Disasters

"BP’s board is expected on Monday to name an American, Robert Dudley, as its chief executive, replacing Tony Hayward, whose repeated stumbles during the company’s three-month oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico alienated federal and state officials as well as residents of the Gulf Coast."

"Ships were getting back in place Sunday at the Gulf of Mexico site of BP's leaky oil well as crews restarted work on plugging the gusher before another big storm stops work again."

"Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship is certainly making the rounds today, in support of his company’s latest PR campaign — this one an all-out effort to convince the public that the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster was an unavoidable act of God."

"With Tropical Storm Bonnie heading into the Gulf of Mexico and expected to kick up high waves and winds near the Deepwater Horizon oil spill  site this weekend, crews on Thursday began disconnecting the rigs drilling two relief wells in the Gulf, effectively delaying the effort to permanently plug the blown-out Macondo well by nearly two weeks. Late Thursday, the federal government ordered dozens of ships to evacuate the spill site."

"Four large oil  companies are committing $1 billion to set up a rapid response system to deal with oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico’s deep waters. The effort is aimed partly at deflecting efforts by some state and federal officials to stop or severely restrict drilling in the gulf in the wake of the BP spill."

"A confidential survey of workers on the Deepwater Horizon in the weeks before the oil  rig exploded showed that many of them were concerned about safety practices and feared reprisals if they reported mistakes or other problems." Key equipment, such as the failed blowout preventer, had not been inspected in nearly a decade.

"Three out of every four lobbyists who represent oil and gas companies previously worked in the federal government, a proportion that far exceeds the usual revolving-door standards on Capitol Hill, a Washington Post analysis shows."

The release of large amounts of Mississippi River freshwater in an attempt to push oil back out to sea has backfired. The lower salinity is killing the oysters it was meant to save.

"BP has ceased drilling its relief well and put a plug in it because of the possibility that a tropical disturbance in the Caribbean could complicate operations, senior vice president Kent Wells said in a briefing this afternoon."

"Have you heard about the massive public uprising to protect Big Oil's tax breaks? No? Oh, probably because it doesn't exist. But that doesn't mean the American Petroleum Institute won't try to convince you it does!"