Category: Gulf Coast BP Disaster

BP Reparations Should Fix the Louisiana Coastline

July 6, 2015 11:27 am

BP oil being collected — early BP oil collection

by Marion Marks

The most recent announcement of the BP settlement may give some Louisiana politicians hope that the cash cow will be around for additional “free” projects to enrich their inner circle of power. However, citizens must now step up to demand tighter reins on the purse strings and the manner in which this settlement is used. Louisiana has a horrid track record for failing to take advantage of windfalls that could repair damages and improve the quality of life for citizens and businesses damaged.

Governor Jindal’s recent announcement of the Brown & Root headquarters move from Texas to Louisiana sends chills up the spine of many who feel that B&R may have cut some deal based upon the settlement to funnel work to cronies of the governor. The guards at Read more

Fixing the O&G Mess in Louisiana’s Coastline

April 18, 2014 5:52 pm

Plaquemines Parish abandoned infrastructure

I am pro oil and gas, but Oil & Gas interests must be held accountable for the mess they have left on the coast of Louisiana. Even though Senator Adley is the author of SB553 and got the support of Buffington and Peacock, one senator representing us here Senator Tarver voted for the people and not for the industry. Not saying oil and gas should completely restore the entire surface of the marsh, but at least leave it so nature can to some degree overcome their trespassing. Each of these links below are full of pictures. Each one you click on has a slide show. [this compliments of Jimmie Couvillion]

From Jonathan Henderson, JD, MBA:
Why isn’t this being cleaned up? Why isn’t the state of Louisiana making those responsible clean this up.

Here are links to two sets of new oil, gas, pipeline canal aerial photos that Jonathan Henderson took on April 11th, 2014. There is one set from St. Bernard Parish and one set from Plaquemines Parish:. Read more

John M. Barry & Louisiana’s Last Hope

February 7, 2014 2:00 pm

By Tom Aswell*

He glances down at the cellphone lying on the tabletop in the State Capitol restaurant and says almost apologetically, “I never had one of these until two years ago.” He laughs at his own reluctance to accept modern technology. “When I got it, somebody sent me a message welcoming me to the 20^th century. Not the 21^st, but the 20^th.”

That is the first impression one gets of John M. Barry, the soft-spoken point man in the ongoing lawsuit by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East (SELFPAE) against 97 oil and gas companies over the destruction of the state’s coastal wetlands.

He speaks in a voice so low that we were forced to move to another table, away from the television that had been directly above us and which kept churning out obnoxious lawyer ads, an irony not lost on the restaurant’s only two customers.

Barry, a gifted researcher and writer is author of several bestselling books, among them 2005’s The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, which was named the year’s outstanding book on science or medicine, and his stark 1998 chronicle Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America. Rising Tide won the Francis Parkman Prize of the Society of American Historians for the year’s best book of

BP Oil Assaulting Beaches More Toxic Than Ever

July 21, 2013 7:15 pm

More than three years after the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, BP’s spilled oil is continuing to assault Louisiana’s beaches — and now we have lab tests showing that these giant tar mats are more toxic than ever.

There’ve been some reports out of the region regarding three separate episodes in which these tar mats have come on shore on Isle Grand Terre, an island barrier and critical wetland in the Gulf waters south of New Orleans. In the worst of the three events, officials discovered an oily tar mat that was 165 feet long and 65 feet wide that had come ashore in an island marsh.

Think about that — a blob of oil half the size of a high school football field! State officials — even Read more

The Nature of Human Frailty

July 8, 2013 7:35 am

Most citizens display surprise when disclosures of theft or misappropriation of public resources are revealed. Responses displayed often are far over-blown as human nature is to want what you don’t have. It’s biblical to covet or desire that which is not yours.

When we were younger we mastered our desires; we had youthful faith in teachings of spiritual leaders. However, we became more worldly, our experiences expanded and our grasp exceeded the control of our consciences.

Understanding limits of personal rights and failures of control Read more

Public and Wikipedia Cry FOUL!

March 22, 2013 11:10 am

BP Attempts to Rewrite History

“History is written by winners,” is the general rule for military history. BP (British Petroleum) seems more than determined to write the history of the “spill” in the Gulf of Mexico in a manner that points favorably to their response and shows less than accurate deference to the details of the actual DISASTER.

So it is determined in the review of facts by Wikipedia and other collectors of facts on the internet. The public response if a simple cry of “FOUL!”

Angry Wikipedia editors estimate that BP has rewritten 44 percent of the page about itself, especially about its environmental performance. A federal judge has scheduled a hearing for April 5 on BP’s request to prevent payments of what the oil company calls “fictitious or inflated claims” in a class action settlement reached with victims of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (Gulf of Mexico) oil spill.

BP says the claims could cost it billions of dollars.

BP’s emergency request for the hearing is in the civil trial currently under way in Read more

BRITISH PETROLEUM SETTLEMENT MONEY – A GIFT FROM SANTA

January 18, 2013 6:00 am

Shreveport Attorney John Settle — by John Settle

Yes, Virginia, I do believe in Santa Claus; and when I get my check from the British Petroleum Business Loss Settlement fund, I will know there is a Santa Claus. Seriously, I qualify for money from the class action settlement, just like most Louisiana businesses.

Getting the BP money is not as easy as sitting on Santa’s lap. But considering that it is “free money” business owners should take the time to determine if they qualify. The good news is that even though your business may have done well the last few years you may still qualify.

BP’s settlement terms do not require that a business show that the oil spill caused harm to the business. To qualify to make a claim under BP’s settlement terms, the business must pass certain economic tests. There are five different qualification formulas and if a business passes one of them, then it has passed BP’s test and a claim can be made.

The qualification formulas are based solely on gross monthly revenue and Read more