Science-based decision making and the gulf oil disaster
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By Alisha A. Renfro, Ph.D., Staff Scientist, National Wildlife Federation On April 20, 2010, a blowout of BP’s Macondo well, just 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, began the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history. For more than 80 days, oil spewed from the well into the deep and dark waters of the Gulf of Mexico, quickly spreading to mid-depths and to the surface. While this disaster resulted in the mobilization of an unprecedented amount of resources to …
BP Oil Spill: 1,000 Days Later
It’s been exactly 1,000 days since the BP-operated oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, gushing millions of barrels of crude oil into a body of water that supports countless ecosystems and economies. Below is a timeline of major events that have occurred in the last 1,000 days. Tell BP to stop stalling, take responsibility, and pay the maximum Clean Water Act fines for which they are liable — now! Sources: – Restorethegulf.org, “First oiled bird is recovered.” – …
Tagged EconomicsCoalition groups react to Transocean settlement
Yesterday our coalition members, along with Greater New Orleans Inc., The Nature Conservancy, Oxfam America and Ocean Conservancy, released a joint statement on the Department of Justice’s settlement with Transocean for its role in the 2010 gulf oil disaster. At the same time, our Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign organizations also released their individual takes on this landmark event. Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana: “This is a historic agreement because the $1 billion in civil fines under the Clean Water …
Gulf Restoration Groups Praise Historic Settlement for Oil Spill
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Gulf Restoration Groups Praise Historic Settlement for Oil Spill Transocean penalties a step forward for unprecedented restoration efforts (WASHINGTON, DC) Gulf restoration and economic development groups lauded the announcement today from the Department of Justice that it has reached an historic settlement with Transocean for its role in the 2010 Gulf oil spill. Today’s $1.4 billion settlement will be paid under the Clean Water Act for civil and criminal penalties. A significant portion of those funds will …
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council Convenes for First Time, Discusses Restoration Plan
By Whit Remer, Policy Analyst, Environmental Defense Fund Last week, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council held its first public meeting in Mobile, Ala. to update residents on the progress of implementing the RESTORE Act. The law, which Congress passed in June 2012, dedicates 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the BP oil spill back to the Gulf Coast for restoration. Those fines, expected to reach billions of dollars, will help stabilize and revive troubled ecosystems across the …
What the BP criminal settlement means for Gulf Coast restoration
By Whit Remer, Policy Analyst, Environmental Defense Fund Just in time for the holidays, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) delivered welcomed and unexpected good news for Gulf Coast restoration efforts. On November 15, DOJ announced they had reached a settlement with BP on all criminal charges related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. But what was expected to be a simple press conference outlining the details of the criminal plea agreement turned out to be a huge $2.4 …
LPB TV and the BP Oil Disaster: “Louisiana: The State We’re In”
Last Friday on Louisiana Public Broadcasting’s (LPB) “Louisiana: The State We’re In,” panelists representing impacted families, state communities and the environment discussed the recent Department of Justice announcement of an unprecedented $4.5 billion BP criminal case settlement for BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, plus ongoing impacts and restoration needs. Panelists included: Keith Jones, whose son was among the eleven killed in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion; Melanie Driscoll, Director of Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society’s Mississippi Flyway and Gulf of Mexico; and …
A Look at the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force’s Science Coordination Team
By Alisha Renfro, Ph.D., Staff Scientist, National Wildlife Federation In the aftermath of the BP oil disaster, President Obama created the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force through an executive order in October 2010. The mission of this Environmental Protection Agency-led group was to develop a long-term, holistic and science-based ecosystem restoration plan for the Gulf Coast. Included in this effort was the Science Coordination Team which involved more than 70 scientists from federal and state agencies who provided scientific …
Tagged ReportsBP Settles Deepwater Horizon Disaster Criminal Charges for $4.5 billion, Funding Headed to Louisiana for Restoration
By Scott Madere, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana This was originally posted on the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana’s website. Nov. 15, 2012 – BP, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have agreed on a settlement of criminal charges associated with the oil company’s negligence in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Disaster and oil spill. BP has pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to $4.5 billion in fines, more than half of which will be …
Environmental Groups Praise Historic Criminal Settlement
CONTACTS: Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, eskree@edf.org Erin Greeson, National Audubon Society, 503.913.8978, egreeson@audubon.org Lacey McCormick, National Wildlife Federation, 512.203.3016, mccormick@nwf.org Scott Madere, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, 225.767.4181, scottm@crcl.org John Lopez, Lake Pontchartrain Basin, 604.421.7348, johnlopez@pobox.com Environmental Groups Praise Historic Criminal Settlement Using BP criminal penalties for restoration a step forward to unprecedented civil fines Leading conservation groups praised the Department of Justice for reaching a historic $4.5 billion settlement on the criminal charges stemming from the 2010 BP oil disaster. This settlement will send $1.2 billion to coastal Louisiana restoration projects with an …
Video: Postcards from New Orleans: Hope for the Northeast
By Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund If anyone can sympathize with the Northeast as it recovers from Hurricane Sandy, it’s the residents of New Orleans. I found this out firsthand on recent trip to Louisiana. httpv://youtu.be/mLuI4g00WAE While Hurricane Sandy battered the Northeast, I was in South Louisiana with Environmental Defense Fund’s Creative Director, Nicole Possin, working on a video about wetlands restoration in the Mississippi River Delta. We’d planned the trip long before we knew about Sandy, and the irony …
Oil spill trustees unveil second round of early gulf restoration projects
By Whit Remer, Policy Analyst, Environmental Defense Fund Today, Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill incident announced two additional early NRDA restoration projects. The NRDA Trustees include representatives from the five Gulf Coast states and four federal agencies who are charged with assessing damage to natural resources, such as marshes, sea grasses, birds, and marine mammals, caused by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In April 2012, the Deepwater Horizon NRDA Trustees finalized the …
#makeBPpay National Day of Action
Our national #makeBPpay Twitter Day of Action is here! Stand with us by demanding BP pay the maximum fines for which they are liable from the 2010 gulf oil spill! Despite BP’s advertising campaigns to the contrary, the gulf is still suffering from the 2010 spill. Last week, it was announced that 565,000 pounds of oil had washed ashore during Hurricane Isaac. Earlier this month, a three-mile long sheen of oil appeared in the gulf near the Macondo well. Additionally, some …
On Clean Water Act anniversary, groups demand BP pay up for gulf oil spill
By Ryan Rastegar, Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign Coordinator Today marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Clean Water Act! In effect since October 18, 1972, this federal law prevents the releasing of toxic substances into our waters. The enforcement of this law is fundamentally important, not just to the people, wildlife and birds of the Mississippi River Delta, but to the entire country that depends on clean, healthy waters. In the summer of 2010, BP and other responsible …
The Power of We: The Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign
By Happy Johnson, Amanda Moore and Elizabeth Skree Our Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign works to reconnect the Mississippi River to its delta to protect people, wildlife and jobs. At our core, we are the “Power of We”: a coalition of five national and local non-governmental organizations — the National Audubon Society, Environmental Defense Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation — working together to save a national treasure: the Mississippi River Delta. The …