BP private claims appeal and ongoing litigation: What does it mean?
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By Mordechai Treiger and Will Lindsey, Environmental Defense Fund Three years after the Macondo oil well was capped off the coast of Louisiana, BP is still making headlines as it works to resolve legal claims stemming from the incident. As legal interns who have spent the past ten weeks working every day on issues related to the oil spill, even we sometimes find BP’s various legal obligations somewhat confusing. So we put together this brief outline to help ourselves keep …
Even after three years we can’t fully quantify the BP disaster damage
This was originally posted on the EDF Voices blog. By Douglas Rader, Chief Oceans Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund The third anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon blowout seems a good time to take stock of the damage done to the Gulf of Mexico, and to look to its future. The drill rig sank in about a mile of water on April 22, 2010, Earth Day, spewing more than 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf. It took almost a hundred days …
Profiles in Coastal Restoration: HESCO Bastion
By Will Lindsey, Environmental Defense Fund Louisiana-based company HESCO Bastion Environmental, Inc. is at the forefront of business innovations in response to the growing market for coastal restoration projects. Finding new uses for established products, the company is now involved in creating artificial oyster reefs and protective structures for wetlands. This arena of work is expected to expand and create more jobs in coastal communities as the RESTORE Act funds and other monies from the BP oil spill begin to …
Take action: Tell the RESTORE Council to prioritize ecosystem restoration
By Rachel Schott, Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign The period to publicly comment on the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council’s Draft Initial Comprehensive Plan ends soon, and we need you to submit your public comments to ensure the Council’s plan prioritizes environmental restoration. Per the RESTORE Act enacted in 2012, the Council is tasked with distributing BP oil spill funds across the five Gulf Coast states for restoration. However, many important decisions regarding spending and projects have yet to be …
Forty Thousand-Pound Tar Mat Discovered on Louisiana Barrier Island
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Erin Greeson, National Audubon Society, 503.913.8978, egreeson@audubon.org Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, eskree@edf.org Forty Thousand-Pound Tar Mat Discovered on Louisiana Barrier Island Effects of 2010 Gulf oil disaster still evident more than three years later (New Orleans—June 26, 2013) Recent news reports have confirmed the discovery of a massive 40,000-pound tar mat directly offshore of Grand Terre, a barrier island about 90 miles south of New Orleans. This announcement comes …
Senate hearing reviews Gulf Coast oil spill restoration efforts
By Will Lindsey, Environmental Defense Fund The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing Thursday (June 6) to review the progress that has been made to restore the Gulf Coast since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster. Senators Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) chaired the hearing, titled “Gulf Restoration: A Progress Report Three Years after the Deepwater Horizon Disaster.” The hearing came nearly a year after passage of the RESTORE Act, legislation that allocates …
Hurricane Season 2013: Let’s prepare our coast!
By Rachel Schott, Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign Preparation for hurricane season is second nature to most Louisianans. From gathering supplies to boarding up windows to mapping out evacuation routes, coastal residents acknowledge their tenuous positioning on the Gulf and the uncertain weather conditions that come from June to November. Yet with all this preparation, a question remains: Is the Louisiana coast as prepared as its residents? With the beginning of another hurricane season, the need for restoring the Mississippi River Delta …
Analysis: Judge poses questions to better understand BP’s liability in Gulf oil disaster
By Whit Remer, Policy Analyst, Environmental Defense Fund Though Phase I of the BP trial may be complete, both parties have a mountain of follow-up work, analysis, and then preparation to do for Phase II, which starts in September. Phase I of the trial covered the events leading up to the spill while Phase II will look at the explosion and response. When both phases are complete and after weighing all the evidence, Judge Carl Barbier will apportion liability between …
VIDEO: 3 Years Later, Make BP Pay
On April 20, 2010, 11 people lost their lives and the biggest environmental disaster in our nation’s history began. Three years later, BP’s oil is still here, and it continues to impact the people, places and wildlife of the Gulf. On April 20, 2013, to mark three years of BP’s ongoing disaster, local groups and citizens gathered to memorialize all that has been lost, call out BP for the ongoing effects of the spill, and take a stand to fight …
May 3 Telebriefing: Next Steps for Increased Funding for Coastal Restoration
Coast Builders Coalition and the Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign will host a telebriefing on Friday, May 3, 2013 at 11 a.m. EST. Businesses and business associations seeking an update on the RESTORE Act, Deepwater Horizon settlement and the Gulf Council are encouraged to register. These issues will impact a wide range of businesses, from the coastal restoration companies that can expect to see increased demand for their services to the tourism companies that depend on a healthy Gulf ecosystem. …
Tagged Economics$320 Million of BP Money Released for Barrier Island Restoration in Louisiana
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACTS: Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Erin Greeson, National Audubon Society, 503.913.8978, egreeson@audubon.org Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, eskree@edf.org $320 Million of BP Money Released for Barrier Island Restoration in Louisiana Early Natural Resource Damage Assessment funding will restore areas hurt by Gulf oil disaster (Lafitte, LA—April 30, 2013) Today, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced that BP has agreed to fund approximately $320 million in barrier island restoration projects in Louisiana. This funding …
Questions remain as phase I of BP trial ends
By Whit Remer, Policy Analyst, Environmental Defense Fund Testimony in the first phase of the BP oil spill trial wrapped up last week, but it could be at least a year before a decision is made in the case. On Wednesday, the court issued an order seeking clarity on critical issues in the case relating to gross negligence, and with millions of pages of evidence for the judge to consider, many questions remain unanswered. During the eight grueling weeks of …
Louisiana Public Broadcasting Presents: "Louisiana Coastal Concerns: BP & Beyond"
From CWPPRA Newsflash: What are viable strategies for addressing our coastal erosion in light of sea level rise, subsidence, hurricanes and oil spills? The Deepwater Horizon oil spill dumped nearly five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, with Louisiana’s coast receiving the greatest percentage of direct ecological damage. Three years later, a civil trial is taking place to determine the financial liability of BP and three other companies for the impact to the five Gulf states. Eighty …
The BP Oil Disaster: #3YearsLater
Today, as the April 20 three-year memorial of the 2010 BP oil disaster approaches, impacted community members, public officials and local and national conservation groups convened at the site of the ongoing BP trial, outside the Hale Boggs Federal Building in New Orleans, to demand that BP be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law for its role in the oil disaster so that Gulf restoration can begin. Visit the Restore the Mississippi River Delta‘s Facebook page to …
For Immediate Release: The BP Oil Disaster – Three Years Later
The BP Oil Disaster: Three Years Later I: PRESS RELEASE II: JOINT STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BP Oil Disaster Unresolved at Three-Year Mark Gulf Coast residents, public officials, conservation groups gather onsite at BP trial CONTACTS: Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Erin Greeson, National Audubon Society, 503.913.8978, egreeson@audubon.org Elizabeth Skree, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, eskree@edf.org Jordan Macha, Sierra Club, 713.299.4300, jordan.macha@sierraclub.org Dan Favre, Gulf Restoration Network, 401.965.7908, dan@healthygulf.org (New Orleans, LA—April 16, 2013) Today, as the April …