RSS Feed
Archive for August 4th, 2010
NOAA: No more threat to Fla. Keys or East Coast
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2010
Associated Press: The Obama administration says the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico no longer poses a threat to the Florida Keys or the East Coast. A new federal report indicates that only about a quarter of the spilled oil remains in the Gulf and is degrading quickly, with the rest having been contained, cleaned up or having disappeared. There had been fears that the massive spill could reach South Florida and the East Coast through a powerful loop current, but the head of the National Oceanic ...
Posted in 
Gov’t has ‘high confidence’ oil spill almost over
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2010
Associated Press: No more oil is likely to leak into the Gulf of Mexico now that efforts to plug the blown-out well are succeeding, the government's point man on the spill declared Wednesday. A relieved President Barack Obama said the fight to stop the leak is "finally close to coming to an end." At the White House, National Incident Commander Adm. Thad Allen said oil company BP's effort to plug the leak was progressing, giving officials "high confidence" that there will soon be no more oil leaking ...
Report: BP well leaked nearly 207 million gallons
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2010
Associated Press: A federal report on the Gulf oil spill says a total of nearly 207 million gallons leaked from the blown-out BP well. The report released Wednesday says a little more than 172 million gallons of that made it into the Gulf. It says nearly 35 million gallons was held back by a temporary containment cap. The report was released by the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A government task force released an estimate this week ...
BP Begins ‘Static Kill,’ to Seal Well Permanently
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2010
New York Times: Engineers began pumping heavy drilling mud into BP's stricken oil well in the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday afternoon, in hopes of sealing it permanently. BP said the operation, called a static kill or bullheading, began at 4 p.m. Eastern Tuesday after tests to evaluate well pressure and to make sure that the drilling mud can reach the oil reservoir to plug the well were completed. Officials said the procedure could take several days. During the static kill, technicians working from ...
Ecuador refrains from Amazon oil drilling in return for $3.6bn
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2010
Guardian: How much would you pay for the most biologically rich patch of land on Earth – some 675 sq miles of pristine Amazon, home to several barely contacted indigenous tribes, thousands of species of trees and nearly 1bn barrels of crude oil? Ecuador, home of the Galapagos Islands, the Andes mountain range and vast tracts of oil-rich rainforest, yesterday asked the world for $3.6bn not to exploit the Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha oil block in the Yasuni national park. A knockdown price, it ...
Pakistan floods threaten to bring food crisis
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2010
Reuters: Pakistanis scoured towns for food on Wednesday, with some areas facing life-threatening shortages after floods which have killed 1,400 people and highlighted the fragile leadership of President Asif Ali Zardari. Ethnic violence raging in Pakistan's biggest city Karachi is also piling pressure on the government, widely criticized for its handling of the floods in the northwest, the worst in 80 years, that have devastated the lives of more than three million people. Zardari left ...
N.Y. Senate Approves Fracking Moratorium
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2010
New York Times: The New York State Senate voted 48 to 9 Tuesday night to issue a temporary moratorium on a type of natural gas exploration that combines hydraulic fracturing with horizontal drilling and the injection of millions of gallons of chemically treated water underground. The aim of the measure is to ensure an adequate review of safety and environmental concerns. The state Department of Environmental Conservation is currently reviewing the environmental impact of drilling in upstate New York, ...
Crush of mud finally plugs BP’s well in the Gulf
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2010
Associated Press: In the end, it was a crush of mud that finally plugged the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, three months after the offshore drilling rig explosion that unleashed a gusher of oil and a summer of misery along the Gulf Coast. The government stopped just short of pronouncing the well dead, cautioning that cement and mud must still be pumped in from the bottom to seal it off for good. President Barack Obama declared that the battle to contain one of the world's worst oil spills ...
United States: Congressman says Enbridge violated oil spill regs
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 4th, 2010
Associated Press: A member of Congress said Wednesday that Enbridge Inc. violated federal regulations by dragging its feet on reporting a pipeline rupture that poured hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into a southern Michigan waterway, although the company said it met legal requirements. Rep. Mark Schauer, a Michigan Democrat, said he was convinced the massive leak began the night of July 25, although the Canadian company insists it didn't confirm the spill was under way until about 11:30 a.m. ...