Gulf oil crisis links: More lurks below the surface
CS Monitor: Methane's hidden impact in Gulf oil spill
UGA Scientist: Too Little Research on Gases at Oil Disaster Site in Gulf
WKRG Mobile/Pensacola: Submerged Oil Confirmed On Seabed Off Ala. Coast
"Alabama officials have found oil on the seabed just off the state's coast, confirming fears that the Gulf oil spill could be doing more damage than is readily apparent from the surface."
Times-Picayune: Media, boaters could face criminal penalties by entering oil cleanup 'safety zone'
Reporters barred from "safety zone" around oil damaged and response sites and even places with barriers and booms; can face "a civil penalty of up to $40,000, and could be classified as a Class D felony."
"Photographers have had similar problems viewing the oil's impacts from the air. Photographer Ted Jackson of The Times-Picayune was trying to charter a flight with Southern Seaplane in late May to photograph oil coming ashore on Grand Isle, but the pilot was told that no media flights could go below 3,000 feet, due to restrictions from the Federal Aviation Administration.
"Often the general guise of 'safety' is used as a blanket excuse to limit the media's access, and it's been done before"
Project on Government Oversight: Interior Starts to Fine BP
"In another move to demonstrate that it's more than just a name change at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM, formerly the Minerals Management Service, or MMS), BOEM Director Michael Bromwich announced at this morning's House Natural Resources Committee hearing that the Interior Department was imposing a $5.2 million fine against BP America for "false, inaccurate, or misleading" reports for energy production that occurred on Southern Ute Indian Tribal lands in southwestern Colorado. In the hearing, he noted that not only did Interior find that statements were false and misleading, but that they were willfully so.
"This is a big deal. POGO investigations and a review by ProPublica have found MMS enforcement actions against companies for royalty under-payments have been few and far between".
Editorial by Harry Shearer: A Word to BP Shareholders
"BP shareholders: You benefited through the years from the profits generated by the company which accumulated 97 precent of the fines levied against oil companies for safety and environmental violations (not counting Exxon Valdez compensation). You gained financially from the damage your company inflicted on its workers and its surroundings. Now your company, following those same policies, has created enormous economic and ecological damage, and you are concerned about the impact that unlimited liability for that damage would have on your dividend and on the ability of your company to avoid bankruptcy. Question: how many of you complained to management about the policies and practices from which you benefited all these years? Or do you just complain when these policies and practices inflict profound economic and other costs on others, for which your company may be held responsible? Did you complain when management obviously low-balled flow estimates out of the well for at least a month, so as to minimize damage perceived by the potential jury pool?
"Or, as seems more likely, are you happy to privatize the gains and socialize the losses?"
Boston Globe Big Pictures:Oil in the Gulf, two months later
UGA Scientist: Too Little Research on Gases at Oil Disaster Site in Gulf
WKRG Mobile/Pensacola: Submerged Oil Confirmed On Seabed Off Ala. Coast
"Alabama officials have found oil on the seabed just off the state's coast, confirming fears that the Gulf oil spill could be doing more damage than is readily apparent from the surface."
Times-Picayune: Media, boaters could face criminal penalties by entering oil cleanup 'safety zone'
Reporters barred from "safety zone" around oil damaged and response sites and even places with barriers and booms; can face "a civil penalty of up to $40,000, and could be classified as a Class D felony."
"Photographers have had similar problems viewing the oil's impacts from the air. Photographer Ted Jackson of The Times-Picayune was trying to charter a flight with Southern Seaplane in late May to photograph oil coming ashore on Grand Isle, but the pilot was told that no media flights could go below 3,000 feet, due to restrictions from the Federal Aviation Administration.
"Often the general guise of 'safety' is used as a blanket excuse to limit the media's access, and it's been done before"
Project on Government Oversight: Interior Starts to Fine BP
"In another move to demonstrate that it's more than just a name change at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM, formerly the Minerals Management Service, or MMS), BOEM Director Michael Bromwich announced at this morning's House Natural Resources Committee hearing that the Interior Department was imposing a $5.2 million fine against BP America for "false, inaccurate, or misleading" reports for energy production that occurred on Southern Ute Indian Tribal lands in southwestern Colorado. In the hearing, he noted that not only did Interior find that statements were false and misleading, but that they were willfully so.
"This is a big deal. POGO investigations and a review by ProPublica have found MMS enforcement actions against companies for royalty under-payments have been few and far between".
Editorial by Harry Shearer: A Word to BP Shareholders
"BP shareholders: You benefited through the years from the profits generated by the company which accumulated 97 precent of the fines levied against oil companies for safety and environmental violations (not counting Exxon Valdez compensation). You gained financially from the damage your company inflicted on its workers and its surroundings. Now your company, following those same policies, has created enormous economic and ecological damage, and you are concerned about the impact that unlimited liability for that damage would have on your dividend and on the ability of your company to avoid bankruptcy. Question: how many of you complained to management about the policies and practices from which you benefited all these years? Or do you just complain when these policies and practices inflict profound economic and other costs on others, for which your company may be held responsible? Did you complain when management obviously low-balled flow estimates out of the well for at least a month, so as to minimize damage perceived by the potential jury pool?
"Or, as seems more likely, are you happy to privatize the gains and socialize the losses?"
Boston Globe Big Pictures:Oil in the Gulf, two months later