BP oil spill of April 2010 was not the largest in U.S. history, lawmaker says

By Jonathan Tilove, The Times-Picayune

WASHINGTON -- At a recent hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee, U.S. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., called the BP oil spill the "worst oil spill in our nation's history," a commonplace description of an event that President Obama, in his Oval Office address on the spill last June, told the nation was "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced."

A 1910 photograph shows the Lakeview Gusher in Maricopa, Calif., which spewed 48,000 barrels of oil a day.

Later in the hearing, Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, who had not been present when Markey made his claim, sought to correct the record. The distinction of being the largest oil spill in American history, he said, belongs to California's Lakeview Gusher of 1910.

For 18 months in 1910 and 1911, the Lakeview Gusher spewed 9.4 million barrels of oil onto the scrubland of California's San Joaquin Valley -- nearly twice the 4.9 million barrels discharged into the Gulf of Mexico in the Macondo blowout.

Landry's comment might seem a petty exercise in misdirection. Markey had described it as the "worst," not the "largest," oil spill. And, the Lakeview Gusher was hardly seen as a disaster on the scale of the Gulf spill. In an age before TV, let alone cable TV, it was hardly seen at all, although an excursion train transported San Franciscans nearly 300 miles to view this geyser of hydrocarbons. A century later, according to Don Maxwell, who runs a local museum, "the sagebrush is the same where it spilled as where it didn't."

But Landry said his point was to place the Deepwater Horizon disaster in context, especially as he and other members of the Louisiana delegation have pushed to get offshore drilling back on track.

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Dwarf seahorses threatened by BP oil spill, deserve protection, environmental group says

By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune


The dwarf seahorse, which makes its home in seagrass beds along the coastline of Louisiana and other Gulf states, should be given endangered or threatened species status because of threats to its habitat by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its overcollection for the aquarium trade, according to a petition filed today by the Center for Biological Diversity.
dwarf-seahorse.jpgStickpen, Wikimedia Commons websiteDwarf seahorse, hippocampus zosterae, at the Birch Aquarium, San Diego, California, in December 2009.

"Our country's tiniest seahorse is just one of the many victims of ongoing pollution from the Gulf oil spill disaster," said Tierra Curry, conservation biologist at the center. "The dwarf seahorse now needs Endangered Species Act protection to have a fighting chance of survival."

The petition was filed with the Department of Commerce, which oversees Endangered Species Act protection of ocean species through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

While the tiny seahorse was threatened by its overcollection for aquariums and the loss of seagrass beds in Florida and other states prior to last year's oil spill, the effects of the Macondo well's oil and dispersants used to break it up have added to stresses on the species, she said.

"Oil spills like the one nearly a year ago in the Gulf of Mexico exact a long and terrible toll on marine life, especially species like the dwarf seahorse that have already been struggling to survive," Curry said. "These kinds of catastrophic spills will continue to be a threat as long as our country continues to push for more and more offshore drilling."

The dwarf seahorse is the smallest of the four seahorse species found in the United States, and it is the third-smallest seahorse in the world.

Seahorse reproduction is unusual in that it's the male of the species that becomes pregnant. Dwarf seahorses live for only one year.

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14 environmental groups call on White House to strengthen offshore drilling regulations

By Bruce Alpert, Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune

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WASHINGTON -- Representatives of 14 major environmental groups Tuesday called on President Barack Obama to observe the first anniversary of the blowout of BP's Macondo well this month by implementing additional safeguards for offshore drilling.

Ted Jackson / The Times-PicayuneOil skimmers try to clean up oil released from the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico before it reaches the sensitive wetlands last April.

"Without a real commitment to solve the problems that caused the blowout, official ceremonies to mark April 20 will become hollow affairs," wrote Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council and one of the signers of the letter.

While oil industry representatives, backed by oil state lawmakers, have accused the administration of overreacting to the BP disaster and imposing unreasonable regulations that have slowed drilling at a time of high gasoline prices, the environmental representatives said much more needs to be done.

While applauding the president for proposing a significant increase in funding for the Interior Department's oversight of offshore drilling operations, and implementing a restructuring of agencies that oversee offshore oil and gas activities, the environmental advocates say the administration hasn't taken all the steps recommended by the White House BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commission.

Specifically, it calls on the president to implement an independent offshore safety authority "insulated from pressures to increase production and maximize lease revenues, a more robust review of the environmental impact of drilling applications, along with strengthened science and interagency consultation, specifically more involvement for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

While Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the administration is now satisfied that for the eight projects recently given federal permits there are adequate containment plans in the event of another major spill, the environmental groups say more oversight is needed.

"There should be a new process for reviewing oil spill response plans," the environmentalists say in their letter to the president. "The Department of the Interior should review and revise its regulations and guidance for response plans and ensure that adequate technical expertise exists within the staff for reviewing and approving plans. The process should ensure that all critical information and spill scenarios are included in the plans, including containment and control methods, to ensure that operators can deliver the capabilities indicated in the response plans."

Besides the Natural Resources Defense Council executive director, also signing the letter to President Obama are representatives of the Alaska Wilderness League, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice; Environmental Defense Fund, Gulf Restoration Network, League of Conservation Voters, National Audubon Society, National Parks Conservation Association, National Wildlife Federation, Ocean Conservancy, Sierrra Club, Wilderness Society and World Wildlife Fund-US..

Lehner, the Natural Resources Defense Council representative, said for many residents of the Gulf Coast a reminder of the anniversary of the BP disaster isn't necessary.

"Many live with the fallout of April 20, 2010 every day," he said.

"All major spills cast a long shadow, but what makes the BP spill especially egregious is the context of recklessness and neglect in which it took place," Lehner said.

Despite contentions by Louisiana lawmakers that the April 20 accident represented the failure of BP and its contractual partners, Lehner said it points to industry-wide problems.

"We are not taking about one rogue company or one weak agency," Lehner said. "We're talking about a systemic failure to put safety first."

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., denounced the environmental groups' letter.

"As we near the Deepwater Horizon explosion anniversary, Wendy and I will continue praying for the victims and their families," Vitter said. "Meanwhile, I think it's callous and hollow to use the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico to push a radical environmentalist anti-drilling agenda."

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, offered similar sentiments.

"While we need to make sure that drilling is done safely, this disaster should not be politicized to achieve a long sought-after radical agenda which shuts down American energy exploration and leaves our country more dependent on Middle Eastern oil," Scalise said. "The president should work with us to allow people to get back to work drilling safely in the Gulf, and should continue working with us to ensure that the lion's share of the BP Clean Water Act fines are dedicated to the Gulf states for long term recovery from the spill as well as coastal and ecosystem restoration efforts."

Probing BP's spill estimates: An editorial

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By Editorial page staff, The Times-Picayune

Investigators in BP's criminal probe are reportedly examining what company officials knew about the Macondo well's flow rate in the early days of last year's spill -- and that's a warranted angle for the probe.

After the April 20 blowout, the company initially said only 1,000 barrels a day were spilling into the ocean and later it revised its estimate to 5,000 barrels daily. But congressional investigators uncovered documents showing BP knew then that as much as 14,000 barrels could have been spilling every day. Government scientists eventually pegged the actual flow at 62,000 barrels a day.

Federal investigators have shown up at the homes of several BP executives in recent weeks to question them about the flow rate and how it may have differed from what the company told government officials and the public, according to sources. Giving false statements to a federal agency is a felony.

Two sources familiar with the Department of Justice probe said the investigation also is examining whether BP executives used their internal knowledge of the spill for illegal insider trading.

At the same time, the Justice Department has formed a new task force in the investigation headed by the Criminal Division, not the Environmental Division. It remains to be seen whether that means the department is preparing what could be the biggest environmental criminal case in the nation's history.

BP and its contractors face as much as $30 billion in criminal fines and an additional $21 billion in potential civil penalties for the spill. Many observers expect the fines to be negotiated between the firm and the government and to be set at lower amounts, in great part because BP already has paid billions of dollars for cleanup and to settle damage claims.

But Deputy Attorney General James Cole said that, "If criminal conduct did occur, there will be a harsh price to pay."

It's important that those responsible for the disaster pay the full cost of repairing the damage. It's also important that any firm or individual who broke the law is brought to justice.

Gulf residents, who suffered the consequences of the spill, deserve no less.

PHOTO BY TED JACKSON/The Times-Picayune Oil skimmers try to clean up oil Oil skimmers try to clean up oil released from the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico before it reaches the sensitive wetlands Wednesday, April 28, 2010.

Oil Spill Photo Gallery

MATTHEW HINTON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Wildlife Rehabilitator Christina Schilleci, of Louisiana State Animal Response, left, holds an oiled pelican impacted from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, as she admits the bird to a triage facility at Fort Jackson in Buras, La.


























BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE An oiled pelican is cleaned inside the Fort Jackson Bird Rehabilitation Center near Buras.

BP will launch test to find boom anchors left in Gulf after oil spill

By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune

The Coast Guard has directed BP to drop test anchors into Gulf of Mexico waters, and then search for them, to find the best way to locate and remove thousands of boom anchors left behind in the Gulf and surrounding waters after the oil spill.
boom-marsh-pelican.jpgView full sizeTimes-Picayune archiveA nesting pelican flies over oil boom near Dead Man's Island in Bay Eloi off the coast of St. Bernard Parish in July.

That first phase, scheduled to begin this weekend, involves finding the best methods for removal. The second phase will entail locating and removing the orphaned anchors in St. Bernard Parish.

The third and final phase of the program -- to retrieve all remaining anchors in state waters -- is conditional. Removal begin in all Louisiana waters affected by the spill if the first two phases are successful.

St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro has estimated there are about 3,500 anchors in St. Bernard waters alone. Thousands more are estimated in Jefferson and Plaquemines' waterways.

While the current plan doesn't guarantee that anchors will be removed outside of St. Bernard, local officials appear confident it will get accomplished.

Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts, who sponsored a parish resolution in November for boom anchor removal, said the anchors in Jefferson waters will be removed by an means necessary.

"If we need to initiate litigation against BP then we will do that," Roberts said. "But we are very happy to see that it is progressing and we will monitor the program."

The 20- to 70-pound Danforth anchors were used to secure the boom that lined portions of Louisiana's coast to help prevent the oil spewing from BP's Macondo well from reaching the marshes.

Local fishers complain that BP contractors simply cut the boom from the anchors, leaving the hazards in waterways. The fishers say their nets have snagged and been torn by the anchors, and boat propellers have become tangled in the ropes that come up from the anchors and float to the surface.

BP has maintained that its contractors removed all the anchors that weren't embedded deep in sediment or had not long ago drifted away.

And a recent release by the Unified Command, the multiagency organization responsible for oil spill response, contends that every anchor that could be safely recovered was removed, and that Danforth anchors, which are intended to embed in the sediment and collapse flat when not in use, do not protrude above the sediment.

But despite the Unified Command's position that there is no threat, the adamant push by local officials and fishermen seemingly has spurred the Coast Guard to act.

"The federal government team that continues to oversee this response is committed to ensuring that BP uses a safe and proven method to find and remove orphan anchors so that teams do not break submerged pipelines in the area or further harm fragile ecosystems by causing erosion," stated Capt. Lincoln Stroh, federal on-scene coordinator, in a release by the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center. "Teams cannot simply drag the waterways with a hook or trawl due to the risk of breaking a pipeline or causing massive erosion."

"The program requires BP to undertake careful planning to ensure there is no environmental damage or destruction to existing pipelines and infrastructure."

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Benjamin Alexander-Bloch can be reached at bbloch@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3321.

Through Our Eyes: the BP oil spill by the Times-Picayune photo staff

When the BP oil spill erupted in the Gulf of Mexico, members of our Times-Picayune photo staff sprang into action to cover this tragedy. Here's a look at what it was like to cover the spill, in the words and photographs of some of those staffers. The interviews conducted here and the photo selection was done by staff photographer John McCusker.