Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Oct. 3, 2013
Appeals court moves BP forward in settlement dispute
By AP. Oct. 2, 2013.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday revived BP’s claims that a judge’s interpretation of a settlement over its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could force the company to pay billions of dollars for bogus or inflated claims by businesses…” (read more)
Partial victory for BP in dispute over settlement
By Clifford Krauss, The New York Times. Oct. 2, 2013.
“A federal appeals court gave BP a partial victory on Wednesday by ordering a lower court judge to reconsider his interpretation of a settlement with claimants who filed billions of dollars of claims against the oil company after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster…” (read more)
Daily Digit: BP fights spill fines (Video)
By Rueters. Oct. 1, 2013.
“BP has denied lying about the amount of oil leaking from a damaged well after the Gulf of Mexico disaster in 2010. A second phase of the company’s trial is underway – BP is trying to limit the fines it may face.” (see it here)
BP tells court it did not dither in response to U.S. Gulf spill
By Kathy Finn, Reuters. Oct. 2, 2013.
“BP unnecessarily delayed the capping of its Macondo well and worsened the extent of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill through dithering and indecision, according to allegations by plaintiffs’ lawyers on Tuesday that the British company denied…” (read more)
At trial, BP denies dithering during response to U.S. Gulf spill
By Kathy Finn, Reuters. Oct. 2, 2013.
“Dithering and indecision at BP Plc delayed the capping of its Macondo well and worsened the extent of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to allegations by plaintiffs’ lawyers at trial on Tuesday that the British company denied…” (read more)
BP executive: Well could have been sealed sooner
By Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press. Oct. 2, 2013.
“A BP executive who led the company’s efforts to end its massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico says its blown-out well could have been sealed sooner if a capping device had been built before the April 2010 catastrophe…” (read more)
BP team leader for stopping 2010 oil spill tells court of company’s reasoning, limitations
By Mark Waller, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). Oct. 2, 2013.
“The leader of BP’s team for closing the oil leak on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 described at the BP trial Wednesday morning how his team proceeded with the “top kill” strategy…” (read more)
BP executive testifies about Gulf oil spill response
By AP. Oct.2, 2013.
“A BP executive who led the company’s efforts to halt its massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico testified Tuesday that his decisions were guided by the principle that they shouldn’t do anything that could make the crisis worse…” (read more)
Testimony at oil spill trial faults BP response
By Associated Press. Oct. 2, 2013.
“An employee of the company that owned the doomed Deepwater Horizon drilling rig testified Tuesday that he was surprised when BP scrapped his team’s design to stop the gusher in the Gulf of Mexico…” (read more)
BP oil spill trial: NOLA.com reporters cover it live from the courthouse
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). Oct. 2, 2013.
“The second phase of the civil trial against BP and its partners in the ill-fated Macondo oil well continues in New Orleans federal court…” (read more)
BP wasn’t prepared for deepwater blowout, witness says
By Allen Johnson & Margaret Cronin Fisk, Bloomberg Businessweek. Oct. 2, 2013.
“BP wasn’t prepared for a blowout at its deep-water Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, a safety expert who studied the 2010 oil spill told a judge who is assessing how well the company reacted to the disaster…” (read more)
Area Counties Prepare To Vie For BP Oil Spill Money
By Garin Flowers, WC TV (Tallahassee, Fla.). Oct. 2, 2013.
“It’s now been a little over three years since the BP Oil Spill, where an explosion destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, claiming 11 lives and discharging 4.9 million barrels of oil into the ocean…” (read more)
Transocean LTD manager says BP scrapped Deepwater Horizon cap plan to stop gushing well
By Roberta Murray, Offshore Technology International. Oct. 2, 2013.
“An employee of Transocean LTD, the company that owned the doomed Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, has told a court he was surprised when BP scrapped his team’s design to stop the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico…” (read more)
BP can ‘tolerate Gulf spill penalties of $40bn’
By UK Stock Market Wire. Oct. 2, 2013.
“BP can tolerate a penalty of around $40bn for the 2010 Macondo oil spill without compromising its credit quality, Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report…” (read more)
BP had tools to end spill sooner, court told
By Ed Crooks, The Financial Times. Oct. 1, 2013.
“BP had equipment available that could have sealed its Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico within a month of it blowing out in April 2010, two months earlier than the spill was actually ended, the trial over the disaster has been told…” (read more)
BP trial witnesses, lawyers tussle over characterizing what happened during the Gulf oil spill
By Mark Waller. The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). Oct. 1, 2013.
“Tuesday at the BP trial was an exercise in conflicting characterizations of the same events that unfolded as oil gushed from the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010: BP was diligently working on multiple solutions simultaneously, or it was jumping among options without following through…” (read more)
BP settlement pays out $18 million in claims
By David Alderstein, Apalachicola Times (Apachicola, Fla.). Oct. 2, 2013.
“The man who oversees the Deepwater Horizon claims process paid a visit last week to Apalachicola, as he rallied the local staff as part of his tour of 19 claimant assistance centers from South Florida to Texas…” (read more)
BP flexing its legal muscles
By T.J. Aulds, Galveston Daily News (Galveston County, Texas). Oct. 2, 2013.
“Three weeks into the trial about a 2010 emissions event at its former Texas City refinery, and BP is set to present its side of the case. For those defending BP, it is about time…” (read more)
Offshore drilling hearing continues despite government shutdown
By Kate Sheppard, The Huffington Post. Oct. 1, 2013.
A Senate committee still held a hearing on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday morning, despite a government shutdown that paralyzed many other aspects of the federal government. (read more)
“The lawbreaking is ongoing”: Louisiana Levee Board sues BP, Exxon, Shell, Chevron for coast damage
By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!. Oct. 2, 2013.
“Beyond the well-known devastation caused by the BP oil spill in 2010, the oil and gas industry in Louisiana has also been blamed for destroying coastal wetlands that provide a vital barrier against flooding from storms like Hurricane Katrina…” (read more)
Levee authority needs to stand up to the governor: Letter
By The Times-Picayune, Letter to the editor. Oct. 2, 2013.
“Gov. Bobby Jindal, through his spokesman Garret Graves, says that he will refuse to reappoint John Berry and Tim Doody to the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority…” (read more)