Gulf Coast Disaster - Monday, August 23

Day 126

Highlights in this issue:

- Feinberg at helm of $20 billion BP fund
- Another hearing seeks answers to Gulf oil catastrophe
- The blame game continues in oil spill defense
- Oil well pipe found in 3 pieces
- More fish washing up on Gulf beaches

This afternoon’s summary:
We wish we could tell you that this crisis is over, that the well is permanently capped and the cleanup is moving forward with speed. But no, we are still in a waiting mode as this crisis turns from one issue to another. The well may be capped temporarily, but the legal fight over the oil spill is just beginning. Claims czar Kenneth Feinberg is just beginning his job of figuring out who gets how much money from this oil disaster. The temporary cap placed on the blown-out well in mid-July has kept any more oil from spewing, and the final sealing should take place after Labor Day. Engineers are preparing to first remove the failed blowout preventer — a key piece of evidence — and replace it with another. After that, they will complete the drilling of a relief well, then will plug the blown-out well for good by pumping mud and cement into the bottom. But there are three pieces of pipe from the well inside the blowout preventer that engineers want to remove before attempting to replace it. Every day, we wait for the other shoe to drop.

Quotable Quote:
"I want to make sure the people in the Gulf understand we will not let you go out of business or lose your home. The number one priority of the GCCF is to assist the people in the Gulf," said claims administrator Kenneth Feinberg

National News

AFP: Feinberg at helm of $20 billion BP fund
A $20 billion fund to compensate people who suffered financial damages from the BP oil spill got up and running Monday with independent administrator Kenneth Feinberg in charge. Feinberg said in a statement Monday that his goal is to "help people on the path to rebuilding their lives."

Read more:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iYA1Rrx20MZvZ-byMm3feSpGRr5g


Palm Beach Post: Feinberg expects a rush at the door
BP claims czar Ken Feinberg said he expects a flood of applications for emergency six-month payments when his Gulf Coast Claims Facility gets up and running Monday. On Sunday, Feinberg said he still hasn't figured out how to handle tourism-related claims for businesses "far away from the coast.” He’s flooded with claims from businesses from 48 states.

Read more:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/feinberg-anticipates-rush-of-reimbursement-requests-at-new-872869.html


AP: Another hearing seeks answers to Gulf oil catastrophe
Members of the joint U.S. Coast Guard-Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement investigative panel plowed deep into the details about the Deepwater Horizon rig on Monday at a hearing in Houston as they began to reconstruct what led to the April 20 blowup that caused the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

Read more:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9HP9N480


Computerworld UK: The blame game continues in oil spill defense
Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig used by BP, has accused the British oil firm of withholding key data including computerized records and digital measurements. BP denies the accusations. Transocean said it needs the data – including seismic measurements, digital pressure tests on the key blowout preventer safety device, and operational testing reports – in order to conduct its own investigations into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Read more:
http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/it-business/3236321/bp-accused-of-secrecy-with-gulf-oil-spill-database/


Times-Picayune: Oil well pipe found in 3 pieces
BP's "fishing" procedure has revealed that there are three different sections of pipe inside the Macondo well's blow-out preventer, National Incident Commander Thad Allen said in a press briefing on Monday. That revelation means it will take longer to finish the “fishing” maneuver required before connecting the relief well with the pipe. "Our goal was to complete (fishing) in three days, and it may go a little beyond that," Allen said.

Read more:
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/08/pipe_found_in_macondo_well_dur.html


New York Times: The world’s deepest crime scene
BP has begun work that will eventually lead to the removal of the blowout preventer from the sea bed of the Gulf of Mexico. The huge device, which failed to prevent the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, will then pass into the custody of the Department of Justice for close forensic examination as a potential crime scene. It could determine whether BP remains the designated villain or rig owner Transocea bears a portion of the blame for the disaster and it could be important evidence in what is likely to be litigation that could take years.

Read more:
http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2010/08/23/investigators-home-in-on-what-could-be-worlds-deepest-crime-scene/?KEYWORDS=oil+spill


Regional

Daily Best: The oil spill seafood lie
As shrimp season starts, The Daily Beast tested the Gulf's seafood for oil and dispersant, and the results were immaculate. The publication commissioned an independent lab to analyze a cross-section of Gulf seafood—red grouper, jumbo shrimp, and crabmeat—for both oil and the dispersants that have prompted almost as much alarm as the petroleum itself. To further sharpen the test, the lab also performed similar tests on samples of those three types of seafood culled from the Atlantic Ocean. So now what? Will consumers take the bait and feel secure that the seafood is safe to eat?

Read more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-08-22/gulf-seafood-test-results-clean/?om_rid=NKdx$n&om_mid=_BMcmk8B8TXO7fc&


Bloomberg: More fish washing up on Gulf beaches
BP Plc’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may be exacerbating a natural phenomenon that causes fish, crabs, eels and shrimp to swarm the shoreline to escape oxygen-depleted sea waters.  This year, scientists say it’s been occurring in open water for the first time, raising concern that low-oxygen areas are expanding because of the more than 4 million barrels of oil BP’s Macondo well leaked into the Gulf.

Read more by Leslie Patton:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-23/gulf-of-mexico-s-fish-beachings-may-be-increasing-because-of-bp-oil-spill.html


Palm Beach Post: Fla. realtors get $16 million for oil spill losses
Florida Realtors will divvy up $16 million to cover lost sales in the aftermath of the April 20th Deepwater Horizon rig blast and ensuing massive oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The money is part of the $60 million set aside by claims czar czar Ken Feinberg for real estate agents and brokers.

Read more:
http://www.postonpolitics.com/2010/08/florida-realtors-get-16-million-for-oil-spill-losses/


Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Grants to UGA marine researches to study oil spill
Two University of Georgia marine sciences researchers received additional federal grants from the National Science Foundation to study the environmental impacts of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Read more:
http://www.ajc.com/news/uga-researchers-to-study-597690.html


Editorial

Los Angeles Times: Oil spill, same old drill
Maybe we shouldn't be too surprised that legislation to make offshore drilling safer for workers and the environment has stalled in the Senate ... With all the money poured into lobbying and campaigning by oil companies, and with some states so deeply dependent on the industry, it's very hard to pass new regulations affecting Big Oil. But it shouldn't be this hard, the Los Angeles Times writes.

Read more:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-drilling-20100823,0,2958410.story


New York Times: Questions about the Gulf
The Obama administration owes the American people plain talk about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — particularly about how much oil remains and the dangers to humans, wildlife and the environment, the New York Times writes.

Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/opinion/23mon1.html?_r=1&hp


Feature

New York Daily News: Brad Pitt weighs in on death penalty for oil spill culprits
It’s a good thing that Brad Pitt is an actor and not a politician. Over the weekend, he weighed in with his opinion about the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. "I was never for the death penalty before - I am willing to look at it again," Pitt states, referring to those responsible for the disastrous April 20 oil rig explosion and subsequent spill in the Gulf. Never mind that it takes an act of the legislature to pass a death penalty law and that it could take years to pass something as controversial as a death penalty. And never mind that Brad Pitt really isn’t a player in this debate, just an observer, okay, a famous one.

Read more:
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/08/23/2010-08-23_brad_pitt_i_would_reconsider_my_views_on_death_penalty_for_bp_oil_spill.html#ixzz0xS2rPMHb

See this Spike Lee article, too
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2010-08-20-spikelee20_ST_N.htm