Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 13, 2013

Halliburton Official ‘Surprised’ by Unauthorized Tests
By Allen Johnson Jr. and Margaret Cronin Fisk, Bloomberg News. March 12, 2013.
“A Halliburton Co. (HAL) safety executive testified he didn’t authorize post-explosion tests on the type of cement used on the BP Plc (BP/) well that blew up in the Gulf of Mexico and was surprised when he heard about them a year later…” (Read more)

BP trial: Halliburton exec testifies seal on well had ‘low probability of success’
By Mark Heim, The Press-Register (Mobile, Ala.). March 13, 2013.
“A Halliburton executive who was in charge of the cementing operations testified Tuesday in the BP oil spill trial in New Orleans the “cement slurry” used to seal the BP Macondo well “had a low probability of success…” (Read more)

On Staten Island as in New Orleans, nowhere to go but up
By Jillian Jorgenson, The Staten Island (N.Y.) Advance. March 13, 2013.
“STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — For many of the Staten Islanders living along the coast, looking at the requirements on new flood maps may leave them with a tremendous question they are not sure how to begin answering…” (Read more)

Louisiana fishers, others get tips on how to capitalize on ecotourism
By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). March 12, 2013.
“At Plaquemines Parish’s Stella Plantation, surrounded by its marshes, cypress trees and live oaks, Louisiana fishers, farmers and landowners on Tuesday heard how they can use the resources and environmental know-how they already have to bring in extra money though ecotourism…” (Read more)

BP trial: Battle goes to judge
Editorial, The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser. March 12, 2013.
“The much anticipated BP trial began Feb. 25 in New Orleans. British Petroleum faces billions of dollars in civil claims resulting from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico…” (Read more)