Well son of a gun! Finally.
One of largest human caused disasters of recent memory was of course the oil spill tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico.
Great to finally see a court decide on this!
Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/...
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier held a trial without a jury over who was at fault for the environmental catastrophe, which killed 11 people and spewed oil for almost three months into waters that touch the shores of five states. The case also included Transocean Ltd. (RIG) and Halliburton Co. (HAL), though the judge didn’t find them as responsible for the spill as BP.
The decision apportioned % of responsibility, which was interesting, but there are appeals ahead so the final outcome is uncertain.
U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier held a trial without a jury over who was at fault for the environmental catastrophe, which killed 11 people and spewed oil for almost three months into waters that touch the shores of five states. The case also included Transocean Ltd. (RIG) and Halliburton Co. (HAL), though the judge didn’t find them as responsible for the spill as BP.
“BP’s conduct was reckless,” Barbier wrote in a decision today in New Orleans federal court. “Transocean’s conduct was negligent. Halliburton’s conduct was negligent.”
Barbier apportioned fault at 67 percent for BP, 30 percent for Transocean and 3 percent for Halliburton. BP shares fell as much as 5.3 percent on the news.
The ruling marks a turning point in the legal morass surrounding the causes and impact of the disaster. Four years of debate and legal testimony have centered on who was at fault and how much blame each company should carry.
There's much more detailed info in the article.
Human Economic Costs Substantial, Remain Unmet
The Times-Picayune Greater New Orleans
Oil spill victims shut out of BP's internal claims program wait for their day in court
Seafood exporter Yiannis Karampelas in Houston said that was the case for his $18.6 million claim for the loss of his company after the spill.
Karampelas, a native of Chios, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, said the settlement would have offered him, like Arnsby, pennies on the dollar.
In the three years before the spill, Karampelas grew his business to two shrimp trawlers and 12 employees and was on track to export $5 million in whole shrimp and spiny lobster to his home country.
His business evaporated once news of the spill broke in Europe. Within days his vendors had told him to stop sending containers, he said.
karampelas oil spill claimA photo of Yiannis Karampelas in front of the two shrimp trawlers he owned through Odyssey Seafood Trading, his Houston-based seafood export business. Karampelas says demand for Gulf of Mexico shrimp and spiny lobster in Greece plummetted in the wake of the spill, forcing him out of business. He says his claim was denied with sparse explansion by BP's internal claims program, but he will continue to fight to recover his losses in court. (Photo provided by Yiannis Karampelas)
"Watching the oil spilling on TV, they didn't have a second thought," Karampelas said.
Sales sank from $1.8 million in 2009 to $150,000 in 2010, according to figures provided by Karampelas.
The year of the spill, Karampelas said he received $485,000 in compensation through the Gulf Coast Claims Facility for losses tied to one of his two shrimp trawlers. BP's internal claims program was his chance at getting back on his feet, he said.
In the end, BP notified him by mail that his larger business loss claim would not be paid because his Houston export business and a related import business in Greece were outside of the geographic area deemed affected by the spill.
He said he tried to rebuild his company, but struggled to pay thousands of dollars in inspection fees to clear Gulf seafood through European regulators. One of his largest clients switched to buying seafood from West Africa.
Highlighted this guy because was interesting to me having grown up near the Gulf Coast but now traveling in Santorini so was interested to see this about a Greek.
Methane 'Dead Zone' and Climate
Updated to another source, after comments.
UGA research examines fate of methane following the Deepwater Horizon spill
Athens, Ga. - The 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout discharged roughly five million barrels of oil and up to 500,000 metric tonnes of natural gas into Gulf of Mexico offshore waters over a period of 84 days. In the face of a seemingly insurmountable cleanup effort, many were relieved by reports following the disaster that naturally-occurring microbes had consumed much of the gas and oil.
Now, researchers led by University of Georgia marine scientists have published a paper in the journal Nature Geoscience questioning this conclusion. Their research provides evidence that microbes may not be capable of removing contaminants as quickly and easily as once thought.
"Most of the gas injected into the Gulf was methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change, so we were naturally concerned that this potent greenhouse gas could escape into the atmosphere," said Samantha Joye, senior author of the paper, director of the study and professor of marine science in UGA's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "Many assumed that methane-oxidizing microbes would simply consume the methane efficiently, but our data suggests that this isn't what happened."
Action For Alternatives to Death By Oil Spill
Credit: https://www.facebook.com/...
If you can't be in NY at that time, there are local actions as well. Get on board, here:
www.350.org
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A penny for your thoughts, in the comments below! :)
10:42 AM PT: Deutche Welle reports :
The Court concludes that the discharge of oil was the result of gross negligence or willful misconduct by BP," read the ruling from US District Judge Carl Barbier, who presided over a two-part trial which began in February, 2013. http://www.dw.de/...
12:09 PM PT: The Guardian :
BP could face up to $18bn in extra fines after US ruling on Gulf of Mexico spill
Oil firm reckless and negligent over Deepwater Horizon disaster, says judge in decision wiping £5bn off stock market value
http://www.theguardian.com/...