

Read more
http://www.wishtv.com/dpps/green_living/national_green/bp-says-company-to-drill-in-deeper-water-assess-risk-nt10-jgr_3615955

Tampa Tribune: No way worst is over
The government and oil industry executives told the annual Clean Gulf Conference in Tampa Tuesday that the worst of the oil spill is past. But Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, went livid and said there is no way the disaster has passed.

Read more
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/oct/20/201027/at-tampa-conference-la-official-disputes-bp-claims/news-breaking/

Editorial

Baltimore Sun: Don’t let industry and the government fool us again
Now that the spill is no longer on the national news every night, let's not forget how bad this one was. More than 600 miles of Gulf Coast were hit with oil, thousands of birds died, 1,000 rare sea turtles either died or were severely oiled and hundreds of square miles of sensitive marsh were covered in oil. Tens of thousands of fishermen and tourism workers were put out of work, writes Jon Wong for Environment Maryland.

Read more
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-oil-spill-20101019,0,2981379.story

Huffington Post: Keep on top of the Gulf
It could take decades before we fully understand the Gulf oil spill. But we have to aggressively pursue answers to the harm caused by the spill and clearly define what a healthy Gulf should look like, writes Vikki Spruill.

Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vikki-n-spruill/six-months-later-keeping-_b_768990.html

Feature

Center for Responsive Politics: BP campaign contributions are toxic
Just about everything related to BP is soiled these days, and the oil giant knows it. So it is no surprise that BP avoided giving many campaign contributions in the latest cycle as the Gulf oil spill unfolded in the Gulf. An analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group, finds that BP did not write a single check to federal lawmakers in September, according to the center’s review of campaign finance documents filed on Tuesday. In fact, the PAC has not donated a dime to any federal lawmakers since May. Instead, the PAC has focused its attention during the past several months on state-level candidates.

Read more
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/10/bp-campaign-cash-still-toxic.html

Graphics

CNN Video: Crude remains beneath the sand six months later
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/20/gulf-oil-spill-crude-rema_n_768258.html

Video: Oil spill crew hides dead fish on public beaches
http://www.care2.com/causes/environment/blog/crews-try-to-hide-dead-fish/

Gulf Coast Disaster - Tuesday, October 19

2010-10-19T18:01:08Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

- Feds report little oil left in Gulf
- BP to waive $75 million cap on some liability claims
- Six-month anniversary: Gulf ecological health still gets a bad grade
- BP shuffles oil spill personnel
- BP raises $1.8 billion in asset sale
- Where the oil spill isn’t over

Today’s summary
The six-month anniversary of the oil spill is Wednesday but it’s nothing to celebrate. The Feds report the oil is pretty much gone from the sea. But scientists still give the Gulf bad grades when it comes to its environmental health. BP is still on the hot seat as it works to recover from this disaster. It’s shuffled its top personnel in the Gulf and has raised $1.8 billion in an asset sale to pay for the Gulf. It has said that it intends to stay in town until the oil disaster is fixed. And that may be a long time because it may be years before the full impact of millions of gallons of oil spewing into the sea is finally assessed. And in one show of good faith, the oil company waived the $75 million cap on damages for some oil spill claims. The future is out of its hands. It’s up to Congress now to come up with tougher environmental regulations and harder rules for the oil industry. That may be wistful thinking for environmentalists since it’s widely predicted that the House of Representatives will flip sides to Republican control on Election Day in two weeks, and it’s well-known that the GOP is hostile to environmental concerns and more partial to the oil industry that are big Republican donors.

Quotable Quote
"We trawled for over 10 days trying to catch tar balls, and in all those trawls that we made we caught one tar ball," reports Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukumft.

National News

Times-Picayune: Feds report little oil left in Gulf
It’s hard to believe the oil is gone. But the federal government's top responders to the oil spill are reporting on-the-water findings that couldn't have been imagined at the height of the crisis four months ago: very little recoverable oil still in the water or at the bottom, few trace amounts of dispersant chemicals and no samples of contaminated seafood in open water or in the marshes.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/federal_leaders_of_gulf_of_mex.html

AP: BP to waive $75 million cap on some liability claims
BP has said repeatedly it’s committed to the Gulf until it is cleaned up and the company would pay all legitimate claims. Monday, it made good on its promise when it informed a federal judge Monday that the company is waiving a $75 million cap on its liability for certain economic damage claims spawned by the massive Gulf oil spill.

Read more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/18/AR2010101805151.html?hpid=sec-business

AP: Six-month anniversary: Gulf still gets a bad grade
The six-month anniversary of the Gulf oil spill is Wednesday but it will take much longer to see the full effects of the largest offshore oil spill in US history. In an informal survey, 35 researchers who study the Gulf lowered their rating of its ecological health by several points, compared to their assessment before the BP well gushed millions of gallons of oil. On a scale of 0 to 100, the overall average grade for the oiled Gulf was 65 – down from 71 before the spill.

Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/18/gulf-oil-spill-6-month-an_n_766907.html

Check this one out, too
http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/Oil_Spill_May_Have_Had_Less_Impact_On_Overall_Health_Of_Gulf_105249293.html

Wall Street Journal: BP shuffles oil spill personnel
The face of BP’s top players in the Gulf of Mexico is changing. BP’s Gulf of Mexico head Monday survived a management reshuffle but three executives closely involved in the Deepwater Horizon disaster's response are leaving their positions, the company said Monday. One of them, Doug Suttles, one of the public faces of BP's response to the disaster, will move to another job after his position as Upstream chief operating officer disappeared after the division was split.

Read more
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101018-709707.html

New York Times: BP raises $1.8 billion in asset sale
Nice to have a big pocketbook. BP is still into selling its assets to pay for the biggest environmental disaster in US history. On Monday, the oil giant raised $1.8 billion to help pay for the cost of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by selling assets in Venezuela and Vietnam to its own joint venture in Russia.

Read more
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/business/global/19oil.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1287432049-fOMv1DU1Ln1XpGV4JbPeiQ

Bloomberg: Oil industry asks judge not to scrap drill ban lawsuit
The legal fights continue. U.S. regulators haven’t let deep- water drilling resume in the Gulf of Mexico despite lifting a moratorium last week, so an industry lawsuit should continue, opponents of the ban said.

Read more
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-18/oil-industry-asks-judge-not-to-scrap-drill-ban-lawsuit.html

AP: BP to link bonuses to safety performances
Money talks. And it certainly does in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. In the latest example, BP has announced BP employees' performance on safety issues will be the only measure for awarding fourth-quarter bonuses, the British oil company said Tuesday as it tries to tighten performance and clean up its image after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Read more
http://blog.al.com/wire/2010/10/bp_to_link_bonuses_to_safety_p.html

Regional

Times-Picayune: Louisiana hotline to help oil claims
About half of all Louisiana applications to BP’s oil spill claims fund don’t have basic information and the state has decided to do something about it help them. It’s set up a hotline and is paying 10 nonprofit partners to help residents affected by disastrous oil spill get their money.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/state_hotline_set_up_to_help_w.html

News Herald: Grant targets oil spill victims
Gulf Coast Workforce Board officials have received a $1.1 million emergency from the US Labor Department to provide scholarships to workers who lost their job as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Read more
http://www.newsherald.com/news/oil-87862-panama-spill.html

Feature

USA Today: Where the oil spill isn’t over
Much of the Gulf Coast has returned to normalcy since the Macondo well 50 miles offshore of Louisiana was permanently capped last month, ending the worst marine oil spill in U.S. history. But in marshy areas such as Bay Jimmy, La., where the oil had some of its strongest impact, the fight against the crude onslaught continues, even as fewer workers fight it.

Read more
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2010-10-19-oil19_ST_N.htm

Gulf Coast Disaster - Monday, October 18

2010-10-18T17:43:15Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

- First Gulf spill trial could start next June
- BP may seek to cap liability at $75m
- BP’s deep-cleaning of Alabama’s beaches starts Monday
- Little political impact from spill predicted in 2010
- Workers comp may be available for sick cleanup workers
- Significant upswing in cancer expected after oil spill
- Halliburton’s 3Q earnings double despite oil spill

Today’s summary
The oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is almost six months old, and the real question to ask now is this: Will anything change? There’s more scrutiny right now of US oil drilling policies. There’s more caution in the oil industry. But there’s no movement in our car-crazed society to change our habits, drive less frequently or use public transportation more often. It will take time for the lessons of the oil spill to sink in, and maybe they never will. But there already are a few lessons emerging from the Gulf that could be an effective road map for the future. Drilling is not risk-free, that’s for sure. We now realize that better recovery plans must be in place in the event of a disaster. Ret. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal point person for the BP spill, is recommending that an independent organization — not the oil company that caused the spill — should take the lead in future such emergencies. Allen said there was much public distrust of the cleanup effort because BP, which was running the show, still had shareholders to please and an image to protect. Are we going to step up and make some new rules ahead of the next environmental disaster or sit back and flail about when there is another crisis?

Quotable Quote
"One thing we have learned is the oil companies really do have talented engineers," says Jeffrey Rachlinski, a law professor at Cornell. "They can come up with good plans but they're not going to do it unless they have to because it's costly."

National News

Business Week: First Gulf spill trial could start next June
The first trial in the BP oil spill disaster may be a long time getting started. A federal judge signaled Friday that the first trial involving damage claims by businesses and individuals could begin no sooner than next summer. A BP lawyer says that's too soon and wants the judge overseeing this litigation to adopt BP’s recommendation to hold the first trial in 2013 or 2014. “That's not feasible to me," replied U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier.

Read more
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9IS9RMO0.htm

yahoo.com: BP may seek to cap liability at $75m
BP says it wants to do everything it can to make things right in the Gulf of Mexico but now comes word from a BP lawyer in court that it may try to cap its liability at $75 million. "We're shocked over here to hear the defendants now bring up this $75 million cap," a plaintiff’s lawyer said. "We were under the impression it was waived."

Read more
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101016/bs_yblog_upshot/bp-attorney-suggests-that-the-oil-giant-might-seek-to-cap-spill-claims-at-75-million

Check this one out, too
http://www.louisianarecord.com/news/230480-bp-lawyers-wont-confirm-whether-company-will-adhere-to-75-million-cap

AP: Halliburton’s 3Q earnings double despite oil spill
In the first major oil services company to report third-quarter earnings, Halliburton Co. said Monday its net income more than doubled in the third quarter as vigorous drilling for natural gas onshore in the U.S. offset sluggish activity from the BP oil spill and just about everywhere else.

Read more
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/18/business/AP-APFN-US-Earns-Halliburton.html?_r=1&hp

GCN: How NOAA developed an inside view of the Gulf oil spill
NOAA was able to launch a Geospatial Platform on the Gulf oil spill largely by using existing resources. The platform allows the public to search and display data about a wide variety, including oil spill trajectories near the shore, Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Team results, Satellite interpretations for potential oil footprints, location of research and response vessels.

Read more
http://gcn.com/Articles/2010/10/18/GCN-Awards-NOAA-Geospatial-Platform.aspx?sc_lang=en&Page=2

Politics

Washington Post: Oil spill: Little political impact from spill predicted in 2010
It appears that if the spill does have a larger effect on politics, it will likely be felt in 2012 or 2016, not in 2010, according to pollsters. The issue is usually not mentioned in polling this year, and voters seem ambivalent about the disaster unless they are voting in Gulf coast states.

Read more
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/gulf-oil-spills-political-impa.html

Editorial

Washington Times: Time to resume oil drilling
With our economy hobbled and unemployment stuck around 10 percent, the drilling ban cannot end soon enough. The Interior secretary's happy talk aside, the moratorium is not over. President Obama's drilling ban ends the day the first drill bit hits mud at the sea bottom, the Washington Times writes.

Read more
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/oct/15/oil-drilling-doublespeak/

NPR: Is Obama lifting the drilling ban too soon?
Some experts point out that it's inaccurate to only look at drilling jobs that are being lost — it's also important to note the potential losses that could result if the moratorium is lifted prematurely, NPR writes.

Read more
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130534156

Regional

Press release: Workers comp may be available for sick cleanup workers
Workers compensation may be available to cleanup workers who are now suffering the effects of working closely with the oil spill. Many workers have been reporting symptoms such as chest pains, dizziness, respiratory problems and other ill effects from exposure to the dispersants, as well as to the fumes and oil coming from the unprecedented oil spill.

Read more
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release-rss/workers-compensation-issues-for-gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill-workers-174761.php

Press-Register: BP’s deep-cleaning Ala. beaches starts Monday
The next beach cleanup phase at Alabama’s beaches starts on Monday. BP’s cleanup crews begin an intense effort to remove lingering tar balls, tar mats and oil stains and restore the sugar-white sand. The target date for completion: Jan. 1, 2011.

Read more
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/bps_deep_cleaning_to_start_nex.html

Wlox.com: Food voucher program for commercial fishermen
The worst of times is here for commercial fishermen in Mississippi and Louisiana still struggling to feed their families after the BP oil spill. They’ll now have a little help getting food on the table with a new program called MarinersMatch that provides vouchers to families to spend at local farmers markets.

Read more
http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=13336264

Feature

Clarion Ledger: The BP oil well is plugged. Now what?
It will take time and patience in the coming years to study the effects of the Gulf oil spill, writes Denis Wiesenburg, vice president of research at the University of Southern Mississippi. The long-term effects of the Deepwater Horizon well blowout will not be known for decades. BP has committed $500 million to a ten-year environmental study. Long-term scientific data sets will be needed to separate natural ecosystem changes from those resulting from the spill. It’s a tough job, a long haul. And the oil spill will be haunting the Gulf coast and its people for a long time.

Read more
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20101017/OPINION03/10170322/The-BP-oil-well-s-plugged-Now-what-Cleaning-up-the-Gulf

Graphics

Video: Significant upswing in cancer expected after oil spill
http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/significant-upswing-cancer-incidence-gulf-coast-wont-surprise-specialist-extend-beyond-region-video

Gulf Coast Disaster - Friday, October 15

2010-10-15T16:11:56Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

- Government to conduct surprise rig inspections
- Claimants kept in dark by Gulf fund
- US sends 7th bill to BP: this time it’s $62.6 million
- 16,000 workers still on Gulf
- BP spill at center of La. Senate campaign
- Oil spill fuels residents’ desire to flee region

Today’s summary
There’s progress on the regulatory front for safer oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. The US offshore drilling agency is planning to start conducting surprise inspections of oil rigs, a practice that has fallen off in the last five years. It’s a good sign for the better policing of oil exploration that has been sorely needed. Would a surprise inspection have spotted a disaster in the making on the Deepwater Horizon? We’ll never know, but it is one solid step forward in better oversight of oil rigs in the Gulf. Meanwhile, the US has sent its’ 7th bill to BP for cleanup work for the Gulf disaster. This one is for nearly $63 million. BP has already paid more than $517 million for the cost of the cleanup. There are still kinks in the system to give payouts to Gulf coast victims. Dozens of claimants have told ProPublica they are having trouble getting information about their submissions. Claimants say they cannot get explanations for their status, for delays in processing, or for the size of their checks. Claims czar Ken Feinberg promises to do better.

Quotable Quote
"I think unannounced inspections should and must play a significant role in an integrated inspections policy” - Michael Bromwich, who heads the government oversight agency on oil drilling.

And this one
“We have responded to that valid criticism that there’s no way transparency-wise for somebody to get information about their particular claim or calculation” - Claims administrator Kenneth Feinberg

National News

Reuters: Government to conduct surprise rig inspections
Oil rigs in the Gulf better be on their toes! The U.S. offshore drilling agency will begin conducting surprise inspections on oil rigs as part of a new aggressive enforcement effort adopted by the Obama administration since the BP oil spill.

Read more
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69D5YW20101014

Propublica: Claimants kept in dark by Gulf fund
There’s still plenty of headaches for Gulf coast residents seeking payments from the BP $20 billion victims’ fund. It’s possible to check the status of applications on the website of the operation run by claims czar Kenneth Feinberg, but claimants say they cannot get explanations for their status, for delays in processing or how much money they should be getting. Feinberg tells Propublica that his operation should be doing a better job of providing enough information to claimants. He said he has been making changes to improve transparency and responsiveness.

Read more
http://www.propublica.org/article/gulf-spill-fund-offers-little-information-to-claimants

Dow Jones: US sends 7th bill to BP: this time it’s for $62.6 million
There’s nothing worse than getting a bill from the federal government. And for BP, the headache is far worse. It’s just received its 7th bill from the US for recovery operations in the Gulf oil spill. This one is for $62.6 million. To date, BP has paid $517.4 million to the feds on time and without protest.

Read more
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201010141745dowjonesdjonline000626&title=us-sends-7th-bill-to-bpseeking-626-million-for-oil-spill-response

Bloomberg: BP gets sued over another issue
BP is keeping plenty of lawyers in jobs these days. Lawsuits by workers claiming BP’s North American unit mismanaged their retirement savings plan will be sent to the Texas federal court already handling investor claims prompted by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Read more
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-14/bp-employee-savings-lawsuits-sent-to-texas-court-handling-oil-spill-claims.html

Press Release: 16,000 workers still on Gulf
The work on the Gulf coast has not slowed down, according to the Unified Area Command for the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Approximately 16,292 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline, wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines. More than 31,000 water and sediment samples have been taken from the Gulf for testing. Four vessels are conducting sampling operations. The well has been killed, but the work goes on.

Read more
http://www.restorethegulf.gov/release/2010/10/13/unified-area-command-weekly-update

AP: BP gas stations courted by other brands
It’s still a liability to be a BP gas station. In interviews with the AP, station owners from Wisconsin to Virginia say BP dealers are being courted by other brands or are approaching them on their own.

Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/14/bp-gas-station-owners-cou_n_762390.html

Politics

Times-Picayune: Oil spill at center of La. Senate race
It’s getting close to the midterm election, so close that the gloves are coming off in the Louisiana Senate race. Democrat Charlie Melancon fired the latest salvo with a 30-second add that accuses Republican David Vitter of proposing a cap on BP’s financial liability. That’s a pretty sore subject for the Gulf coast residents right now.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/charlie_melancon_ad_targets_da.html

Regional

Fox10tv.com: Sen. Sessions wants answers from Feinberg
Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions wants claims czar Kenneth Feinberg to clarify the process of filing claims and appeals related to the Deepwater Horizon incident. Feinberg was appointed by President Obama to administer the $20 million claims fund set up by BP. Sessions sent a letter to Feinberg with his list of questions based on the senators’ conversations with coastal mayors, individual claimants and small business owners.

Read more
http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/sidebar_stories/sen-sessoins-wants-answers-from-feinberg

AP: Oil spill fuels residents’ desire to flee region
The oil spill has traumatized so many Gulf residents that they want out of the region. A new poll of residents in southern Mobile County has found that it has left about one-third with a desire to leave.

Read more
http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20101014/NEWS/101014018/South+Alabama+poll+shows+oil+spill+s+disruptive+impact

Tampa Bay Times: Florida still getting bad rap about oil
Oil is long gone from Florida beaches. But many travelers don't believe it, and the fallout from the tourist industry continues.

Read more
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/tourism/misperceptions-about-oil-contamination-still-affecting-pinellas-beaches/1128001

Press-Register: Gulf coast scientists drool over $500 million in research money
Gulf Coast university researchers and scientists are optimistic about their chances of getting a fair share of the $500 million in grant money to study the effects of the oil spill.

Read more
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/gulf_of_mexico_alliance_to_adm.html

Mississippi Press: Citizen group fights back
A new citizens coalition called the Gulf Restoration Network is being launched in Alabama with a set of recovery and restoration guidelines to underscore the fact that the oil in the Gulf of Mexico is not gone and its impact continues to be felt along the Gulf Coast.

Read more
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-living/2010/10/gulf_coast_groups_weigh_in_on_bp_oil_spill_recovery.html

Feature

Huffington Post: Is it too soon to take any lessons away from the oil spill?
Okay, so the well is dead. Now what? Where do the scientists go to study the Gulf and where will this beautiful body of sea be in 5, 10 years and beyond? To simply take a "snapshot" of the Gulf today is an immense task, involving careful measurement of contaminants in the land, sea and air, as well as health impacts -- short-term and long-term -- on wildlife and on affected populations. So how do scientists and students evaluate what happened? And how fast do they have to move to make sure crucial evidence does not disappear?

Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-norma-bowe/lessons-learned-sometimes_b_763035.html

Gulf Coast Disaster - Thursday, October 14

2010-10-14T17:38:57Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

- Commission paralyzed on future of offshore drilling
- Informal poll: 90 percent support lifting drill moratorium
- SEC warns oil spill victims on scams
- Feinberg pays out $1 billion to oil spill victim
- Commission: Award oil leases based on safety records
- Jack Lew nomination in limbo over oil
- Cleanup will continue into winter

Today’s summary
The presidential commission investigating the Gulf oil spill is struggling to formulate an oil drilling policy for the future in the face of the worst environmental disaster in US history. "We're headed toward a time when offshore oil will constitute the vast majority of domestic oil and gas production," co-chair William Reilly said. But commissioner Cherry Murray, the dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, sees it differently, "The hazards of ultra deep-water need to be spelled out a little bit more." The bottom line is that we’re damned if we do, damned if we don’t. The progress toward alternate energy is very slow. Progress in developing electric cars and better hybrids are still in the laboratory. The commission is expected to deliver its report and recommendations to the president in January. Not much is going to change in that small time frame. There are plenty of ideas being kicked around. There is little movement on the legislative track. The Gulf catastrophe raised the public’s awareness briefly, but their attention is now riveted on other issues, including the economy, the rescue of the Chilean miners, the midterm elections. Let’s hope the commission’s report won’t be the hard work of just another blue-ribbon panel that gets shelved to collect dust.

Quotable Quote
“Next time we have a hole in the Gulf, we should call in the Chilean government” – filmmaker Michael Moore on the rescue of the Chilean miners.

And this one
"I envision there will be some areas where cleanup will go on through winter, although there will be others that will close down within a matter of weeks" -- Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft

National News

Wall Street Journal: Commission paralyzed on future of offshore drilling
The president’s commission on offshore oil is torn as it debates the future of offshore oil. So far, the commission debated and reached no conclusions on its draft recommendations that say, "The national interest requires the continuation and expansion of a strong offshore drilling program, but one with a better balancing of risk and with greater safety protections for human life, the environment, and the economy." You can imagine there are opinions on all sides of this issue.

Read more
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704763904575550433689906508.html

And see this one
Spill commission doesn’t address controversial reports
http://washingtonindependent.com/100615/oil-spill-commission-does-not-address-controversial-reports-at-meeting

Wall Street Journal: Informal poll: 90 percent support lifting drill moratorium
The Wall Street Journal is out with a non-scientific poll asking what people think about the Obama administration’s decision to lift the moratorium on Gulf oil drilling. More than 90 percent think it’s a good idea. Remember, it’s not a scientific poll.

Read more
http://online.wsj.com/community/groups/question-day-229/topics/do-you-agree-obama-administrations

Business Week: SEC warns oil spill victims on scams
Watch out. The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday warned individuals and small businesses about potential investment frauds targeting those who get payouts from the BP oil spill.

Read more
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9IR1K000.htm

Reuters: Commission: Award oil leases based on safety records
The federal government should consider oil companies' safety records and drilling experience before awarding leases to develop riskier offshore areas, the co-chairs of the White House oil spill commission said Wednesday.

Read more
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1327041120101013

Reuters: Oil workers relieved but wary that drill ban ends
Oil drill workers say lifting the oil drill ban will not end the uncertain future they face.

Read more
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69C60W20101013

Politics

The New York Times: Jack Lew nomination in limbo over oil
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is not loosening her grip over the nomination of OBM Director Jack Lew. Even though the Gulf drilling moratorium has been lifted, she said she would continue the hold for at least several more weeks as she evaluated the performance of federal energy regulators in speeding up permitting for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read more
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/oil-drilling-and-the-legislative-clinch-hold/?hp

Regional

Times-Picayune: Feinberg pays out $1 billion to oil spill victims
Independent oil spill claims administrator Ken Feinberg appears to be hitting his stride, paying about $1 billion to victims across the Gulf Coast in the past month alone. The payments are coming more quickly and the red tape is being cut.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/oil_spill_claims_administrator_5.html

CNN: Cleanup will continue into winter
The oil spill cleanup work along the Gulf coast is far from over. Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft, the new federal on-scene coordinator, said Wednesday that operations in some areas will continue into the winter.

Read more
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/10/13/gulf.oil.cleanup/

Editorial

Washington Post: Good reason to lift the moratorium
One can sense the whiff of politics in the administration's decision to lift the drilling moratorium as the midterm elections near. Still, President Obama is justified in allowing offshore drilling to proceed, the Washington Post writes.

Read more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/13/AR2010101305960.html

Press-Register: Back to drilling just not the same way
We are a wiser nation because of this catastrophe. As the oil industry gears up to full power, let’s use our hard-earned wisdom to ensure that such a disaster never happens again — and, if one does, that a solid plan is in place to manage and mitigate the effects, the Press-Register writes.

Read more
http://blog.al.com/press-register-commentary/2010/10/editorial_back_to_drilling_but.html

Feature

Nature.com: Lack of research vessels hampers oil spill science
There aren’t enough research vessels these days to conduct the kind of experiments needed in the wake of the Gulf oil spill, nature.com reports. A number of them saw action in the Gulf this summer. But that fleet isn’t big enough. "You can sneak into the open Gulf in some of these boats in calm weather," says Steve Lanoux, assistant director for operations at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas. "But that size of vessel can get into trouble pretty quickly, and can't handle big gear or work very deep."

Read more
http://www.nature.com/news/2010/101013/full/news.2010.536.html

Gulf Coast Disaster - Wednesday, October 13

2010-10-13T16:21:31Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

- White House lifts ban on deepwater drilling
- The politics of lifting the Gulf drilling ban
- Allen looks back at the Gulf crisis
- Reaction mixed to lifting drill ban
- Europe considers restricting deepwater drilling

Today’s summary
The new ‘normal’ is descending on the Gulf of Mexico. The Obama administration Tuesday lifted its six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico much to the chagrin of the NRDC and other environmentalists. New safety standards will make a disastrous oil spill much less likely, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said confidently. Drillers must meet "the higher bar we have set" in order to get new permits, he added, including written certifications by oil company executives that they have met all the safety rules. Companies must also have specific plans for dealing with any spill. This latest action potentially blunts a serious political issue in the weeks before the midterm congressional election. The moratorium had ignited anger among Gulf residents because it cost jobs and added to a dismal economic picture for the beleaguered people of the Gulf. While the temporary ban on exploratory oil and gas drilling is lifted, drilling is unlikely to resume immediately. Michael Bromwich, director of the agency that oversees offshore drilling, said it would take "at least a couple of weeks" after the ban is lifted before permits are approved.

Quotable Quote
"The oil and gas industry will be operating under tighter rules, stronger oversight, and in a regulatory environment that will remain dynamic as we continue to build on the reforms we have already implemented" – Interior Secretary Ken Salazar

And this one, too

"I am not going to release my hold on Jack Lew. Instead, I will take this time to look closely at how (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) is handling the issuing of permits and whether or not drilling activity in both shallow and deep water is resuming” – Sen. Mary Landrieu

National News

AOLnews.com: White House lifts ban on deepwater drilling
Timing is everything. And the time final came. The Obama administration on Tuesday lifted the six-month moratorium on deep water oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico that was imposed after the BP oil spill. The administration has been under heavy pressure from the industry and others in the region to lift the ban on grounds it has cost jobs and damaged the economy. A federal report estimated that the moratorium likely caused a temporary loss of 8,000 to 12,000 jobs in the Gulf region.

Read more
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/white-house-is-lifting-moratorium-on-deepwater-oil-drilling/19670933

Check this one out, too
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/us/13drill.html?_r=1&hp

And this one
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-oil-moratorium-20101013,0,7340186.story

NPR: The politics of lifting the Gulf drilling ban
The Obama administration’s decision to lift the ban on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico doesn’t immediately turn into a win for the president. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., continues to hold the nomination of OMB director Jack Lew hostage because she wants other concessions from the administration. Two Republican governors – from Louisiana and Mississippi – took the occasion to focus their opposition to the moratorium in the first place.

Read more
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2010/10/12/130515423/deepwater-drilling-ban-no-political-plus-for-obama?ft=1&f=1001

See this one, too
Washington Post: How politics collided with offshore drilling policy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/12/AR2010101206218.html?hpid=topnews

Los Angeles Times: Reaction mixed to lifting drill ban
Reaction to the Obama administration's move to lift the six-month moratorium on deep-water drilling was swift Tuesday. There were plenty of cheers and definitely a few critics crying that it is too soon to allow deepwater drilling to resume. Before they can resume drilling, rig operators must file for new permits, satisfying a raft of new safety regulations that have been imposed since the April 20 spill, and have their rigs and drilling operations re-inspected.

Read more
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-pn-oil-moratorium-lift-20101013,0,6522603.story

Christian Science Monitor: Neither side happy with lifting of drill moratorium
Environmental groups said that it was "premature" to lift the deepwater drilling moratorium in the Gulf. The oil industry is worried that federal regulators are not finished creating new drilling standards.

Read more:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/1012/Deep-water-drilling-moratorium-lifted-why-neither-side-is-happy

Dailymail.com: Shell oil criticizes BP
The sudden criticism from Shell oil over the Gulf oil spill and BP left everyone scratching their heads. Royal Dutch Shell launched a blistering attack on beleaguered rival BP over the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill. 'Shell clearly would have drilled this well in a different way and would have had more options to prevent the accident from happening,” a top official said.

Read more
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1319924/Royal-Dutch-Shell-wades-attack-BP-spill.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz12C3cI2Vy

Check this one out, too
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11857219

Business

Bloomberg: Report: Gulf spill won’t impact other production
It looks like the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico won’t slow deepwater drilling elsewhere in the world, according to the International Energy Agency. “We currently do not foresee any significant impact on production elsewhere,” the IEA predicted in a report published Wednesday.

Read more
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-13/bp-s-macondo-spill-won-t-affect-drilling-outside-u-s-iea-says.html

New York Times: Europe considers restricting deepwater drilling
As the Gulf coast continues to struggle with the aftermath of the BP oil spill, Europe may be taking a few lessons from the trauma of the last six months. The European Commission is on the verge of proposing a curb on drilling in extreme conditions until an inquiry into the causes of the fatal explosion is completed.

Read more
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/business/energy-environment/13energy.html?src=busln

Editorial

New York Times: Lifting the drill moratorium comes too soon
In the face of America’s oil addiction two things seem to fade fast — the wallet shock of $4-a-gallon gasoline and the political impact of an oil spill, once it’s stanched, The New York Times writes.

Read more
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/obamas-haste-on-resumed-offshore-drilling/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Bemidji Pioneer: Is it too soon to lift moratorium?
Lifting the ban will put people to work, and that is important. But it is also important that Congress act soon to provide the best protection to the Gulf Coast region for safe oil and natural gas drilling. For the environment’s sake, we hope it was the right decision, the Bemidji Pioneer writes.

Read more
http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/article/id/100022691/group/homepage/

Feature

Federal News Radio: Allen looks back at the Gulf crisis
Ret. Adm. Thad Allen took time Tuesday to review his experiences leading the response to the Gulf oil spill until Oct. 1. The biggest challenge was bringing "unity of effort" across the various departments and agencies, he told Federal News Radio. “Managing one of these crises sometimes takes on a semblance of a reality show," Allen added.

Read more
http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=150&sid=2076807

Gulf Coast Disaster - Tuesday, October 12

2010-10-12T18:48:17Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

News Alert

Washington Post: Gulf drilling ban lifted
The Obama administration announced Tuesday that it is lifting the temporary ban on deepwater drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico, a move likely to repair one open wound in the Gulf of Mexico. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made the announcement in a conference call with reporters, well ahead of the Nov. 30 date at which it was originally slated to expire. Many operators in the Gulf said the administration's decision would not in itself return operations to normal. And it is likely to have a positive effect on the political fortunes of lawmakers running in the mid-term elections. But it’s not the end of the problem that has created chaos in the Gulf region. "The lifting of a moratorium doesn't get rigs back to work," said Jim Noe, general counsel for the drilling operator Hercules Offshore, who also serves as executive director of the Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition, an industry group. "They still have to issue permits."

Read more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/12/AR2010101202326.html

Also see
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/12/AR2010101202996.html

And:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703440004575547980425525408.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us

Check out this one, too
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/white-house-to-lift-ban-on-deep-water-drilling/?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw

Highlights:
- Investigators look into BP’s cost-cutting culture
- Lawyers selected to lead lawsuits against BP
- BP paid Feinberg $2.5 million so far
- Surprise inspections rare on oil rigs
- Oil spill hasn’t become a campaign issue

Today’s summary
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, creating havoc in the Gulf and focusing attention on just how much the nation is willing to sacrifice in its lust for fossil fuels. It called into question safety issues and sloppy procedures. This oil spill was unprecedented in its size and duration, as were the use of chemical dispersants and controlled burns to remove the oil. It is as yet uncertain how the spill itself and the attempts to disperse the oil will affect the health of clean-up workers and volunteers, residents, and visitors in the Gulf. But one thing is certain. BP and the government can now write the playbook on how to prevent this kind of disaster from happening again and what to do if it does. So far, the details being uncovered are alarming. New evidence reveals that surprise inspections from federal authorities were rare on oil rigs. Meanwhile, BP has paid pay czar Kenneth Feinberg $2.5 million to distribute money to the spill victims and the tab will keep rising, too. And remarkably, the oil spill hasn’t become a campaign issue in this year’s midterm elections.

Quotable Quote:
'You're more apt to see what actual operations are with a surprise inspection,' said Perry Jennings, who heads the union local that represents federal offshore inspectors. “And if something's going on that's inappropriate, that's the best time to catch it.”

And this one, too
“Under BP’s proposed timeline, this court will be lucky to see even a personal injury or wrongful death damage trial before 2013!” plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in a court filing.

National News

Washington Post: Investigators look into BP’s cost-cutting culture
Nobody is saying that BP was really cheap in its quest for black gold. But now federal investigators are probing what looks to them like BP's save-money culture. BP witnesses have acknowledged in commission hearings on the cause of the disaster that oil drilling is a business, and costs have to be taken into account. But the government is raising the question of whether BP took incremental shortcuts because it felt rushed to finish the problem-plagued Macondo exploration well, a job costing BP about $1 million a day.

Read more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/08/AR2010100803145.html

Wall Street Journal: Lawyers selected to lead lawsuits against BP
A federal judge in New Orleans has selected the lawyers who will lead the Gulf oil spill litigation for the plaintiffs. The list includes a number of Gulf coast litigators, a former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Michael Epsy and Exxon oil spill veteran Elizabeth Cabraser,

Read more
http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/10/11/judge-picks-lawyers-to-lead-gulf-oil-spill-litigation/

Bloomberg: BP paid Feinberg $2.5 million so far
BP’s tab for the oil spill keeps growing. In the latest bill, BP has paid pay czar Kenneth Feinberg and his law firm more than $2.5 million in 3 1/2 months to administer the $20 billion fund set up by BP to compensate victims of its oil spill. The $850,000 monthly payments to Feinberg’s firm will continue through year-end and then will be reviewed. For BP, it’s just another day in the Gulf and another dollar in a never-ending tab.

Read more
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-08/feinberg-firm-paid-more-than-2-5-million-by-bp-in-3-1-2-months.html

Washington Post: BP’s leadership problem
Now that the dust is settling in the Gulf oil disaster, there’s plenty of scrutiny of every piece of information relating to this disaster. BP’s working papers reveal a poorly managed response, a delay of the release of information about the spill's worst-case scenario and confusion about the severity of the spill.

Read more
http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/post_leadership/2010/10/who-needs-harvard-business-school.html?hpid=smartliving

Check this one out, too
Frontline and ProPublica analyze BP’s corporate culture in the spill
http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/frontline-and-propublica-detail-bps-corporate-culture-in-the-spill

Wall Street Journal: Surprise inspections rare on oil rigs
Surprise inspections of deepwater drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico dwindled to about three a year over the past decade. And since 2004 federal authorities haven't made a single surprise inspection on any of the 50 or so deepwater natural gas and oil production platforms in the Gulf, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.

Read more
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703358504575544294191404032.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

Commoditysearch.cim: Commission to look at future of oil drilling in US
On Wednesday, the BP oil spill commission will meet to take a look at what the future of offshore drilling is for America. The commission will also talk about the rules that decide the parameters of offshore drilling in the U.S.

Read more
http://commoditysurge.blogspot.com/2010/10/bp-nysebp-spill-to-look-at-future-of.html

New York Times: Hungary sends polluters to jail
The US uses kid gloves in dealing with polluters. That’s not the case in other parts of the world. The managing director of the company in Hungary whose reservoir unleashed a lethal torrent of red sludge on three villages last week has been arrested. Ouch! He will be charged with criminal negligence leading to a public catastrophe, and if convicted could face a sentence of up to 10 years. Would this kind of punishment keep industries on their toes to prevent pollution? Would it even be legal?

Read more
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/world/europe/12hungary.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&src=igw

Politics

Houston Chronicle: Oil spill hasn’t become a campaign issue
The oil spill and offshore drilling have barely been a blip on the political radar during this campaign season. Few candidates are talking about those issues - even in coastal states where what happens in federal waters can play an important role onshore, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Read more
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7240233.html

Regional

Huffington Post: Gulf coast residents feel abandoned
BP may be cleaning up the Gulf but righting other wrongs is going to be far more difficult.
Gulf residents are fighting for economic survival, and the nation's short attention span is deeply unsettling, especially with oil still washing ashore.

Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/09/america-moves-on-from-spi_n_756928.html

AP: Fighting words from Billy Nungesser
Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said Monday he's concerned federal officials and oil giant BP are trying to ratchet down the response efforts and equipment available for oil cleanup even though there is plenty of oil still washing up on the Gulf coast. "We continue to fight more with the Coast Guard and BP than we do with the oil."

Read more
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/10/12/business-energy-financial-impact-us-la-gulf-oil-spill-nungesser_8004540.html?boxes=Homepagebusinessnews

Editorial

Times-Picayune: BP put profits above safety
BP's history of placing profits over safety preceded the Macondo disaster, the Times-Picayune writes.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/

Feature

Wall Street Journal: Two decades of oil drilling into the Dead Sea
The history of deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is a long and tortuous one. If we only knew then what we know now, the devastating oil spill may have been avoided. The Wall Street Journal combs through the history of deepwater drilling and analyzes the decisions that led to drilling 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico and to today’s events where millions of gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf, marine and wildlife was wrecked and the economy of the region destroyed.

Read more
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704657304575540063579696700.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

Graphics

Wall Street Journal: Oil rush
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704657304575540063579696700.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection#project%3Doilsaga0915%26articleTabs%3Dinteractive

Gulf Coast Disaster - Thursday, October 7

2010-10-07T18:49:26Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

- White House pushes back against critical Gulf oil report
- Tests not yet started on blowout preventer
- Corexit still in use in Gulf
- Judge postpones assessing percentage of fault in oil spill
- Is another deepwater disaster possible?

Today’s summary
The war of words is gathering steam today. The White House is pushing back against a National Oil Spill Commission report that said the administration responded slowly and misstated the amount of oil in the Gulf after the April 20 rig explosion. A statement from NOAA and OBM said that was not the case, that government officials told the public in early May what the worst-case flow rate could be. We’re sure this is not the last word on this subject as the details of what happened are parsed by investigative panels and in court. And you can be sure that congressional committees will get into the act, too. Meanwhile, following weeks of scathing criticism for slow processing, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility has opened the floodgates for BP oil spill damages payments — more than tripling payouts to local residents for the past 10 days. The claims payments include emergency advance payments made to individual businesses to cover up to six months of lost income due to the oil spill. And after a huge rush to retrieve the 300-ton failed blowout preventer, the Coast Guard has not yet started tests to determine why it didn’t work. What's the holdup?

Quotable Quote
“The facts bear out that the federal response significantly mitigated the impact of the spill” – NOAA and OMB

National News

Reuters: White House pushes back against critical Gulf oil report
It took most of the day but the White House responded late Wednesday to a critical report by the National Oil Spill Commission that it dragged its feet and misstated just how much oil was spewing into the Gulf. The federal effort "was full force and immediate, and the response focused on state and local plans and evolved when needed," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration head Jane Lubchenco and OMB Acting Director Jeffrey Zients said in a statement.

Read more
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6955MI20101007

Check out this one, too
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/wh_defends_oil_spill_predictions_after_report_clai.php

AP: Tests not yet started on blowout preventer
So what’s taking so long? BP and federal officials spent months working to retrieve the 300-ton device that failed to stop the massive Gulf oil spill but it has not been analyzed a month after it was raised from the seafloor. The reason: The Coast Guard is waiting for testing procedures to be approved.

Read more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/06/AR2010100606017.html

Huffington Post: Corexit still in use in Gulf
The Coast Guard and BP say the dispersant Corexit hasn’t been used in weeks in the Gulf. But a cruise through the region by a couple of enterprising reporters finds evidence that is not the case.There are also numerous accounts of the Corexit dispersant being used on inland waterways, lagoons, and bayous.

Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-cope/corexit-in-the-gulf_b_739547.html

AP: Judge postpones assessing percentage of fault in oil spill
Halliburton Energy Services, Cameron International and other companies who had a stake in the Gulf oil spill want to know exactly what percentage of the blame they will have to fight against. But a federal judge in New Orleans delayed that trial to give the companies more time to gather their arguments about how much liability they think they should shoulder.

Read more
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9IMRH7O0

Times-Picayune: More testimony about what went wrong in the Gulf disaster
In the latest description about what went wrong in the Gulf oil disaster, a contractor testified Thursday that BP wanted metal collars placed on safety components when they were installed inside its Macondo oil well, but the contract employee who went offshore to do the work never found the collars. It was the latest testimony in the investigative hearings being held by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Management Regulation and Enforcement in Metairie, La.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/contractor_never_found_compone.html

SunHerald: BP official: Don’t know why we weren’t prepared
Was it carelessness or laziness? BP's top official for oil production says he couldn't explain why the oil industry didn't develop technologies to shut down a deepwater oil spill. But they didn’t, and today the Gulf is paying the price: "I actually believe, though, going forward that it's critical that it occur," said Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production

Read more
http://www.sunherald.com/2010/09/27/2535796/bp-official-industry-government.html

Editorial

Wall Street Journal: Anatomy of a crisis
By early August, when the leak was capped and the worst of the crisis was over, the Obama administration was so keen to draw a line under the debacle that it performed its own version of George W Bush’s famous aircraft carrier moment, the Wall Street Journal writes in an article analyzing what happened in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read more
http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2010/10/07/oil-spill-report-reveals-anatomy-of-a-political-crisis/

Press-Register: Work with claimants to validate claims
In the end, Mr. Feinberg’s legacy on the BP oil spill will not be based on his ability to listen or the number of times he has visited the area. Rather, his reputation will be based on how well his claims fund treats the people of the Gulf Coast, the Press-Register writes.

Read more
http://blog.al.com/press-register-commentary/2010/10/editorial_work_with_claimants.html

Feature

National Geographic: Is another deepwater disaster possible?
The Minerals Management Service (MMS), the federal agency that regulated offshore drilling, had claimed that the chances of a blowout were less than one percent in the Gulf of Mexico, and that even if one did happen, it wouldn't release much oil. Boy, were they wrong. National Geographic devotes the October issue to the spill and its implications for the future.

Read more
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/10/gulf-oil-spill/bourne-text

Graphics

National Geographic: Examining the layers of the Gulf of Mexico
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/10/gulf-oil-spill/gulf-life-interactive

National Geographic: Gallery of pictures of the Gulf oil spill
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/10/gulf-oil-spill/gulf-spill-photography

###

Gulf Coast Disaster - Wednesday, October 6

2010-10-06T18:51:12Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

- Spill panel faults Obama administration for slow response
- Obama names new task force for Gulf restoration
- Lawyers get ready to pounce on oil spill cases
- BP victim fund pays out $964 million
- Gulf oil spill seeps into La. Senate race
- Forget oil. The White House goes solar
- Obama wants Gulf residents to take control of restoration
- The miserable hum of clean energy

Today’s summary
A new report on the Obama administration’s slow response to the devastating oil spill on April 20 is likely to hurt the administration politically and provide fodder for the many lawsuits now being filed in federal court. It could be used by BP to bolster its defense, too. The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling issued four reports Wednesday morning. And it is likely to create another wave of finger-pointing over what happened and who is responsible. The paper faults the administration for taking "an overly casual approach" in calculating, during the spill's second week, that between 1,000 and 5,000 barrels of oil were flowing in to the Gulf. That estimate was based on a one-page document from a government scientist within six days of the explosion. The paper adds that it is "possible that inaccurate flow-rate figures may have hindered the subsea efforts to stop and to contain the flow of oil at the wellhead." It’s clear we may never have a clear picture of what happened in the Gulf of Mexico and that the legal arguments may completely muddle who was right, who was wrong and how to make sure it never happens again.

Quotable Quote
"Despite the acknowledged inaccuracies of the [government] scientist's estimate and despite the existence of other and potentially better methodologies for visually assessing flow rate…5,000 bbls/day was to remain the government's official flow-rate estimate for a full month until May 27, 2010," the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling report said Wednesday.

National News

Wall Street Journal: Spill panel blasts Obama response to crisis
The Obama administration's response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico wasn’t fast enough. It was delayed because it was overly optimistic about the disaster and failed to respond quickly to the catastrophe, the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling said Wednesday. The administration also made inaccurate public statements about the fate of oil spilled by a BP well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read more
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703735804575536042567062622.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories

CNN: Obama names new task force for Gulf restoration
Is this just another task force? President Barack Obama on Tuesday named a task force to plan the restoration of the Gulf Coast region after this year's oil disaster. The task force will include senior officials from 11 federal departments and agencies and representatives of the five Gulf states affected by the spill. It’s expected to take a year to develop a strategy for Gulf ecosystem restoration.

Read more
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/10/05/obama.oil.spill/

See the executive order
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/10/05/executive-order-gulf-coast-ecosystem-restoration-task-force

Reuters: BP victim fund pays out $964 million
Pay czar Ken Feinberg has paid $964 million in claims since the Gulf Coast Claims Facility took over the process from BP on Aug. 23. That includes nearly 75,000 claims to individuals and 30,000 to businesses.

Read more
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0523461220101005

See this one, too
http://www.detnews.com/article/20101006/NATION/10060357/1020/Unsupported-claims-slow-payouts-from-$20B-Gulf-oil-spill-fund

Washington Post: Lawyers get ready to pounce on oil spill cases
The BP oil spill cleanup is winding down, but the lawyers are just warming up. The gusher of litigation might not be capped for years.

Read more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/05/AR2010100505986.html

Times-Picayune: Investigators: Transocean ducks requests for documents
The fighting gets dirty. Coast Guard Capt. Hung Nguyen, co-chairman of the Marine Board panel investigating the cause of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, challenged Transocean Tuesday for objecting to providing subpoenaed documents in the case. Transocean pushed back, maintain it’s produced more witnesses than any other party involved in this investigation and significant volumes of documentary evidence, including audit records of the Deepwater Horizon. “Any assertion to the contrary is simply not correct."

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/oil_spill_investigators_admoni.html

Politics

E2-wire.com: Gulf oil spill seeps into La. Senate race
It’s no surprise at all that the Gulf oil spill has made its way into the Senate race between Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.), who is challenging incumbent Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). Melanon has launched a statewide TV ad accusing Vitter of trying to protect BP from liability for the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Melancon is trailing Vitter in this race.

Read more
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/122635-melancon-vitter-trade-barbs-over-bp-oil-spill

AP: Forget oil. White House goes solar
President Obama announced with great fanfare the coming of solar panels on top of the White House roof. But the symbolism may have some unintended consequences. In recent weeks, Obama has been trying to repair his image with environmentalists, many of whom are upset that he failed to get a comprehensive global. One image Obama probably didn’t want to invoke: former President Jimmy Carter, whose term was considered a disaster for Democrats.

Read more
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43156.html#ixzz11aOGyHmA

Regional

Times-Picayune: Obama wants Gulf residents to take control of restoration
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, head of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, told environmental leaders in New Orleans Tuesday that it's up to Gulf Coast residents to set the agenda. "The president has made clear that he believes these restoration plans, in order to be successful, have to come from the Gulf to Washington and not be imposed from Washington onto the Gulf community," she said.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/gulf_coast_ecosystem_restorati.html

Times-Picayune: Louisiana: Damned if they do, damned if they don’t
Louisiana officials are stuck in another dilemma. Oil continues to threaten interior wetlands that make up some of the state's most fragile fisheries and wildlife habitats. But the state has put on hold plans to build the rest of the 101 miles of barriers for which it had been seeking a permanent permit because it threatens wildlife and marine life.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/gulf_of_mexico_oil_spill_calle.html

Press-Register: Time to take charge of destiny
The Gulf Coast should not aspire to get back to normal after this summer’s massive oil spill and Hurricane Katrina, panelists said Tuesday during a roundtable discussion about the area’s future. “A lot of the rhetoric, the political grandstanding, that we hear in public is this notion of business as usual, let’s get things back to usual,” said Andy Brack, president of the Center for a Better South.

Read more
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/gulf_coast_should_avoid_going.html

Feature

New York Times: The miserable hum of clean energy
The devastation from the Gulf oil crisis has focused attention once again on US dependency on fossil fuels and clean energy alternatives. But a small but growing number of families and homeowners across the country say they have learned the hard way that wind power — a clean alternative to electricity from fossil fuels — is not without emissions of its own. Try noise pollution.

Read more
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/business/energy-environment/06noise.html?hp

Gulf Coast Disaster - Tuesday, October 5

2010-10-05T18:28:50Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

- Contractor: BP interfered with stopping oil spill
- Coast Guard couldn’t stop the rig from sinking
- Mabus: Billions in oil spill penalties should go to region
- Feinberg: Proximity has no role in payment
- Oil industry has yet to adopt BP spill lessons
- Billy Nungesser easily wins re-election
- Military orders less dependence on fossil fuels

Today’s summary
The gloves are coming off in the investigation into what happened on the April 20 Gulf oil spill explosion that caused the worst environmental disaster in US history. A contractor on the Deepwater Horizon when the explosion occurred is accusing BP of interfering with efforts to halt the spill. He testified BP stood in the way of efforts to use a robot that would have closed a device needed to stop the spill. That’s only one side of a very long story, and it may take as long as it takes the oil to completely disappear from the Gulf to figure out what really happened. A new report indicates that the oil industry has yet to adopt BP’s spill lessons that may be essential to preventing future oil spills. Meanwhile, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, in charge of the Gulf coast rehabilitation, says that billions of dollars in oil spill penalties should go to the region to pay to clean it up and restore it. Claims czar Kenneth Feinberg just made it easier for people not within the proximity of the oil spill to collect payment for damages. And Billy Nungesser, president of the Plaquemines Parish who became the face of the people along the Gulf coast and a frequent critic of lame efforts to fix the problems, easily won re-election to his job.

Quotable Quote
"We never exercised our control over the firefighting efforts," Capt. James Hanzalik, chief of incident response for the Coast Guard's 8th District. "We're not trained firefighters."

National News

AP: Contractor: BP interfered with stopping oil spill
Now we’re getting down to serious allegations over the oil spill disaster. At a hearing Monday, Doug Martin, president of Smit Salvage Americas, which was hired to help try to save the Deepwater Horizon after it exploded, blew the whistle on BP. He testified before a federal investigative panel that BP interfered with efforts to use a robot to try to close the device that failed to stop the Gulf oil spill because of concerns over heat buildup from the burning rig.

Read more
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/39506753/ns/us_news-environment/

AP: Coast Guard couldn’t stop the rig from sinking
Capt. James Hanzalik, chief of incident response for the Coast Guard's 8th District, told a federal investigative panel Monday there was nothing more his agency could have done to prevent the Deepwater Horizon from sinking in the frantic hours after the oil rig exploded on April 20. He said there was one upbeat note: 100 people escaped the rig explosion alive is a sign the evacuation effort went fairly well.

Read more
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jkw96R1Vg_Yf4D-3YIWCo7M__6vgD9IKV9880?docId=D9IKV9880

Los Angeles Times: Mabus: Billions in oil spill penalties should go to region
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, the Obama administration’s lead on the Gulf restoration plan, is urging Congress to pass new laws that would “dedicate a significant amount” of the BP oil spill penalties to restore the Gulf coast. The money would be used to renew the region’s environment and economy and address the mental health needs of its residents.

Read more
http://www.latimes.com/sns-oil-spill-cleanup,0,6349949.story

ProPublica.com: Feinberg: Proximity has no role in payment
Gulf spill victims are getting a new break from claims czar Kenneth Feinberg. He announced on Monday that he would no longer consider proximity to the oil spill in determining whether a claim is eligible for payment. "I have concluded that a geographic test to determine eligibility regarding economic harm due to the oil spill is unwarranted,” Feinberg said.

Read more
http://www.propublica.org/article/gulf-compensation-czar-says-claims-will-no-longer-face-geographic-test

Check this one out, too
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/tourism/bp-oil-spill-fund-now-open-to-tampa-bay-area-claims/1125866

AP: Oil industry has yet to adopt BP spill lessons
Oil industry and government officials could get caught flat-footed again by another deep-water blowout in the coming months because they have yet to incorporate many of the lessons learned during the BP disaster, the Associated Press reports. It could be another year before a bigger, better cap-and-siphon containment system is developed to choke off leaks. Another problem: Existing skimmers still don't have the capacity to quickly suck up millions of gallons of oil flowing at once.

Read more
http://www.timesleader.com/business/Oil-industry-has-yet-to-adopt-lessons-of-BP-spill-.html

Business

Wall Street Journal: BP shines in the bond market
So what if BP was responsible for the worst environmental disaster in US history. So what if the oil giant is responsible for billions of dollars in damages and the personal claims from Gulf coast victims. The bond market responded on Monday with a sound vote of confidence for BP on both sides of the Atlantic.

Read more
http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2010/10/05/bond-market-brushes-off-fears-over-bps-long-term-health/

Huffington Post: BP may have violated US sanctions on Iran trade
It’s just another headache for BP in a long line of Excedrin days. BP is one of 16 international companies that may have violated U.S. sanctions against selling gas to Iran, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. Investigators at the GAO claim that BP sold the petroleum between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010,

Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/04/bp-may-have-sold-violated_n_749609.html?ref=email_share

Editorial

Huffington Post: Why offshore wind should replace offshore drilling
Offshore wind on the Atlantic Coast -- where much of our population is largely focused -- can generate nearly 30% more electricity than offshore oil and gas resources in that area, combined. Harvesting this energy would cost about $36 billion less than offshore oil and gas production, while creating about three times as many jobs, Jessie Savitz writes.

Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackie-savitz/it-wont-spill-why-offshor_b_745374.html

Buffalo News: Next Time
It should be the clear responsibility of some identifiable government agency to make sure the response capability is there, well-tuned, fully staffed and ready to go when it is needed. Because it will be needed, the Buffalo News writes.

Read more
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/buffalo-news-editorials/article207530.ece

Harvard Crimson: Drill again but seek alternatives
Though we advocate the lifting of the moratorium and find offshore drilling with strongly enforced regulations a viable option at the present time, it is worthwhile to consider the possibilities of alternative forms of energy for the future, the Harvard Crimson writes.

Read more
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/10/5/drilling-oil-offshore-moratorium/

Regional

Sunherald.com: Billy Nungesser easily wins re-election
Republican Billy Nungesser, president of the Plaquemines Parish, became the go-to guy for the media in the worst days of the Gulf oil spill. He was leading critic of efforts to clean up the oil spill from BP’s well and represented the voice of the people in the Gulf. On Saturday, he easily won re-election as president of his coastal Louisiana parish.

Read more
http://www.sunherald.com/2010/10/02/2524192/official-known-for-criticizing.html

Times-Picayune: Bank economist predicts spill impact to linger in La.
Public and private sector tea readers are looking closely at the Gulf region to see if the devastating impact of the oil spill will linger. And it’s clear that it will. Job losses associated with the BP oil spill and the ensuing drilling moratorium could hurt the Louisiana economy as it pulls out of the national recession, one chief economist said this week.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2010/10/regions_bank_economist_expects.html

Feature

New York Times: Military orders less dependence on fossil fuels
In a sign of the times we live in and a reflection of a new reality, the military is pushing aggressively to develop, test and deploy renewable energy to decrease its need to transport fossil fuels. The move is prompted by increasing attacks on US supplies in Afghanistan, but it could certainly have ramifications across military operations around the world. “There are a lot of profound reasons for doing this, but for us at the core it’s practical,” said Navy secretary Ray Mabus.

Read more
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/science/earth/05fossil.html?_r=1&hp

Gulf Coast Disaster - Monday, October 4

2010-10-04T18:32:09Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

> National Incident Commander Thad Allen steps down, joins Rand Corp.
> Claims fund will pass $1 billion to oil spill victims this week
> Separating fraudulent from valid claims an ongoing and difficult job
> BP names oil fields in Gulf as collateral for Claims Fund
> No BP aid for laid-off shallow-water rig workers

Today’s summary
Even though the blown out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico has finally been killed, the economic and environmental debate is far from over. A special commission studying the Deepwater Horizon incident said the early predictions about the amount of oil spilled into the Gulf were terrible underestimates. The Obama administration appears to be edging closer to a decision to end the moratorium on deepwater oil and gas drilling before its original Nov. 30 end date. Gulf Coast lawmakers have attacked the moratorium for causing more job loss and exaggerating the region’s economic problems. Meanwhile, National Incident Commander Thad Allen stepped down on Friday, passing the baton to Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft to command the response in the Gulf oil spill. Allen is joining the Rand Corp. as a senior fellow. The Gulf claims fund is expected to pass the $1 billion mark in payments this week although separating fraudulent claims from valid ones is an ongoing job. And BP is still casting around for money to fund the $20 billion bailout fund. It named oil fields in the Gulf as collateral for the claims fund, a sign that it is confident that deepwater oil drilling will return to the Gulf.

Quotable Quote
"We've paid approximately 50,000 claims to the tune of about $825 million so far. That's in five weeks since I took over. BP paid $400 million in four months - Claims Administrator Kenneth Feinberg.

National News

New York Times: Louisiana: Ret. Adm. Thad Allen steps down, joins Rand Corp.
Ret. Adm. Thad W. Allen stepped down as planned on Friday as the National Incident Commander of the Gulf oil spill, transferring oversight duties to Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft. He is joining Rand Corp. as a senior fellow where he will work on homeland security, ocean policy and defense issues.

Read more from Campbell Robertson
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/us/02brf-allen.html?_r=1&hp

Also see
AP: Allen steps down from oil spill response
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/10/01/business/AP-US-Gulf-Oil-Spill.html?_r=2&hp

New York Times: Claims payments to pass $1 billion this week
BP’s payments for claims to the Gulf oil spill victims is expected to pass the $1 billion mark this week. The victims claim fund is moving from the emergency claims process to the final negotiation phase for final payment, and that’s where the real difficulty lies, separating rampant fraud from the real and sometimes terribly tragic stories of valid victims.

Read more from Jonathon Schwartz
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/us/03feinberg.html?_r=1&hp

Also see
PBS: Feinberg: Gulf oil spill claims paid more quickly but tough calls ahead
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/10/gulf-spill-claims-getting-paid-more-quickly-but-tougher-decisions-await.html

Los Angeles Times: Increase in levels of some cancer-causing toxics recorded since BP spill
Levels of some cancer-causing oil compounds rose significantly in the waters off the Louisiana coast during the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to Oregon State University researchers.“It's an incredibly huge jump in concentration in a natural environment,” said Kim Anderson, an OSU environmental toxicology professor, who found a 40-fold increase in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, from May to June.

Read more from Bettina Boxall
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-oil-cancer,0,4356960.story

AP: Another round of oil spill hearings asks “Why?”
The fifth series of federal hearings into the oil spill disaster begins today as the U.S. Coast Guard-Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement investigative panel sifts through evidence looking for details about pressure tests, decision making and BP's safety culture.

Read more
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jkw96R1Vg_Yf4D-3YIWCo7M__6vgD9IKNS0O1?docId=D9IKNS0O1

Health News Digest: Gulf oil lingering on sea floor
Oil from BPs Deepwater Horizon is still sticking to and covering parts of the sea floor for some 80 miles or more around the site of the now-capped well, according to researchers from the University of Georgia. As recently as three months ago, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported finding no evidence of oil accumulating on the sea floor in the Gulf. Some researchers say NOAA misled the public by announcing prematurely that much of the oil simply disappeared.

Read more
http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Environment_380/Gulf_Oil_Lingering_on_the_Sea_Floor.shtml

Politics

The Hill: Republican urges Obama to crack down on Cuban drilling plan
Florida Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan Friday urged President Obama to take action against a proposed Cuban offshore oil drilling operation. Media reports last week said that Cuba is considering deep water oil drilling 50 miles from the Florida coastline as soon as next year. Buchanan said the plan could endanger the Gulf coast because a BP-like spill could occur.

Read more from Jordan Fabian
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/122221-republican-urges-obama-to-crack-down-on-cuban-drilling-plan

AP: Hawaii hosting oil spill response meeting
Officials from Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii are expected to attend the annual meeting of the Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force on Wednesday. Participants are due to talk about methods used to clear the oil, including burning and the use of dispersants. They're also expected to discuss possible public policy changes resulting from the spill.

Read more
http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/article/hawaii-hosting-pacific-oil-spill-response-meeting/1017301/Oct-03-2010_12-04-pm/

Regional

Wall Street Journal: No BP aid for laid-off shallow-water rig workers
As BP's billions are spread along the Gulf Coast to compensate everyone from bartenders to real estate brokers for income lost this summer, employees of one industry seem to have been excluded from the payouts: shallow-water rig workers.

Read more from Ryan Dezember
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101003-703533.html

The Root: Post-spill recover: Who benefits?
Literally hundreds of grass-roots and advocacy organizations from Alabama through Texas have worked from Day 1 of the spill to help Gulf Coast residents, but they say the President’s new Long Term Gulf Coast Restoration Support Plan, while an important step forward, does not address the concerns of all Gulf Coast residents.

Read more from Brentin Mock
http://www.theroot.com/views/post-oil-spill-recovery-who-benefits

DailyComet.com: More federal fishing waters now open
Officials opened more than 5,600 square miles of federal fishing waters off the southeast coast of Louisiana Friday, prompting some optimism from some local seafood businesses. But there was also continuing concern from an environmental consultant about the standards the government is using to determine the safety of seafood and the presence of contamination in fishing waters that were closed for nearly five months.

Read more from Robert Zullo
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20101002/ARTICLES/101009891/1212?Title=More-federal-fishing-waters-now-open

Business

Washington Post: Rating BP’s management
Even before he officially took over as CEO of BP last Friday, Bob Dudley had started making changed. He started ousting entrenched leaders, restructuring the organization and reassessing how employees earn their pay. But will it work?

Read more from Jena McGregor
http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/post_leadership/2010/09/rating-bps-management-shakeup-strategy.html?hpid=topnews?hpid=smartliving

Times Picayune: United effort sought to promote tourism, seafood after Gulf of Mexico spill
Louisiana Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle said Friday he is trying to arrange a meeting with officials from three other Gulf Coast states that have been affected by the BP oil spill so they can jointly make a pitch to the company for regional tourism and seafood promotion money.

Read more from Ed Anderson
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/united_effort_sought_to_promot.html

Pensacola Business Journal: Slick fix for businesses’ spill struggles
The Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is keeping many businesses afloat while they wait out the recovery fund's sluggish claims process.

Read more from Carlton Proctor
http://www.pnj.com/article/20101003/BUSINESS/10030348/1003/BUSINESSJOURNAL/Slick-fix-for-businesses--spill-struggles

Reuters: BP to finance spill fund with Gulf fields
BP, which faces U.S. opposition to drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico, named fields in the Gulf that it will use to help finance its $20-billion US fund for victims of the worst oil spill in U.S. history. A BP spokesman declined to comment on whether the move means the U.S. government has told BP, or the company expects, it will not be banned from future drilling.

Read more
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/finance+spill+fund+with+Gulf+fields/3613249/story.html

Read more from Jon Mooallem
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/magazine/03turtles-t.html?_r=1&hp

Editorial

Times-Picayune: Thad Allen offers lessons for BP
Ken Feinberg has the luxury of doling out BP's money without having to worry about BP's bottom line. It would sure be nice to believe that the people in charge of the Gulf cleanup did, too, the Times-Picayune writes.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/10/post_29.html

The Post and Courier: Lessons of Gulf oil spill should spark clean-energy development
The Gulf oil spill makes the case for support for clean energy if there ever was one. “The bottom line is that our response to this disaster cannot be just about making oil platforms safer, or reforming the oil spill response plans of multinational corporations. We need to move to a new national energy platform,” writes The Post and Courier.

Read more from Clinch Heyward
http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2010/oct/02/02heyward/

NewsHerald: Gulf oil spill: Lingering disaster?
It is vitally important for the federal government to set aside adequate funding to study the real effects of the oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico because the State of Alaska is still enduring the impact of the Exxon Valdez spill more than 20 years later. “If there is a difference between what Alaskans faced in 1989 and what Gulf Coast residents face today, it may only be a matter of size and scope,” S. Brady Calhoun writes.

Read more from S. Brady Calhoun
http://www.newsherald.com/articles/lingering-87436-long-oil.html

Feature

New York Times: The BP-spill baby-turtle brigade
A look back at the extraordinary efforts by volunteers to take sea-turtle eggs from the imperiled Gulf waters and transplant them to the Atlantic. “Fortunately, a vast and well-organized infrastructure of volunteers was already in place: people who, for years, happened to have been honing some of the very skills that the survival of these imperiled animals suddenly hinged on — not because they saw such a crisis coming, but basically because they really loved turtles.”

Gulf Coast Disaster - Friday, October 1

2010-10-01T19:35:39Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

- Interior Dept issues new offshore oil rules
- Dudley sees no ‘gross negligence’ in Gulf oil spill
- BP pledges Gulf assets for oil spill fund
- Oil spill claims payments reach $771 million
- BP puts its total costs at $11.2 billion so far
- BP expects to pay a dividend next year
- No court ruling this week on drill ban

Today’s summary
Hindsight is everything but it’s small comfort to the families of the 11 men who died in the April 20 rig explosion or the thousands of people along the Gulf coast who will be living with the effects of this disaster for many years to come. Nevertheless, investigators are learning a few things that will stand to improve safe deep sea oil drilling in the future. And the Interior Department has issued new regulations for oil and natural-gas drilling in US waters with an eye toward improving safety and we-control. But will it work? Meanwhile, BP CEO Bob Dudley says BP engaged in no ‘gross negligence’ that precipitated the devastating spill. Of course, he has to say that because BP would be facing even higher penalties if legal authorities conclude that was the case. BP is pledging assets from its other Gulf oil wells, a move seen by some as a piece of mischief to keep the US from banning future deepwater drilling for any longer than it already has. Claims administrator Ken Feinberg has now paid out $771 million in claims for oil spill victims and has made good on his promise to speed up the process. BP expects to restart paying dividends next year after a hiatus caused by the oil spill.

Quotable Quote
We are raising the bar for safety oversight and environmental protection at every stage of the development and drilling process,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. “Operators will be required to meet new standards for well design, casing and cementing.”

Also see:
We don't believe we have been grossly negligent in anything we've seen in any of the investigations," BP CEO Bob
Dudley said.

National News

Los Angeles Times: Interior Dept issues new offshore oil rules
The Macondo well may be dead, but efforts to prevent another catastrophe are very much alive. The Department of Interior issued new rules Thursday to improve the safety of deepwater oil- and gas-drilling operations in the wake of BP’s disastrous oil spill. They include clamping down drilling safety and workplace safety aimed at preventing another one. Administration officials and independent experts said the rules are an important step toward resumption of deepwater exploration.

Read more
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/sc-dc-oil-regulations-20100930,0,1474142.story

also see
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/us/01drill.html?_r=1

And check this one out, too
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2010-10-01-oildrilling01_ST_N.htm

AFP: Dudley: BP sees no ‘gross negligence’ in Gulf oil spill
BP may be paying out billions to clean up the Gulf and making good on claims filed by hundreds of residents. But it doesn’t think it will be accused of “gross negligence.” That’s what Bob Dudley, BP’s new CEO, has to say about it. A finding of gross negligence would dramatically increase the fines assessed due to the spill and could open BP up to criminal charges and more substantial civil liabilities. And so it stands to reason that Dudley is taking the offense on this issue. But the investigation into the worst environmental disaster in US history has only just begun. So we’ll see.

Read more
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gxN7jed6H0WCrOZ-JCWAYRqOtJSQ?docId=CNG.88197737cf45581167665c434dedee3c.01

See this one, too
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/01/business/01bp.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Reuters: BP pledges Gulf assets for oil spill fund
BP has identified oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico that it will use to help finance its $20 billion fund for victims of the worst oil spill in U.S. history. "It's quite a clever thing that BP's done which is, here are our deep water Gulf of Mexico assets, and we're pledging overriding royalties as collateral which should suggest to the U.S. administration not to in any way meddle with these facilities," said Seymour Pierce analyst Alan Sinclair.

Read more
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11773093

Check this one out, too
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859204575525482920628758.html

Press-Register: Oil spill claims payments reach $771 million
Oil spill damage payments from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility reached more than $771 million Wednesday night, more than double the total of a week earlier.

Read more
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/oil_spill_claims_continue_flow.html

USA Today: BP puts its total costs at $11.2 billion so far
BP has spent $11.2 billion so far in responding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the company said Friday as U.S.-born Bob Dudley took over as chief executive officer. The cost covers cleanup, containment, relief well drilling, federal costs and grants to Gulf States.

Read more
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/10/bp-spends-112-billion-on-gulf-oil-spill/1

Huffington Post: 40 percent increase in carcinogenic compounds in Gulf
Bad news from researchers in the Gulf. Testing the waters off Louisiana in June, they found hugely elevated levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, some of which are known carcinogens. Water samples taken off the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida coasts -- as well as air samples taken along the coast -- also showed elevated levels of PAHs, but not nearly of the same magnitude.

Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/30/researchers-find-heighten_n_745834.html?ref=email_share

deepwaterhorizonresponse.com: Number of responders drops off
At the peak of this spill, there were over 47, 000 responders working in vessels, working on shore, doing clean up activity. Today that number is down to 20,600. The workers are now focusing on 588 miles of oiled shore line.

Read more
http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/910375/

Business

Wall Street Journal: BP expects to pay a dividend next year
BP may be bruised, battered and hated over its role in the worst environmental disaster in years. But things are looking up, according to CEO Bob Dudley. He expressed confidence that the company can resume paying its dividend next year. You may remember the company suspended dividends after the oil spill much to the dismay of British pensioners who rely on the payments.

Read more
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704789404575524052868455186.html

Times-Picayune: No court ruling this week on drill ban
Don’t expect a quick ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman on the Obama administration’s second moratorium on offshore oil drilling. On Thursday, the judge asked for additional information from the parties in the case.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/09/no_ruling_to_come_this_week_on.html

Regional

Press-Register: Man who tried to save drowning toddler gets sick from swallowing oil
An Alabama man who tried to rescue a drowning child in rough Gulf of Mexico waters near Orange Beach became severely ill after swallowing oil and chemical dispersant, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Mobile

Read more
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/10/lawsuit_man_who_tried_to_save.html

Editorial

Times-Picayune: Heed those deadlines to file claims
Ken Feinberg has shown progress in the claims process, and he needs to continue adjusting it to make it as efficient as possible. But applicants also need to do their part, filing claims and providing some evidence of their losses, the Times-Picayune writes.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2010/09/post_111.html

lubbockonline.com: The nightmare is far from over
Just what should happen now? All relevant available resources of the federal government, state and local institutions, including academia, should be harnessed to build a database that can tell us more about the long-lasting effects on the Gulf of Mexico, lubbockonline.com writes.

Read more
http://lubbockonline.com/editorials-/-opinion/2010-10-01/bps-runaway-well-dead-gulf-challenges-live

Feature

New York Times: Exploration vessel cannot find oil in Gulf
It may be a game of hide and seek or looking for a needle in a haystack. But halfway through a 10-day voyage, a government-sponsored expedition isn't finding any traces from the Gulf oil spill, directly contradicting findings by several independent research teams.

Read more
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/0930/Gulf-oil-spill-research-voyage-to-search-for-oil-can-t-find-any

Gulf Coast Disaster - Thursday, September 30

2010-09-30T21:20:41Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue:

> Drilling company asks judge to throw out second drilling ban
> Incoming BP CEO pledges focus on safety
> BP oil spill: ‘Gold rush’ for scientists
> Shell plans to drill in Gulf
> Cuban plans to drill in Gulf could bring worst case possible spills
> Oil spill response fleet won’t make it in time for end of drilling ban
> Senate gridlock sets back oil spill investigation
> Gulf oil spill booms to be recycled into GM car parts

Today’s summary
As the Gulf of Mexico begins to breathe easier now that the out-of-control oil spill is dead, major new obstacles are cropping up on land. A shallow drilling company is asking a federal judge to throw out the Obama administration’s second drilling ban. Shell has announced plans to start deep-water drilling in the Gulf despite BP’s experience. Cuba plans to start drilling in the Gulf in international waters 50 miles from the Florida Keys. Scientists are concerned that an oil spill like BP’s in the Gulf could reach the Gulf stream and head north into the Atlantic. An oil spill response fleet being set up by the biggest U.S. and European oil companies won’t get to the Gulf before the drilling ban expires still scheduled for Nov. 30. And a presidential panel's investigation into the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been hamstrung because it lacks subpoena power to call witnesses. The House has passed the measure but the Senate is gridlocked and may go home for election-year politics before it takes action.

Quotable quote:
"BP realizes it has to change. Another disaster like this and it will be stripped of its U.S. operations and may even go bankrupt" - Peter Hitchens, oil analyst.

And this one, too
“Our early analysis has documented clear detrimental effects to animals and habitats in the Gulf ecosystem” - NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco

National News

Times-Picayune: Ensco Offshore asks court to throw out second ban on drilling
On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman opened the second hearing on the second lawsuit challenging the President’s drilling ban. Shallow water driller Ensco Offshore Co. is asking the judge to throw out the federal government's newest ban.

Read more from Rebecca Mowbray
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/09/ensco_offshore_asks_court_to_t.html

Wall Street Journal: BP’s new chief puts emphasis on safety
Acting to restore BP PLC's reputation in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, incoming CEO Robert Dudley unveiled big changes designed to improve safety and announced the departure of the senior executive who oversaw drilling operations. Dudley said Wednesday that he will split BP's exploration-and-production division into three parts and order a review of how the company manages third-party contractors. The overhaul creates a safety unit that will have sweeping powers to challenge management decisions if it considers them too risky.

Read more from Guy Chazan
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116004575521394170919842.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

Also see
Will changing of the guard at BP change anything?
http://seekingalpha.com/article/227734-will-change-of-guard-at-bp-actually-change-anything

New York Times: Drilling plans off Cuba stir fears of impact on Gulf
Next year, a Spanish company will begin drilling new wells 50 miles from the Florida Keys — in Cuba’s sovereign waters. Cuba currently produces little oil. But oil experts say the country might have reserves along its north coast as plentiful as that of Ecuador and Colombia. Ocean scientists warn that a well blowout similar to the BP disaster could send oil spewing onto Cuban beaches and then the Florida Keys in as little as three days. If the oil reached the Gulf Stream, oil could flow up the coast to Miami and beyond.

Read more
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/world/americas/30cuba.html?hp

Check this one out, too
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/29/1849526/cuba-ready-to-drill-deeper-than.html

Business

Wall Street Journal: Shell: Mars platform shows bright future despite for Gulf despite spill
Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Wednesday it has made a final investment decision to build a second platform in its deep-water field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, a move that shows the oil giant's commitment to the area despite uncertainty about new regulations expected to follow the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Read more
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100929-712090.html

Bloomberg: Big Oil’s spill fleet may lag behind deepwater drilling by 3 months
The biggest U.S. and European oil companies may not assemble a fleet of spill-response vessels that can handle a disaster like BP Plc’s Macondo blowout until March, three months after the deep-water drilling ban in the Gulf of Mexico is scheduled to expire. The delay may leave the Gulf and coastal beaches and fisheries vulnerable to another spill for months after the federal government allows deep-water oil exploration to resume.

Read more
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-29/big-oil-may-take-months-after-drilling-ban-ends-to-have-spill-fleet-ready.html

Huffington Post: Gulf oil spill booms to be recycled into GM car parts
Anything can be recycled, even Gulf oil spill booms. GM has decided to reuse these booms and turn them into car parts such as air dams and water

Read more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/gulf-oil-spill-booms-will_n_744218.html

Politics

AOL News: Senate gridlock hampers BP oil spill investigation
A presidential panel's investigation into the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been hamstrung because it lacks subpoena power to call witnesses, according to the heads of the Oil Spill Commission. The panel began its work over the summer expecting to be able to subpoena witnesses. But Congress has not yet passed legislation that grants the commission those powers. The House approved a bill granting the commission subpoena powers, but the bill is held up in the Senate as lawmakers get ready to recess to go home to campaign for re-election.

Read more
http://www.aolnews.com/gulf-oil-spill/article/senate-gridlock-hampers-bp-oil-spill-investigation/19652484

Chron: Three Mexican states sue BP over Gulf oil spill
Three Mexican states have sued BP PLC, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton Co. seeking unspecified damages over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The negligence lawsuits were filed in San Antonio, Tx., by Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Quintana Roo, known for their beaches. The suits allege the plume has reached international waters.

Read more
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/7223085.html

Regional

Chicago Tribune: Governors take control of $500m research fund
Make way for the governors. BP and the governors of the five Gulf Coast states announced plans Wednesday to funnel a promised $500 million in research funds through an organization run by the governors, not the nation's scientific community. Scientists raised fears that most of the grants would be doled out to institutions in the governors' home states, pork barrel projects and not scientific ones.

Read more
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-oil-spill-research,0,5087023.story

NOAA: Resource restoration planning process begins
The Department of the Interior, NOAA and the co-trustees for natural resources affected by the Gulf oil spill announced Wednesday an injury assessment and restoration planning phase of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment. It’s a legal process to determine the type and amount of restoration needed to compensate the public for harm to natural resources and their human uses as a result of the spill.

Read more
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100929_nerda.html

Times-Picayune: Louisiana to create oyster advisory panel after Gulf oil spill
Gov. Bobby Jindal's coastal advisor on Wednesday announced a new advisory committee to guide decisions about the future of the oyster industry in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Oysters have been one of the hardest-hit sectors of the state's seafood industry following this summer's oil spill.

Read more from Chris Kirkham
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/09/louisiana_to_create_oyster_adv.html

Press-Register: More than $100m in damage claims to one Alabama county
Oil spill damage payments in Baldwin County from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility topped $100 million as of Wednesday morning, according to new data, and at least one business owner, who had received a paltry check, learned that her application was being re-evaluated. It’s part of plans announced by claims administrator Ken Feinberg to implemented major changes and re-evaluate of denied or underpaid claims.

Read more
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/09/oil_spill_claims_more_than_100.html

See this one, too
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/09/let_em_have_it_ken_feinberg_as.html

Feature

AP: BP oil spill turns in Gulf of Mexico into scientific gold rush for researchers
Once a backwater in the world of oceanographic research, the Gulf of Mexico has suddenly become the site of a scientific gold rush, all because of the BP oil spill.The environmental disaster represents a once-in-a-generation research opportunity that has oceanographers salivating. There's big money – $500 million from BP alone – up for grabs. And for scientists who usually toil in near-obscurity, there's the prospect of lots of media attention, not to mention scientific ones.

Read more from Seth Borenstein and John Flesher
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/29/bp-oil-spill-turns-gulf-o_n_744059.html

Gulf Coast Disaster - Wednesday, September 29

2010-09-29T16:08:10Z

Eric Young, NRDC Alum, Washington DC

Highlights in this issue

- Will BP cut a deal with White House to reduce oil spill fines?
- Feinberg says claims backlog eliminated
- Bromwich: No idea when deepwater drilling to resume
- Pace of shallow-drilling permits defended
- Poll: Restoration high on list of voter demands
- BP gets serious about safety
- Obama endorses Mabus Gulf restoration report

Today’s summary
There are conflicting reports today that BP may be trying to cut a deal with the administration to settle the billions of dollars in fines it’s expected to incur as a result of the oil spill. The AP quoted Rep. Steve Scalise, a Republican lawmaker from Louisiana, on Tuesday saying that there were talks between BP and the White House to come up with a settlement. Then the Justice Department said no talks were taking place. It makes sense though, and we’re expecting something to emerge before too long. BP could be facing billions in fines for the spill, not to mention legal costs. Meanwhile, there are indications that BP and the government are moving swiftly on the next phase of the Gulf spill disaster. BP announced a new set up a new global safety division and make other changes to the way it operates. President Obama endorsed the recommendations of the Mabus commission to fund restoration of the Gulf of Mexico with the collection of fines that BP is likely to pay.

Quotable Quote
"These are the first and most urgent steps in a program I am putting in place to rebuild trust in BP - the trust of our customers, of governments, of our employees and of the world at large. That trust is vital to the restoration of shareholder value which has been so adversely affected by recent events” - BP CEO Robert Dudley

And this one, too
"Washington, D.C., is not going to tell the Mississippi Gulf Coast how to rebuild the Mississippi Gulf Coast'' - Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour

National News

AP: Will BP cut a deal with White House to reduce fines for oil spill?
There was a flurry of excitement Tuesday when Louisiana Republican Rep. Steve Scalise told the Associated Press that BP and the White House are talking about a settlement in fines for the oil giant in an effort to avoid a costly legal fight. It's a negotiation,'' Scalise said "If they can't reach an agreement then it would go to court. We would be able to get that money to the Gulf coast quicker if they would agree to it.'' Late Tuesday, a Justice Department official threw a cold towel over this story and said no settlement talks are taking place.

Read more
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130191577&ft=1&f=1001

ProPublica.org: Feinberg says he’s eliminated claims backlog
Claims czar Kenneth Feinberg said his operation had eliminated the backlog of claims that had been sitting in the system unpaid. “There is virtually now no backlog,” Feinberg told ProPublica. “We are now current with any of the older claims.” The only backlog is claims that have come in during the last few days.

Read more
http://www.propublica.org/article/gulf-spill-paymaster-says-he-has-eliminated-claims-backlogwhile-100928

Bloomberg: Deepwater drilling ban may end soon
Watch for Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar to lift the federal ban on deep-water oil drilling “soon,” now that the measure has met some of its goals, the government said in court papers this week.

Read more
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-28/u-s-may-lift-ban-on-deep-water-drilling-soon-lawyers-for-salazar-say.html

And then check out this conflicting one:
CNSnews.com: Bromwich: No idea when deepwater drilling will resume
Michael Bromwich, the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE), told the presidential commission investigating the BP oil spill on Monday that the federal government has no idea when deep-water oil drilling would resume in the Gulf of Mexico, even though the federal moratorium on such drilling expires on Nov. 30. There are rumblings the moratorium may be lifted early but no confirmation yet.

Read more
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/75923

Dow Jones: Pace of shallow-drilling permits defended
It sure is taking a long time, but offshore drilling chief Michael Bromwich said his agency has approved seven shallow-water permits since it issued guidelines in June and is currently reviewing six other applications, according to a person familiar with the issue.

Read more
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201009281116dowjonesdjonline000243&title=us-official-defends-pace-of-new-offshore-drilling-permits

Clarionledger.com: Poll: Restoration high on list of voter demands
There are few things the beleaguered people of the Gulf coast agree on more these days than repairing the Gulf coast. A new poll shows overwhelming support among all five Gulf states for environmental restoration of the region, according to the poll by the Walton Foundation. “The polling shows that voters believe that environmental restoration is intrinsically linked to the economic well being of the state and the region,” said James Cummings, executive director of Wildlife Mississippi. More than 70 percent of the 2,061 voters polled said they’re more likely to vote for a member of Congress supporting making new investments for the health of the Gulf coast.

Read more
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100929/COL0412/9290306/1171/OPINION/Poll-shows-post-spill-support-for-environmental-rehab

The poll
http://www.edf.org/documents/11358_10%20LRP_Bellwether_Gulf_States_Short.pdf

AOLnews.com: Presidential panel needs subpoena power
A presidential panel investigating the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico needs a hammer to get its work done. So far, it just has a stick. The panel’s co-chairs say the Oil Spill Commission needs subpoena power to call witnesses. They say the panel's investigators have "encountered resistance" as they attempt to interview employees of the companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon drilling operations.

Read more
http://www.aolnews.com/gulf-oil-spill/article/senate-gridlock-hampers-bp-oil-spill-investigation/19652484

Check this out, too
Houston Chronicle: Oil companies refuse to talk on record about oil spill
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/7222703.html

New York Times: BP gets serious about safety
Robert Dudley, BP’s new CEO, announced Wednesday BP would set up a new global safety division and make other changes to the way it operates as it seeks to absorb some lessons from the explosion of a oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year. The new division would aim to improve risk management and safety, and also review how the company manages agreements with contractors.

Read more
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/business/energy-environment/30safety.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1285765328-WOJrVsZbG1rEl707Ri5FUg

Check this one out, too
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116004575521394170919842.html

Washington Post: Obama endorses Mabus Gulf restoration report
President Obama endorsed a new report issued by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. It recommends funding restoration of the Gulf of Mexico with some of the possible fines the federal government could levy on oil and drilling companies involved in the oil spill.

Read more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/28/AR2010092806474.html

And see this one
Obama asks EPA administration to take lead on Gulf recovery
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/buzz/latest-buzz/70874-navy-sec-mabus-submits-gulf-plan-to-obamaepa-jackson-to-take-lead-

Full text of Mabus report
http://www.restorethegulf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/gulf-recovery-sep-2010.pdf

Regional

Press-Register: Feinberg pays $200 m in claims in one day
The floodgates have finally opened to pay claims to Gulf coast residents for their pain and damages from the BP oil spill. Nearly $200 million poured into the Gulf Coast from the oil spill claims process Tuesday, and public officials in coastal Alabama said that for the first time all summer, business owners were being made whole for their losses. “It looks like we’re finally gaining the momentum we need,” Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft said. “I’m hopeful now, more so than I’ve been in a while.”

Read more
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/09/in_1_day_oil_spill_claims_faci.html

Times-Picayune: A new tactic to get claims payments: Form letters
About half the households in Plaquemines Parish are using form letters, some provided by Parish Council members on official parish letterhead, to ask oil spill claims czar Kenneth Feinberg to cover their personal food costs. Feinberg says none include any documentation.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/09/plaquemines_residents_inundate.html

USA Today: States tally up damages for BP payments
While the strategies differ, every state bordering the Gulf is calculating the damage caused by an estimated 5 million barrels of oil spilled in the Gulf and the chemicals used to clean it up, and preparing to present BP with a bill. All of the states say they can back up their claims with a lawsuit if BP won't pay. "Most every state has either filed a complaint or has one drafted if need be," says Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood.

Read more
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-29-gulfstateclaims29_ST_N.htm

Webwire: Tyson’s food delivers 50 tons of chicken for Gulf
Tyson Foods, Inc. is stepping up to the plate to help the Gulf coast. It’s delivering more than 50 tons of chicken this week to the Gulf Coast to help fight hunger in communities affected by the recent oil spill. The chicken products are being given by Tyson to the Bay Area Food Bank, which services Central Gulf Coast communities in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi..

Read more
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=124032

Politics

Times-Picayune: Landrieu resists pressure to cave on OMB nominee
Sen. Mary Landrieu has finally found an issue that could help her re-election campaign and the people of the Gulf. With Congress heading toward the exits for the election recess, she maintained her hold Tuesday on the appointment of a key administration official. It’s likely the Obama administration will be lifting the ban early and no matter what the reason, Landrieu is expected to come out a winner on her steadfast parliamentary maneuver. Landrieu acknowledged she was getting considerable "pushback" from the Senate leadership to release her hold on the appointment of Jacob Lew to head the Office of Management and Budget. Nothing like making a few waves.

Read more
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/09/sen_mary_landrieu_resists_pres.html

Feature

Law.com: Lawyers jockey to be lead counsel on BP oil lawsuits
More than 100 lawyers who are suing BP PLC over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have applied for coveted places on the committee that will lead the multidistrict litigation, citing either the extensive work they've already done or the unique role they would serve as the representative of a specific group of alleged victims. Some sought a role as representative for a particular group including African-Americans, Vietnamese fishermen and Hispanics. There are lawyers seeking a leg up representing Florida and Louisiana and a firm representing the three Mexican States claiming to be affected by the spill Plenty is at stake here – money, of course, and a chance to to steer the proceedings in a position favorable to their clients.

Read more
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202472653870&Scores_of_Lawyers_Apply_for_Lead_Counsel_in_BP_Litigation