oil spill cleanup news stories on Newser

BP Faces $52B in Gulf Spill Fines

Mark Russell — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 05:45:39 CST

With the trials set to begin tomorrow for BP and the other companies involved in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP alone could conceivably face up to $52 billion in fines and compensation, reports the AP . Under the Clean Water Act, which requires a minimum of $1,100...

As Feds Set Cleanup Deadline, Exxon Under Fire

Polly Davis Doig — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 10:07:32 CDT

Exxon Mobil had better clean up its act—and its 1000 barrels of crude currently spilled in the Yellowstone River. Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has a litany of complaints that mostly boil down to the oil giant misleading state officials about the scope of the spill, and has yanked state...

BP's Gulf Cleanup Creates 'Spillionaires'

John Johnson — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:42:05 CDT

A Pro Publica investigation introduces a new word in the Gulf Coast lexicon: spillionaire. As in, the nickname given to someone—usually someone politically connected—who raked in a lot of money from BP's unregulated $16 billion cleanup fund for localities. It puts a particular focus on St. Bernard Parish...

NYT 's Deepwater 'Scoop' Was Regurgitated: AP Reporter

Nick McMaster — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:53:57 CST

The New York Times ' sweeping account of the Deepwater Horizon's final hours may be compelling storytelling, but it is not news, claims AP oil spill reporter Harry Weber . Though the Times story claims to be an account built from new disclosures that "make it possible to finally piece together...

BP's Hayward: If Only I Had an Acting Degree

Polly Davis Doig — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:40:38 CST

Tony Hayward's lips are flapping again, which usually doesn't bode well for Tony Hayward. In his first in-depth interview since his departure from the company's helm, BP's vilified ex-CEO is unrepentant about wanting his life back and going sailing as the Macondo well gushed, and generally feels like he "may...

BP's Gulf Fund Confusing Everyone

Kevin Spak — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 10:35:46 CDT

All is not well with BP’s inscrutable Gulf compensation fund, but the exact problems seem to be a matter of debate. The Wall Street Journal today runs a piece complaining that payments have been too slow and weirdly erratic. The Justice Department has called the pace of payments “unacceptable,” and...

BP Finishes Relief Well

John Johnson — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:25:48 CDT

It's been off the radar for a while, but BP has reached a milestone of sorts in the Gulf: The relief well is finally finished—it has intersected with the blown well, putting the company on the brink of a permanent fix (after 5 months), reports CNN . Next step is...

Who Is Getting Gulf Cleanup Contracts?

Polly Davis Doig — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:15:27 CDT

It might have been cheaper if the feds had plugged BP's blown wellhead with dollar bills—or so an early AP analysis of Uncle Sam's expenditures on the response and cleanup. Mind you, these details are for the first $142 million the government is disclosing, a small fraction; BP , however,...

MIT Builds Robots to Clean Oil Spills

Emily Rauhala — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 07:07:08 CDT

A fleet of robots to clean up oil spills for us: Sounds pretty nice, right? Thanks to some smart people at MIT, we'll soon have exactly that. Researchers have developed a robotic prototype called Seaswarm that can autonomously navigate waterways, sucking oil off the surface of the ocean using super-absorbent...