DISASTER IN THE GULF

By Debbie Bulloch



On April 20, 2010, a semi-submersible exploratory offshore drilling rig, owned by British Petroleum, in the Gulf of Mexico exploded after a blowout and sank two days later, killing eleven people and causing a massive oil spill threatening the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and Florida.

BP is a British global energy company; it is the world’s third largest energy company and the fourth largest company in the world. BP is also the UK's largest corporation.

BP’s abysmal environmental and human rights track record prompted Mother Jones magazine to name BP as one of the "ten worst corporations" in both 2001 and 2005. In 1991 BP was cited as the most polluting company in the US based on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toxic release data. BP has been charged with burning polluted gases at its Ohio refinery (for which it was fined $1.7 million), and in July 2000 BP paid a $10 million fine to the EPA for its management of its US refineries. According to Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) research, between January 1997 and March 1998, BP was responsible for 104 oil spills.

Here are some samples of BP’s recent environmental and human rights violations:

Mist Mountain Project

There have been calls for BP to halt its "Mist Mountain" Coalbed Methane Project in the Southern Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. The proposed 500 km² project is directly adjacent to the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

Canadian oil sands

BP is one of numerous firms who are extracting oil from Canadian oil sands, a process that produces four times as much CO2 as conventional drilling. The Cree aboriginal group has described BP as being complicit in “the biggest environmental crime on the planet.”

Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline

BP has been criticized for its involvement with Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, due to human rights, environmental and safety concerns.

Colombian pipeline

In July 2006, a group of Colombian farmers won a multi million pound settlement from BP after the British oil and gas company was accused of benefiting from a regime of terror carried out by Colombian government paramilitaries to protect a 450-mile (720 km) pipeline.

Refinery safety violations

On March 2005, BP's Texas City, Texas refinery, one of its largest refineries, exploded causing 15 deaths, injuring 180 people and forcing thousands of nearby residents to remain sheltered in their homes. The incident came as the culmination of a series engineering problems that had been largely ignored by BP’s management.

An investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board "offered a scathing assessment of the company." The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found "organizational and safety deficiencies at all levels of the BP Corporation" and said management failures could be traced from Texas all the way to BP’s executives in London.

As a result of the incident, BP pleaded guilty to a felony violation of the Clean Air Act, was fined $50 million, and sentenced to three years probation.

On October 30, 2009, after a follow-up investigation, OSHA fined BP an additional $87 million — the largest fine in OSHA history — for failing to correct safety hazards revealed in the 2005 explosion. Inspectors found 270 safety violations that had been previously cited but not fixed and 439 new violations.

The “talk-big-and-do-nothing” Obama administration has been widely and roundly criticized for its feeble and ineffectual response to the human and environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Seventeen countries, including Canada, France and the Netherlands have offered to send help and lend their combined expertise to stem the damage caused by BP’s criminal negligence. To date, however, the Obama administration has not acted upon the offers of help.

The images below are extremely difficult to look at. As horrific and heartbreaking as these images may be, they represent only the tip of the iceberg. The damage now being caused to animals, birds and fishes will last for years, if not for generations.

As you look at these images, I urge of you to think of action that you can take to put pressure on BP to do the right thing and clean up its act. I also urge you to think of ways, at a personal level, to help reduce the world’s dependence on fossil fuels so that images of oil-covered animals, birds and fishes will soon become a thing of the past.

Peace out!




















Gulf Oil Spill



MAKE BP PAY!





NOTE: Images used on this post are copyrighted. They are used here for educational and illustrative purposes only. No commercial use is intended. The various copyright owners fully reserve all rights to their work.

GULF COAST UPDATE (06.08.2010):

In an interview with the Today Show's Matt Lauer this morning, President Obaman offered his most candid response yet about the disaster, bluntly telling Lauer he's been talking to experts about "whose ass to kick" when it comes to responsibility for the mess.

Mr. President, the time to talk tough is over. Wildlife is being systematically destroyed, important habitats may be lost forever, and families in the Gulf coast are suffering.

We need action, not words.

Just do it!