Louisiana deep oil drilling disaster

[Peter Lemkin]

WikiLeaks cables: BP suffered blowout on Azerbaijan gas platform

Embassy cables reveal energy firm 'fortunate' to have evacuated workers safely after blast similar to Deepwater Horizon disaster

Tim Webb
The Guardian, Thursday 16 December 2010

Eleven people died when BP's Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and it caused the worst oil spill in US history. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Striking resemblances between BP's Gulf of Mexico disaster and a little-reported giant gas leak in Azerbaijan experienced by the UK firm 18 months beforehand have emerged from leaked US embassy cables.

The cables reveal that some of BP's partners in the gas field were upset that the company was so secretive about the incident that it even allegedly withheld information from them. They also say that BP was lucky that it was able to evacuate its 212 workers safely after the incident, which resulted in two fields being shut and output being cut by at least 500,000 barrels a day with production disrupted for months.

Other cables leaked tonight claim that the president of Azerbaijan accused BP of stealing $10bn of oil from his country and using "mild blackmail" to secure the rights to develop vast gas reserves in the Caspian Sea region.

WikiLeaks also released cables claiming that:

• Senior figures in Thailand are concerned about the suitability of the crown prince to become king, citing rumours that he has lovers in several European capitals in addition to his wife and son in Thailand.

• American energy firm Chevron was in discussions with Tehran about developing an Iraq-Iran cross-border oilfield, despite US sanctions against Iran.

The leaks came as the whistleblower site's founder Julian Assange prepared for another night in jail ahead of tomorrow's high court challenge to the decision to grant him £200,000 bail. Swedish authorities, who want to question Assange on allegations of sexual assault, believe he should remain in custody as he is a flight risk.

On the Azerbaijan gas leak, acable reports for the first time that BP suffered a blowout in September 2008, as it did in the Gulf with devastating consequences in April, as well as the gas leak that the firm acknowledged at the time.

"Due to the blowout of a gas-injection well there was 'a lot of mud' on the platform, which BP would analyze to help find the cause of the blowout and gas leak," the cable said.

Written a few weeks after the incident, the cable said Bill Schrader, BP's then head of Azerbaijan, admitted it was possible the company "would never know" the cause although it "is continuing to methodically investigate possible theories".

According to another cable, in January 2009 BP thought that a "bad cement job" was to blame for the gas leak in Azerbaijan. More recently, BP's former chief executive Tony Hayward also partly blamed a "bad cement job" by contractor Halliburton for the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The blowout in the Gulf led to the deaths of 11 workers and the biggest accidental offshore oil spill in history.

BP was also criticised for not initially sharing all its information with the US authorities about the scale of the Gulf spill. The gas field in the Caspian Sea was in production when the leak and blow out occured, unlike the well in the Gulf which was being drilled to explore for oil.

BP declined to answer questions put by the Guardian about the cause of the Azerbaijan gas leak and who carried out the cement job, pointing to a general statement it had made about the cables.

The cable reveals that the company had a narrow escape. "Given the explosive potential, BP was quite fortunate to have been able to evacuate everyone safely and to prevent any gas ignition. Schrader said although the story hadn't caught the press's attention, it had the full focus of the [government of Azerbaijan], which was losing '$40-50m each day'."

The leak happened at the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshi (ACG) field, Azerbaijan's largest producing oil field in the Caspian where vast undeveloped gas reserves also lie. BP is the operator and largest shareholder in the consortium, which includes US companies Chevron, ExxonMobil and Hess (formerly Amerada Hess), as well as Norwegian firm Statoil and Azerbaijani state owned oil company Socar.

BP comes in for criticism for allegedly limiting the information it made available about the incident. Another cable records shortly after the incident: "ACG operator BP has been exceptionally circumspect in disseminating information about the ACG gas leak, both to the public and to its ACG partners. However, after talking with BP and other sources, the embassy has pieced together the following picture." It goes on to say the incident took place when bubbles appeared in the waters around the Central Azeri platform, signalling a nearby gas leak. "Shortly thereafter, a related gas-reinjection well for Central Azeri had a blowout, expelling water, mud and gas." BP's annual report last year referred to a "comprehensive review of the subsurface gas release" having taken place and remedial work being carried out.

The cable continues: "At least some of BP's ACG partners are similarly upset with BP's performance in this episode, as they claim BP has sought to limit information flow about this event even to its ACG partners. Although it is too early to ascertain the cause, if in fact this production shutdown was due to BP technical error, and if it continues for months (as seems possible), BP's reputation in Azerbaijan will take a serious hit."

BP is in charge of Azerbaijan's key energy projects, and has a significant influence across the region. In late 2006 discussions were taking place about when Turkey would be able to link up its own network to a new pipeline operated by BP transporting gas across the Caucasus from BP's giant new Shah Deniz field in Azerbaijan. The new pipeline was seen as crucial as reducing the region's dependence on unreliable gas supplies from Russia, particularly amidst rising gas prices.

According to one cable, BP's outgoing Azerbaijan president, David Woodward, said in November 2006 that BP thought it unlikely that Turkey would be able to complete its work before spring 2007. "However, he added that 'it was not inconceivable' that Botas [Turkey's state pipeline company] could 'rush finish' the job so that it would be ready to receive gas shortly, although the pipeline would not meet international standards," the cable said. In the end, BP said Turkey began receiving gas from Shah Deniz in July 2007.

The cables also reveal BP concerns on the lack of security at the time around its oil and gas installations, particularly in the Caspian Sea, which it believed made them vulnerable to terrorist attack. One cable from July 2007 records: "BP Azerbaijan president Bill Schrader has told US officials in private conversations, 'all it would take is one guy with a mortar or six guys in a boat' to wreak havoc in Azerbaijan's critical energy infrastructure."

BP officials also complained about a shortage of Navy and Coast Guard boats – mostly Soviet era and built in the 1960s and 1970s – to patrol the waters around the platforms. It was also not clear which government agency or branch of the military was in charge, meaning a "response to a crisis offshore could be problematic" , one cable in August 2008 recorded.

The oil firm said BP "enjoys the continued support and goodwill of the government and the people of Azerbaijan".




The oil firm said in a statement that: "BP continues to have a successful and mutually beneficial partnership with the government of Azerbaijan. This cooperation has produced and contunues to produce benefits to all parties involved and most importantly to the nation of Azerbaijan. The Government of Azerbaijan has entrusted us with the development of its major oil and gas development projects on the basis of Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) that are enacted as laws in Azerbaijan. The operatorship of PSAs of this scale and size require cooperation and alignment between contractors and the Government. BP in Azerbaijan enjoys the continued support and goodwill of the Government and the people of Azerbaijan to meet its obligations. As part of maintaining this successful partnership we meet and discuss business related matters with relevant parties including our partners, SOCAR, and the Government. These discussions are confidential and as such we will maintain that confidentiality and not comment on specifics."

[Peter Lemkin]

WikiLeaks cables: BP accused by Azerbaijan of stealing oil worth $10bn

Embassy cables reveal president alleging 'mild blackmail' being used by firm to secure rights to develop Azeri gas reserves

Tim Webb
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 December 2010 21.30 GMT

Oil derricks in the Caspian Sea. Responding to the cables, BP says it cannot comment on confidential discussions with Azerbaijan's government or the state oil firm Socar. Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA/Corbis

The president of Azerbaijan accused BP of stealing billions of dollars of oil from his country and using "mild blackmail" to secure the rights to develop vast gas reserves in the Caspian Sea region, according to leaked US cables.

Ilham Aliyev said the oil firm tried to exploit his country's "temporary troubles" during a gas shortage in December 2006. In return for making more gas supplies available for domestic consumption that winter, BP wanted an extension of its lucrative profit-sharing contract with the government and the go-ahead to develop Caspian gas reserves, one cable from the US embassy in Baku reports. Aliyev also threatened to make BP's alleged "cheating" public, cables show.

The leaks reveal the extent of the company's power over Azerbaijan's government. BP controls the country's crucial energy projects and is its largest foreign investor. One cable reveals BP was so concerned about a terrorist attack on its offshore facilities, and about the lack of protection offered by the government, that it provided Azerbaijan's naval forces with "off-the-shelf" anti-collision radar to cover the company's platforms – "the best one that the navy currently has", according to BP.

Aliyev's hostility towards the company vanished, say the cables, after Russia invaded neighbouring Georgia in August 2008. The invasion – and a major explosion caused by Kurdish rebels on Azerbaijan's Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline, controlled by BP – heightened the Aliyev government's insecurity in an unstable region.

According to one cable shortly after the invasion, "Aliyev's expressed intention to reopen discussion with BP … after a long period of inaction, is significant, and likely a result of a new appreciation for the security benefits of a significant western presence in the energy sector in the wake of regional developments."

BP is the biggest shareholder in the regionally strategic $4bn (£2.6bn) Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline, which carries more than 1m barrels of oil a day on a 1,000-mile journey from the Caspian to Turkey. BP is also the largest shareholder and operator of the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshi field, Azerbaijan's largest producing oilfield in the Caspian reserve, where vast undeveloped gas reserves also lie.

The row centred on how the consortium operating the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshi field, led by BP, would share profits with the government in what is known as a production sharing agreement (PSA). The contract was signed in 1994 and, as is customary, allowed for the companies initially to take more of the revenues to pay off their upfront costs to develop the field, with a higher proportion of revenues going to the government subsequently.

But in April 2007, according to the cables, BP told the state-controlled oil company Socar that because of higher transport costs and delays in production, the agreed staggered increases in government profits allocated to the government would take longer to materialise. The government was also reportedly unhappy with other aspects of its dealings with BP and its partners and production delays.

In one cable in October 2007 Socar threatened "extra-legal" measures against the consortium and to have BP's Azerbaijan boss, Bill Schrader, put on trial for "stealing ten billion dollars worth of Azerbaijani oil". Another cable that month reads: "If a good response is not found, Azerbaijan 'will make public that BP is stealing our oil', [President] Aliyev stated."

At the time BP was pressing the government for an extension of the production sharing agreement and also wanted to develop vast gas reserves – "deep gas" – under the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshi field.

Under the heading "BP's dangerous game", the cable reported: "Aliyev said it was inappropriate for BP to link all of its issues such as PSA extension, ACG deep gas, transportation tariff agreements and others into one bundle; it also was inappropriate for BP to link the solution of those issues to Azerbaijan's 'temporary troubles'. He said BP was using 'mild blackmail' and argued that BP must instead act in good faith."

As recently as July 2008, a cable described negotiations between BP and the government as deadlocked.

The next month, the government appeared to drop its threats and be willing to co-operate over BP's demands. In August 2008, BP's then head of exploration, Andy Inglis, briefed the US ambassador to Baku about his one-hour meeting with the president. Inglis was said to have "described the mood about BP in Azerbaijan as having come full circle". "The president said he knows he needs to keep BP motivated and interested in Azerbaijan," the ambassador continued, adding that there had been "good discussion" about BP's demands on developing the country's oil and gas reserves.

The cable also said: "Azerbaijan had been holding a firm line in negotiations on production sharing agreement extension and 'deep gas' … Recent events in Georgia, however, may be causing Azerbaijan to reconsider its line, according to BP's representatives."

In July 2009, according to BP's annual report, BP and Socar signed an agreement to explore and develop a huge deepwater gas field in the Caspian which gave the British company the "exclusive" right to negotiate a production sharing agreement.

Responding to the leaked cables, the oil company said it could not comment on confidential discussions with Socar and the government of Azerbaijan.

"BP continues to have a successful and mutually beneficial partnership with the government of Azerbaijan. This has produced and continues to produce benefits to all parties involved and most importantly to the nation of Azerbaijan," it said.

"The government of Azerbaijan has entrusted us with the development of major oil and gas development projects on the basis of PSAs enacted as laws in Azerbaijan. The operatorship of PSAs of this scale require cooperation and alignment between contractors and government. BP in Azerbaijan enjoys the continued support and goodwill of the government and the people of Azerbaijan to meet its obligations.

"As part of maintaining this successful partnership we meet and discuss business related matters with relevant parties including our partners, Socar and the government. These discussions are confidential and as such we will maintain that confidentiality and not comment on specifics."


US embassy cables: Azerbaijan makes up with BP
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[Peter Lemkin]

The Gulf of Mexico is Dying
A Special Report on the BP Gulf Oil Spill

by Dr. Tom Termotto


Global Research, December 26, 2010
Concerned citizens of Florida - 2010-12-01

It is with deep regret that we publish this report. We do not take this responsibility lightly, as the consequences of the following observations are of such great import and have such far-reaching ramifications for the entire planet. Truly, the fate of the oceans of the world hangs in the balance, as does the future of humankind.

The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) does not exist in isolation and is, in fact, connected to the Seven Seas. Hence, we publish these findings in order that the world community will come together to further contemplate this dire and demanding predicament. We also do so with the hope that an appropriate global response will be formulated, and acted upon, for the sake of future generations. It is the most basic responsibility for every civilization to leave their world in a better condition than that which they inherited from their forbears.

After conducting the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference for over seven months, we can now disseminate the following information with the authority and confidence of those who have thoroughly investigated a crime scene. There are many research articles, investigative reports and penetrating exposes archived at the following website. Particularly those posted from August through November provide a unique body of evidence, many with compelling photo-documentaries, which portray the true state of affairs at the Macondo Prospect in the GOM.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?c...&aid=22514
http://phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com/



The pictorial evidence tells the whole story.

Especially that the BP narrative is nothing but a corporate-created illusion a web of fabrication spun in collaboration with the US Federal Government and Mainstream Media. Big Oil, as well as the Military-Industrial Complex, have aided and abetted this whole scheme and info blackout because the very future of the Oil & Gas Industry is at stake, as is the future of the US Empire which sprawls around the world and requires vast amounts of hydrocarbon fuel.

Should the truth seep out and into the mass consciousness that the GOM is slowly but surely filling up with oil and gas certainly many would rightly question the integrity, and sanity, of the whole venture, as well as the entire industry itself. And then perhaps the process would begin of transitioning the planet away from the hydrocarbon fuel paradigm altogether.



It's not a pretty picture.

The various pictures, photos and diagrams that fill the many articles at the aforementioned website represent photo-evidence about the true state of affairs on the seafloor surrounding the Macondo Prospect in the Mississippi Canyon, which is located in the Central Planning Area of the northern Gulf of Mexico. The very dynamics of the dramatic changes and continuous evolution of the seafloor have been captured in ways that very few have ever seen. These snapshots have given us a window of understanding into the true state of the underlying geological formations around the various wells drilled in the Macondo Prospect.

Although our many deductions may be difficult for the layperson to apprehend at first, to the trained eye these are but obvious conclusions which are simply the result of cause and effect. In other words there is no dispute around the most serious geological changes which have occurred, and continue to occur, in the region around the Macondo wells. The original predicament (an 87 day gushing well) was extremely serious, as grasped by the entire world, and the existing situation is only going to get progressively worse.

So, just what does this current picture look like. Please click on the link below to view the relevant diagrams and read the commentary:

http://phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpres...-prospect/



As the diagrams clearly indicate, the geology around the well bore has been blown. This occurred because of drilling contiguous to a salt dome(1), as well as because of the gas explosions which did much damage to the integrity of the well casing, cementing, well bore, well head, and foundation around the well head. Eighty-seven straight days of gushing hydrocarbon effluent under great pressure only served to further undermine the entire well system. Finally, when it was capped, putting the system back under pressure forced the upsurging hydrocarbons to find weaknesses throughout the greater system, which revealed all sorts of compromised, fractured and unsettled geology through which the hydrocarbons could travel all the way to the seafloor and into the GOM.


(1)"The rock beds in the vicinity of a salt dome are highly fractured and permeable due to stress and deformation which occur as the salt dome thrusted upwards." (Per BK Lim, Geohazards Specialist)

We also have faults* to deal with in this scenario of which there are both deep and shallow. Depending on the current vital stats of the blown out well, especially its actual depth; the number, location and severity of the breaches throughout the well system; the pressure at the wellhead; as well as the type and status of geological formations/strata it has been drilled into, these faults will become prominently configured into the future stability of the whole region. Larger faults can open up much greater opportunities for the hydrocarbons to find their way to the seafloor via cracks and crevices, craters and chasms. In fact the numerous leaks and seeps throughout the seafloor surface, which are quite apparent from various ROV live-feeds, give testimony to sub-seafloor geological formations in great turmoil and undergoing unprecedented flux.

*"Once the oil gets into the shallow faulted zones, we have an uncontrollable situation. The place where most of the oil and gas is coming out is at the foot hills of the continental shelf as shown in figure 134-1 in the article "BP continues to dazzle us with their unlimited magic". The discovery by WHOI of the 22 mile long river of oil originated from these leaks. So the leaks will be mainly along the faults where I have marked (shallow) in "What is going on at West Sirius" and deep strike-slip faults (red line) on fig 134-1." (Per BK Lim, Geohazards Specialist)

Just how bad is this situation?

There are actually three different ongoing disasters each more grave and challenging than the previous one which must be considered when assessing the awesome destruction to the GOM by the Oil & Gas Industry.

I. A single gushing well at 7o 100,000 barrels per day of hydrocarbon effluent for 87 days into the GOM at the Macondo Prospect along with two smaller rogue wells

II. Numerous leaks and seeps within five to ten square miles of the Macondo well with an aggregate outflow of an unknown amount of hydrocarbon effluent per day into the GOM

III. Countless gushers and spills, leaks and seeps, throughout the Gulf of Mexico, where drilling has been conducted for many decades, with an aggregate outflow that can not even be estimated, but is well in excess of any guesstimate which would ensure the slow and steady demise of the GOM.



It is the last scenario which we all face and to which there is no easy or obvious solution. The truth be told, there currently does not exist the technology or machinery or equipment to repair the damage that has been wrought by the process of deep undersea drilling, especially when it is performed in the wrong place. Therefore, wherever the oil and gas find points of entry into the GOM through the seafloor, these leaks and seeps will only continue to get worse. Here's why:

Methane gas mixed with saltwater and mud makes for a very potent corrosive agent. Under high pressure it will find every point of egress through the rock and sediment formations all the way up to the seafloor where it will find any point of exit that is available. The longer and more forcefully that it flows throughout the fractured area, which is dependent on the volume, temperature and pressure at the source of the hydrocarbons, the more its corrosive effects will widen, broaden and enlarge the channels, cracks and crevices throughout the sub-seafloor geology, thereby creating a predicament that no science, technology or equipment can remedy.

Dire realities of the methane hydrate predicament

The Macondo Prospect in the GOM is just one of many throughout the oceans of the world where the seafloor has beds of methane hydrate locked in place by very high pressure and low temperatures. Likewise, there are myriad repositories and large "reservoirs" of methane clathrates in the sub-seafloor strata, and especially within the more superficial geological formations, which are being greatly impacted by all oil and gas drilling and extraction activities. It does not take much imagination to understand how the upsurging hydrocarbons (very hot oil and gas) are quickly converting the frozen hydrates to gas, thereby causing innumerable "micro-displacements", the cumulative effect of which will translate to larger "macro-displacements" of rock, sediment and other geological formations.

When you factor in this constant vaporization of methane hydrates/clathrates both sub-seafloor as well as those scattered around the seafloor surface to the existing scenario, this devolving situation becomes that much more difficult to effectively remedy. With the resulting shifts and resettling and reconfiguration of the entire seafloor terrain and underlying strata occurring in the wake of these dynamics, we are left with a situation that is not going to get better through the use of even more invasive technology and intrusive machinery.





Question: How many times can you grout a seafloor crack that was caused by an underlying superficial fault after drilling into an old mud volcano?


Answer: "In the attempt to seal the oil from oozing through the faults, BP resorted to high pressure grouting. Basically it is like cementing the cracks in the rock by injecting grout (cement mixture) at high pressure. The way they do this is by drilling an injection hole into the shallow rocks and pumping in the grout. The grout in "slurry" state will permeate into the cracks, cure and seal up the cracks. However it is not working because of the presence of gas and oil. It is like super-glue. You need to clean the surfaces before you apply the glue; otherwise it won't stick and will come off eventually after a few days or weeks. That is why we can see a few blown out craters shown in my article Is the last rite for the Macondo Well for real?" (Per BK Lim, Geohazards Specialist)

Likewise, how do you fill a newly emerging gash in the seafloor which is caused by a deep fault due to low level seismic activity, or worse, a full blown earthquake?!

Seismic activity in the GOM and the uptick in earthquakes in the Mississippi River Basin and surrounding region


The oil and gas platforms that were in operation throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico in 2006 (per Wikipedia).

We now come to the most serious issue regarding the relentless drilling for oil and gas throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The map above clearly illustrates the density of drilling throughout the northern GOM as of 2006. Likewise, the map below demonstrates the extraordinary and increasing intensity of these very same operations off the coast of Louisiana alone.




Green lines represent active pipes (25,000 miles in all). Yellow dots represent oil rigs.

The map that follows, however, tells a story which demands the attention of every resident of the GOM coastline. The video link below the map shows the development timeline of the successively deeper wells being drilled during the last decade. Of course, with greater depths come much greater risks, as the technology and machinery have not been proportionately upgraded to accommodate the extraordinary demands and unforeseen contingencies of such a speculative and dangerous enterprise*.

*Oil and gas drilling in seawater depths of over 4000 feet, and through 15,000 to 25,000 feet of the earth's crust and mantle, is considered extremely dangerous to those from whom reason and common sense have not yet fled.




Click on the map to enlarge.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh_wNVUx9SI

It's critical to understand the location and current activity of the various faults which exist throughout the GOM and how they connect to the New Madrid Fault Line, as well as other major faults at much greater distance. There does appear to be a emerging uptick in earthquake activity in the greater Louisiana area, as well as contiguous regions in the GOM as demonstrated by unprecedented, albeit low level earthquakes. Correlations between these earthquakes/seismic activity and major operations at the Macondo Prospect have been alluded to in our previous postings.
Earthquake Activity in Gulf of Mexico Prompts 2003 Study for MMS
Gulf of Mexico Subsea Structures May Be in Seismic Danger Zone Part 2

Now then, the question remains just how vulnerable has the GOM been made to a truly catastrophic event, ending up with an overwhelming displacement of water producing tidal waves, in the aftermath of an undersea earthquake.

There is no question that the ceaseless fracturing of the seafloor and fissuring of the sub-seafloor geological strata by the Oil & Gas Industry has set up a quite conducive environment for HUGE unintended consequences. We leave it up to the experts to conduct the necessary risk assessments, which will most assuredly let loose a sea of red flags about what Big Oil has done, and is currently doing, in the Gulf of Mexico. Furthermore, we are deeply concerned that, if a permanent moratorium on all new oil and gas drilling and extraction in the GOM is not put into place poste haste, the coastal communities will remain in a very precarious situation.

Worsening GOM predicament is reflective of the status quo around the globe

Now consider the following scenario: that this very same predicament, which we have all witnessed in the Gulf of Mexico, is happening wherever oil and gas drilling is conducted in the various water bodies throughout the planet. Therefore we can multiply the Macondo Prospect disaster a hundred times and still not come close to the impacts that these ongoing gushers and spills, leaks and seeps are having the world over.

Perhaps the BP Gulf Oil Spill was the defining moment in modern history when all the nations of the world community were called by Mother Earth herself to begin transitioning the planet away from the Hydrocarbon Fuel Paradigm. After all, we may never get another chance!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Transition...all&ref=ts

Tom Termotto, National Coordinator
Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference
OilSpillSolution@comcast.net
SKYPE: Gulf_Advocate
http://oilspillsolutionsnow.org/

[Peter Lemkin]

by Marian Wang
The BP oil spill in the Gulf killed 11 workers in April, released nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and triggered multiple government investigations and an overhaul of the nation's offshore drilling regulatory agency.
Federal scientists estimated in August that between 53,000 and 62,000 barrels spilled into the Gulf each day until the well was temporarily plugged in July. BP has contested those numbers, arguing that the figures are flawed [PDF]. If the company prevails, it could reduce the size of its per-barrel pollution fines by billions of dollars, as well as what it may eventually have to pay to the government in lost royalties if the spill is found to be a result of BP's negligence.
For its role in the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, BP currently faces a civil lawsuit by the Department of Justice. BP's well partners Anadarko and MOEX, rig operator Transocean and Transocean's insurer have also been named as defendants in the lawsuit, which seeks to recover the government's removal costs, economic losses, and environmental damages resulting from the spilled oil.
A criminal investigation is ongoing and could result in additional financial penalties. As the Blog of LegalTimes pointed out in a blog post, Attorney General Eric Holder has acknowledged that conducting parallel civil and criminal proceedings can be "a little tricky." If criminal charges are filed, those per-barrel fines for Clean Water Act violations could come into play in addition to fines under the Refuse Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
BP has stated repeatedly that it will disregard a $75-million cap on its liability for economic damages -- a limit set forth in the 1990 Oil Pollution Act. Although the Government Accountability Office has for years said that such liability limits are too low, Republican lawmakers repeatedly blocked attempts this summer to raise or lift the current limit.
We've reported that even before the deadly incident in the Gulf, officials at the Environmental Protection Agency had long considered debarring BP for recurrent misconduct and environmental crimes. It's an option that is still on the table for regulators now -- especially if the government's investigations find that the company had a culture of carelessness and non-compliance.
If BP is convicted of Clean Water Act violations, the company would automatically face a lesser form of debarment that affects only the facility involved in the spill. In this case, it's unclear whether this would mean the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig, a broader set of BP's Gulf platforms, or whether it would include the company's command center in Houston. In its most serious form, debarment would end the entire company's business with the government and cancel BP's billions' worth of leases to drill on federal land -- though as the New York Times has noted, contractors like BP often end up protected from such sanctions because of their size and the extent of the government's dependence on them.
Tony Hayward, BP's chief executive at the time of the spill, gained notoriety for saying, "I would like my life back," predicting that the disaster's environmental impact would be "very, very modest," and asserting that his company was releasing a "tiny" amount of oil and dispersant relative to the size of the Gulf of Mexico. Hayward has since been reassigned and replaced by Robert Dudley, the British company's first American CEO. BP's public relations department has also seen a shakeup, with its chief press spokesman during the spill making his exit last month.
The spill also put a spotlight on an offshore drilling regulatory agency that for years had been riddled with scandals over ethical problems, improper handling of royalties and lax oversight of an industry with which it kept too-friendly ties. The offshore drilling agency was renamed the Bureau of Ocean Energy, given new leadership, and split into three separate divisions. However, the President's own oil spill commission, a panel tasked with investigating the circumstances of the spill, has said that the changes do not sufficiently address the agency's conflicts of interest. It remains to be seen whether additional changes will be implemented to address these concerns.
Politically, the Obama administration's position on offshore drilling has undergone a sea change. It recently announced that it would be rescinding an earlier plan to open up the eastern Gulf and the Atlantic coast to new offshore drilling. Those areas will remain off limits for at least another seven years.
Though the administration in October lifted a controversial temporary moratorium on new offshore drilling, pro-drilling Gulf lawmakers and the offshore oil and gas industry have criticized the revamped regulatory agency for slowing down the approval process for drilling permits. They've complained that the heightened review is burdensome and serves as a de facto moratorium.
Many questions remain unanswered about the long-term health and environmental effects of the crude oil and the unprecedented amount of dispersant, chemicals BP used to break down the thick crude. Both BP and the government have committed funding for continued study of these issues.
Study of the oil's fate and its impact on the marine environment will likely continue for months and years to come, but many independent scientists have produced preliminary research seemingly at odds with a rosy government report and official statements in August that said that at least half of the oil released was "completely gone from the system" and the rest was being quickly degraded.
Eight months after the spill, the safety of Gulf seafood is still being debated among toxicologists, some of whom allege that the Food and Drug Administration's seafood testing process is flawed, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. The FDA's process does not certify that the products tested are free from contamination, but screens for contamination that reaches "levels of concern." Cancer-causing chemicals found in crude oil have been detected in Gulf seafood, but according to the FDA have been found at levels that the agency considers to be safe.
Several agencies are still investigating the cause of the oil spill. The National Oil Spill Commission, is due to issue a complete report of its findings to the President in January. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Interior Department have been conducting a joint investigation, and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, a small federal agency that investigated BP's Texas City refinery explosion years prior, continues to investigate the spill at the request of lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

http://feeds.propublica.org/~r/propublic...8WKuS_d-M/ [many hyperlinks]

[Jan Klimkowski]

Via ZeroHedge and Florida news outlets, with photos at url:

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/possibl...ulf-mexico

Possible New Oil Spill 100 By 10 Miles Reported in Gulf Of Mexico (Update: Spill Photos)

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/19/2011 23:28 -0400


Black Swan Clusterflock +1. As if earthquakes, tsunamis, nuclear meltdowns and war was not enough, the Examiner now discloses that a replay of the BP oil spill could be in the making, sending WTI to the (super)moon, the economy collapsing, and Ben Bernanke starting the printer in advance of QE 666. To wit: "The U.S. Coast Guard is currently investigating reports of a potentially massive oil sheen about 20 miles away from the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion last April." There are no definitive reports yet, but we should now for sure within hours, if the Keppel FELS built TLP is indeed the culprit: "According to Paul Barnard, operations controller for the USCG in Louisiana, a helicopter crew has been dispatched to the site of the Matterhorn SeaStar oil rig, owned by W&T Offshore, Inc." And if preliminary reports are correct, BP will have been the appetizer: "Multiple reports have come in of a sheen nearly 100 miles long and 10 miles wide originating near the site." If confirmed, Obama can kiss tomorrow's Rio golf outing goodbye.

Independent pilots, including John Wathen of the Waterkeeper Alliance, and Bonnie Schumaker with Wings of Care, are currently flying out to investigate the spill. Schumaker reports having seen the sheen on Friday, March 18, and confirms that it is rapidly expanding.

A Louisiana fisherman, who has chosen to remain anonymous at this time, also reports fresh oil coming ashore near South Pass, LA, and that cleanup crews are laying new boom near the beach.

The site of the sheen, near Mississippi Canyon 243, lies 30 miles from the Louisiana coastline. The Matterhorn field, at a depth of 2,789 feet (850 meters) of water, was discovered in 1999, leased and permitted in July 2001, and came into production in November 2003. It is located 30 miles SE of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

According to W&T, the field has produced an average rate of 5,200 barrels of oil per day, and has production capacities of 35,000 barrels of oil per day.

Of course, whether this is due to the Matterhorn SeaStar or a second leak that many predicted last year due to the Deepwater Horizon will also be closely evaluated this time around.

More at ZeroHedge.

[Magda Hassan]

I expect this will be dealt with the same alacrity and professionalism that was not used the first time round. Especially now BP is busy over in Libya exploiting their new lease.

[Peter Lemkin]

AMY GOODMAN: This week marks the first anniversary of the worst maritime oil spill in history. Last year on April 20th an oil rig leased by petroleum giant BP exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 workers, releasing nearly 200 million gallons of oil, tens of millions of gallons of natural gas and 1.8 million gallons of chemicals.

At the BP shareholders meeting last week in London, security officers blocked the entrance of a delegation of four fishermen and women from the Louisiana and Texas Gulf Coast area heavily damaged by last year's oil spill. Environmental groups and residents argue BP has yet to fulfill its financial and legal obligations. Maritime life and communities in the area remain devastated.

JOHN HOCEVAR: Most of the oil is still there in the Gulf today. It's in the water. It's on the sediment. It's on the seafloor. A lot of it's washed up into the wetlands, and it's still there. It's still being eaten by marine life today.

AMY GOODMAN: We're joined now by a guest who says the largest oil disaster in history could happen again. Antonia Juhasz is the author of Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill, a book that's just been published this week. She's also director of the Energy Program at Global Exchange. Antonia attended the BP shareholders meeting last week and spoke on behalf of Gulf Coast residents denied entry.

BP did not respond to Democracy Now's repeated requests for comment.

Welcome to Democracy Now!

ANTONIA JUHASZ: Thanks for having me, Amy.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about what happened last week.

ANTONIA JUHASZ: I went to the London BP annual shareholder meeting, the first meeting of shareholders since the disaster happened one year ago. There were five representatives from the United States Gulf Coast who came, including the head of the Louisiana Oystermen's Association, the head of the Louisiana Shrimpers Association. We came in order to address the shareholders, the CEO, the board of directors, to make sure that they all understood that the Gulf oil disaster is far from over, BP is far from adhering to its legal obligations.

AMY GOODMAN: Let's turn to that clip of you confronting BP executives last week.

ANTONIA JUHASZ: Sure, sure.

ANTONIA JUHASZ: We still have oil coating the bottom of the ocean. We still have dispersant coating the bottom of the ocean. We still have waves that roll in, and oil rolls in with it. We stick a stick in the sand, and there's still oil there. What we don't have at the bottom of the ocean is the light that is supposed to be there.

AMY GOODMAN: That, thanks to UNI Films. Antonia?

ANTONIA JUHASZ: Yeah, so the representatives from the Gulf Coast were denied access into the meeting, even though they held legal proxies. I was able to get in, because I own shares, and address the audience. And while I was there, I made sure that BP knew that we were still holding them to account, but also delivered a message that I had been sent to London to read, which was a statement by Keith Jones, the father of Gordon Jones, who is one of 11 men who died aboard the Deepwater Horizon. He wanted to make sure that the company knew that he knew why the disaster happened, and that was because they were cutting costs, they were cutting corners, and they did not know how to do the operations in the deep water that they set out to do. And what I added to the shareholders was, neither does any other company actually know how to do these deepwater operations, and nothing has changed since the disaster to make us any more certain that such a deepwater disaster won't happen again.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about your journey through the Gulf after the oil spill and all that you have found.

ANTONIA JUHASZ: Spent eight months embedded in those communities most directly impacted by this disaster, sleeping in people's homes, going to their churches, walking on their beaches. What I learned in that period of time was that 210 million gallons of oil don't disappear. We saw oil everywhere, but we continue to today. So oil is on the bottom of the ocean. A layer of dispersant is coated above it. And people have been fighting this oil now for a year, and it has made them sick, the combination of the oil and the dispersant. It has made them exhausted. It has made them frustrated, because one year later the rest of the nation seems to have forgotten this tragedy, and our policymakers, one year laternot a single piece of legislationnot onewritten to respond to the disaster has become law. And the money that BP is supposed to be paying has not come to the ground. The carethe claims that are supposed to be filled, the health provisions, the environmental provisions, none of it is there right now, and the U.S. Gulf Coast is still suffering under this glut of oil and chemicals.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about who is in charge? Who's in charge of the compensation? The news reports now, as we come on the first anniversary, about how, with ExxonMobilthe Exxon Valdez oil spill, how they didn't compensate people right away, but BP didn't even have to, and they did.

ANTONIA JUHASZ: Well, BP set up a claims process right away, and that's because, as a result of the Exxon Valdez disaster, we had a great piece of legislation passed: the Oil Pollution Act. We need legislation like that now. One of the things the Oil Pollution Act did was require an immediate claims process to be established. BP set that up. But at this date, one year later, less than 40 percent of the claims that have been filed have even been processed, much less paid out.

When BP was in control of the process, they made it incredibly difficult, incredibly bureaucratic. People were not getting their payments. They've been out of work for a year. They also can't eat what they harvest, which isthis is a subsistence area. People fish not just to make money, but to live on that fish. And people haven't been able to eat their fish or sell it.

Then the process was taken over by Kenneth Feinberg, supposedly an independent process, and it's continued to drag on. Feinberg has actually said that of the $20 billion that was pledgedand let's just remember, it was pledgedonly about $3.5 billion has actually been paid, that he expects he'll only pay out about half of that money.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the reports that have come out since then. I think there's very much a sense that it's not as bad as everyone thought.

ANTONIA JUHASZ: The reports have actually been damning, especially the presidential commission on the Deepwater Horizon. Actually, every investigation that has gone into this disaster has said, one, five million barrels of oil were spilled. That oil does not disappear. One of the amazing people I covered in my book was Dr. Samantha Joye. She has, from the beginning, been going deep into the water, studying oil on the bottom. She's onepart of the team that discovered the oil plumes. She is deeply aware that five million barrels were released, and the oil still remains in the Gulf.

But what each of the commissions have found is that this is a systemic problem within the oil industry, that the oil industry itself was moving beyond its own capacity to do its operations, but even more so, that federal regulators have no clue what they're doing. They do not know how to regulate this industry, and the industry has pushed beyond its own capacity. And every report that has come out has said that. It's been universal, that this is a serious, ongoing, devastating disaster in the Gulf Coast, but that the industry is to blameBP, Transocean, Halliburton, Cameron most immediately in this disasterbut all of the oil companies were involved. Remember, Chevron, Exxon, Shell, they all sat down at a table after the explosion and said, "Wow! How do we cap a deepwater blowout? Oh, boy, it turns out we actually don't know how to do that, even though we have 148 deepwater wells around the world. Boy, we said that we could handle a 300,000-gallon-a-dayor barrel-a-day oil spill. Boy, it turns out we couldn't even handle 80,000 barrels a day." None of them know what they're doing. And the federal regulators don't know, either. And every report has beenhas concluded those outcomes.

AMY GOODMAN: BP has requested permission to resume offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, less than a year after the oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers. They want to resume in 10 existing wells in the Gulf by July, the request to U.S. regulators coming just a week after the Department of Justice confirmed the company is facing potential manslaughter charges and other civil and criminal penalties in connection with the explosion and the deaths of the workers.

ANTONIA JUHASZ: They absolutely should face criminal charges, I believe. If every report has demonstrated just utter failuremanagerial failure, operational failure, cost cuttingon the facton the part of BP. But it's not just BP. Transocean, which is the owner and operator of the rigand the vast majority of the employees on the rig worked for Transoceanis the largest owner and operator of all offshore rigs in the country. Their failures need to make us worried about all operations. But yes, BP is the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the United States. They have massive holdings all across the country, all across the Gulf. One of the things that the oil industry tried to do as a result of the disaster was isolate BP and make this look like a BP problem: it's just this rogue British company. Well, BP definitely has very problematic operations, and I do not believe that they should be given the right to continue to produce those wells. We need to think very seriously about their operations.

AMY GOODMAN: What about the Obama administration, that has said that offshore drilling can resume?

ANTONIA JUHASZ: We shouldn't be allowing offshore drilling to continue, particularly

AMY GOODMAN: Explain what it is and why it's allowed in this country.

ANTONIA JUHASZ: There'slet's see. Deepwater drilling, most offshore drilling historically has occurred at about 400 feet below the ocean surface. Deep offshore drilling in this well is 5,000 feet below the ocean surface to the ocean floor. Then this well, another 13,500 feet below that. One of the deeper wellsnot the deepestright now in the Gulf is as far down as Mount Everest is up. This is technological wonders that is so wondrous we actually don't know how to do it. But the reason why they're pushing out this far deep is that there's a lot of oil out there, and they want to get to it.

What we know, however, is that they have notthey don't have the technology to do it. So, when the Deepwater Horizonwhen the blowout happened on the Macondo well, the oil industries tried to apply the technology for that 400-feet shallow water operations to operations that were 5,000 feet below the ocean surface. It turns out they didn't know what they were doing. They didn't know how to cap it. They didn't know how to clean it. They applied, as you said, two million gallons of chemical toxic dispersant to try and separate out the oil. They burned it on the ocean surface. They allowed this chemical-oil cocktail to spill. And the federal regulators had no idea what to do while the disaster was happening. And they still do not remotely have the capacity to address continued operations.

So, if we recall, it was about a week before the Macondo well blowout and the Deepwater Horizon explosion happened that President Obama implemented a Bush policy, which was lifting the moratorium on offshore drilling. We have the moratoriumwe had it, because in 1969 there was a huge offshore blowout off the coast of Santa Barbara. Activists organized all across the country in response. They got the Clean Air Act. They got the Clean Water Act. And about 10 years later, they got a moratorium on offshore drilling. That moratorium has been picked away at. And the one place it didn't exist was in the Gulf of Mexico. A week before this disaster, President Obama lifted much of the moratorium. Nothing had changed in terms of the technology, when he did it. There just had been enormous pressure from the oil industry to put it into place.

Nothing has changed in terms of the technology since the disaster happened, yet the offshore drilling has begun again. And the presidential commission on the Deepwater Horizon, President Obama's own commission, has said, you know, federal regulators don't have the capacity, they don't know what they're doing in these instances. And what we also know is that the cost is so very high, because there is so much oil and the distance is so great to get to it and try and address it, that there is no reason to believe that this much oil wouldn't be released again in the case of another blowout.

AMY GOODMAN: You had this surreal moment, Antonia Juhasz, with Transocean, the company that owned the offshore rig that exploded, being awardedawarding its top executives these bonuses, and in doing so, sayingit described the, quote, "best year in safety performance in our company's history." The bonus for the Transocean CEO Steve Newman was $400,000. Amidst tremendous criticism, he said he would give it to the families of the

ANTONIA JUHASZ: Part of it.

AMY GOODMAN: Oh, he said he would give a part of it to the families of the dead workers. What are those families saying? And what about this, Transocean rewarding their executives for the best year in their history?

ANTONIA JUHASZ: Nine of the 11 men who died aboard the rig worked for Transocean. I interviewed and spent a good amount of time with Sherri Revette, whose husband Dewey died aboard the rig. They do not believe that Transocean had its best safety year ever. They do not believe that its executives and CEO should be given bonuses. What they feel is that this is an affront to their loss, but most important, that it's a symbol that Transocean hasn't learned and accepted that massive, massive errors occurred, and that by awarding those bonuses, and by awarding them for safety, what has been clearly demonstrated is that Transocean has not learn the lessons of this disaster and Transocean, the largest owner and operator of offshore rigs in the country, hasn't changed its policies, which means we have a lot to be worried about when Chevron, when Shell, when Exxon, when all of the companies continue their operations in the deep water.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, what has to happen now, from cleanup to prosecutions? What do you feel, after writing this book over this past year?

ANTONIA JUHASZ: It's the one-year anniversary of the disaster. This is our opportunity as activists to apply massive pressure. We need fundamental policy change, and it's only going to happen if people continue to feel the passion they did when the oil was flowing, to push now as the oil still remains. We have to have payments go out to those who have filed claims. We have to have restoration of the Gulf. We have to have BP actually pay the full amount of money it owes, not fight us to say they owewe know they owe $20 billion just for the oil spill. BP is trying to pay just $3 million. We need the Obama administration to ensure that charges are made, that BP's policies are forced to be changed, and that BP is held fully to account. And for the listeners out there, this is the opportunity, the one-year anniversary, to come together and really push and to show that the public is still paying deep attention and will hold BP to account and make sure the Obama administration helps us and that the Congress helps us in that.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, congratulations on the release of your book, Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill. You'll be speaking tonight at powerHouse Arena at 37 Main Street in Brooklyn, on its release. Antonia Juhasz.

[Ed Jewett]

Forgive me if this is duplicative or very late;I have been it of the country for months. I am just now learning how to cut and paste again.


In the middle of last year, Greenpeace started submitted a string of Freedom of Information requests to US government agencies in relation to last year's disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

As a result the environmental group have obtained some 30,000 memos, emails and transcripts which document the worst oil spill in American history. Taking cues from WikiLeaks, Greenpeace has begun to leak its considerable cache online for all to see. Here's what we pulled out of the document dump:

Read More @ Crikey.com.au

http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/04/20/leak...anscripts/

[Magda Hassan]

BREAKING: BP WHISTLEBLOWERS, OVER 10 OF THEM ASSASSINATED OR KIDNAPPED IN LAST 2 YEARS…


3She
BP Whistleblowers Blog


As Thomas Botch says in the comments at Facebook, "To many high profile people (successfull and educated with little reason to die from risky behavior) all "croak" in "too short a time period" to be "statistically normal." Don't you agree?"
February 17, 2011 LSU scientist Gregory Stone, 54 Unknown Illness

Gregory Stone

The LSU community mourns the passing of Greg Stone, James P. Morgan Distinguished Professor in Coastal Studies, director of the WAVCIS program and internationally renowned coastal researcher. Stone passed away on Thursday, Feb. 17. A memorial service will be held at Rabenhorst Funeral Home on Monday, Feb. 21, at 12 p.m. Continue Reading the Story about Greg Stone's Death
January 19, 2011 former President and CEO of the International Oil Spill Control Corporation imprisonment and subsequent murder while jailed

Dr. Thomas B. Manton

A Gulf human rights reporter, U.S. government Gulf operation critic, framed political prisoner, was murdered Thursday. Dr. Tomas B. Manton passed away Wednesday, January 19th after assaulted at Liberty Correctional Facility in Bristol, Florida where held as a Falsely Imprisoned Person (FIP). Continue Reading the Article on Thomas Manton…
December 31, 2010 a former Pentagon official and presidential aide and a defense consultant and expert on chemical and biological weapons was beaten to death in an assault, body was discovered in a Wilmington landfill


John P. Wheeler II

John P. Wheeler II, the military expert who served three Republican presidents and helped get the Vietnam Veterans Memorial built was found dead in a Delaware landfill. Authorities are trying to piece together when he was last seen alive. The body of John P. Wheeler II, 66, was uncovered Friday when a garbage truck emptied its contents at the Cherry Island landfill in Wilmington. Continue Reading the Article on John Wheeler…

November 23, 2010 an incident commander for BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill response team, died Tuesday night near Destin, Florida in a small plane crash'


James Patrick Black


An official of BP Plc's Gulf oil spill program and two family members died in a plane crash on Tuesday night in Florida, the company said in a statement. James Patrick Black, 58, died when the private plane on which he was a passenger crashed while trying to land in heavy fog at a Destin, Florida, airport, according to BP and the U.S. Coast Guard. Continue Reading the Article on James Patrick Black…

November 15, 2010 age 33, worked in the USF Center for Biological Defense and Global Health Infectious Disease Research Found dead in an apparent suicide by cyanide at a Temple Terrace hotel. She leaves behind a husband and a young child.


Chitra Chaunhan


A University of South Florida molecular biologist died Monday night in an apparent suicide by cyanide at a Temple Terrace hotel, police said. Chitra Chauhan, 33, of Tampa was pronounced dead at University Community Hospital about 10:30 p.m., Temple Terrace police reported. Continue Reading the Article on Chitra Chaunhan…

November, 2010 MIA Status, of Lakeland, FL Swan expert who "ran into legal trouble over an expired prescription license has closed his practice" Was investigating unexplained bird deaths near Sarasota abruptly and immediately closed his practice, and apparently his investigation into the deaths of swans in Sarasota, suspected to have been impacted by the BP Oil Disaster. No one has heard or spoken with him since. Watch this news report covering his investigation before his disappearance:


Dr. Jeffrey Gardner, Swan Doctor


Dr. Jeffrey Gardner

October 6, 2010 age 66, was hit by a truck as he passed through Panama City, Florida. Mr. Grooters had been knocked down and killed close to the end of a 3,200-mile trans-America charity ride to raise awareness about the Gulf Coast oil disaster. He began his cross-country bike ride in Oceanside, California, on September 10th. Grooters's family and friends will cycle the final stretch of the journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic in his honour, raising cash to support Gulf Coast families. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...z1G4s6su96

Roger Grooters, Cyclist


A cyclist aged 66 has been knocked down and killed close to the end of a 3,200-mile trans-America charity ride. Roger Grooters was hit by a truck as he passed through Panama City, Florida, last Wednesday. Mr Grooters' wife, Vicki, was following the 66-year-old in a support vehicle when the accident happened. Continue Reading the Article on Roger Grooters…
August 9, 2010 Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, 86, the longest-serving Republican senator in history, was among nine people on board when the 1957 DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter, crashed into a brush- and rock-covered mountainside Monday afternoon about 17 miles north of the southwest Alaska fishing town of Dillingham, federal officials said. Stevens was the recipient of a whistleblower's communication relative to the BP Oil Disaster blow-out preventer, and a conspiracy of secrecy to hide the facts from the public. ([URL="http://beforeitsnews.com/story/132/410/Sen._Ted_Stevens_Killed_In_Plane_Crash_He_Got_A_Million_From_BP_And_Knew_Blow_Out_Preventer_Was_A_Problem._Was_He_Whacked.html"]http://beforeitsnews.com/story/132/410/Sen._Ted_Stevens_Killed_In_Plane_Crash_He_Got_A_
Million_From_BP_And_Knew_Blow_Out_Preventer_Was_A_Problem._Was_He_Whacked.html[/URL])

"You and your fellow Committee members may wish to require BP to explain what action was ultimately instituted to cease the practice of falsifying BOP tests at BP Prudhoe drilling rigs. It was a cost saving but dangerous practice, again endangering the BP workforce, until I exposed it to Senator Ted Stevens, the EPA, and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission." The cause of the crash is still an OPEN investigation by the NTSB (http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=ANC10MA068&rpt=p)
BP paid a $1 million to buy Ted Stevens papers, to try and shut him up…

Senator Ted Stevens


Dave Dittman, a former aide and longtime family friend of former Sen. Ted Stevens, says Stevens was killed in a plane crash near Dillingham Monday night. Dittman says he received a call overnight Monday that said the former senator was dead. Nine people were on board, including former NASA Chief Sean O'Keefe. Five people were killed in the crash, but other identities were not known, nor are the conditions of the survivors. [URL="http://beforeitsnews.com/story/132/410/Sen._Ted_Stevens_Killed_In_Plane_Crash_He_Got_A_Million_From_BP_And_Knew_Blow_Out_Preventer_Was_A_Problem._Was_He_Whacked.html"]Continue Reading the Article about Ted Stevens…
[/URL]
August 13, 2010 age 67 Simmons' body was found Sunday night in his hot tub, investigators said. An autopsy by the state medical examiner's office concluded Monday that he died from accidental drowning with heart disease as a contributing factor "It was painful as can be" to be only insider willing to speak out against the "officials" during the BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

Matthew Simmons

Matthew Roy Simmons was founder and chairman emeritus of Simmons & Company International, and was a prominent advocate of peak oil. Simmons was motivated by the 1973 energy crisis to create an investment banking firm catering to oil companies. In his previous capacity, he served as energy adviser to U.S. President George W. Bush. He was, up until his death, a member of the National Petroleum Council and the Council on Foreign Relations. Continue Reading theA Article on Matthew Simmons…
April 6, 2010 age 46 cell biologist and college professor, a near-native Floridian who chose to return to South Florida after studying at elite universities was fatally shot during what police say was a home invasion robbery.

Scientist Joseph Morrissey

A Nova Southeastern University professor who spent his promising career trying to cure cancer was murdered during an apparent home invasion in his usually quiet Plantation suburb in the middle of the night. Dr. Joseph Morrissey, 46, was tied up and shot before his house was set on fire by an armed man, according to reports. His wife, Linda, was also tied up but escaped the home with the couple's 5-year-old son. Police say the "robber" is at large, though there is no description at this point other than he is a man. Continue Reading the Article on Joseph Morrissey…
January 26, 2011 age 31 Mississippi Department of Marine Resources officer, from Ocean Springs arrested on child porn charge

Anthony Nicholas Tremonte
Another Mississippi law enforcement officer has been arrested for allegedly keeping child porn on his state issued laptop. Anthony Nicholas Tremonte, 31, was arrested Wednesday and charged with one count of Possession of Child Pornography. Continue Reading the Article on Anthony Tremonte…

[Peter Lemkin]

'Way to Go America'....we ARE #1!!!!....question is; what we are #1 for!.......:mexican: