Just a few weeks ago the online debate would have been unthinkable. But today, the Times newspaper, Britainâs bastion of the establishment and the powerhouse of the Murdoch media empire, is asking its readers whether the embattled boss of BP should fall on his sword and resign. The swords and knives are certainly being sharpened. … Read More
oil spills
âItâs got the real smell of deathâ
And no, we are not talking about the seas of the Gulf of Mexico, where an unknown amount of wildlife is dying and will die due to BPâs oil spill. And no, we are not talking about the nationally renowned wetlands of Louisiana where the oil is having an unseen effect like an undiagnosed cancer. … Read More
Tony âget your life backâ by resigning
Its time for BP’s CEO Tony Hayward to go. His is clearly not capable of stopping this spill. BPâs latest efforts at a “top kill” have failed badly. It may be August now before the spill is stopped. He has lost the confidence of investors. Shares in the oil giant have plunged as much as … Read More
BP: Biggest Polluter
So now it is official. What everyone has suspected for the last month, we now know to be true. The Deepwater Horizon spill is now the largest in US history. Yesterday President Obama attacked BP over Americaâs âworst oil disasterâ, after new estimates put the amount of oil spilt at anything from 30 to 39 … Read More
Deja Vu as Oil Spill Workers Get Sick
One of the ongoing tragedies of the Exxon Valdez oil spill is that thousands of people who worked on the cleanup are sick, have gotten sick, and continue to die from inhaling the lethal cocktail of oil and dispersant. The tragedy is that, like the oil spill itself, the illnesses and deaths were preventable. Move … Read More
Its Top Kill or a $70 Billion Bill
Today, its Top Kill or bust. Never have the stakes for BP been higher. Latest estimates are that the company could face up to $70 billion in penalties and pay-outs for the Gulf oil spill if todayâs attempts to stem the flow of oil fail. Today BP will attempt a âTop Killâ â pumping heavy … Read More
Dispersant Row Intensifies
This is now becoming a comedy of tragic proportions. Last week the EPA ordered BP to find another dispersant after repeated warnings from scientists that its dispersant Corexit was untested on the sea-bed and too toxic. But BP is just ignoring the government and continuing to use the chemical. So far the company has poured … Read More
âInto the abyss of deathâ
Out of sight and out of mind. That is what dispersants do to oil. Repeatedly on this blog for the last month, we have warned about the dangers of using dispersants, especially at depths where the technique was essentially untested. Finally we are finding out what the use of disperants has done beneath the surface.
BP forced to come clean over spill size: Ordered to stop using toxic dispersant
For a month now people have been demanding that BP comes clean over the amount of oil being spilt in the Gulf of Mexico. For a month BP has resisted. For a month now, people have been saying that the dispersants being used on the spill are highly toxic and could be causing more harm … Read More
Donât Worry – Be Happy
âDonât Worryâ – be happy â that is Tony Haywardâs birthday message to his staff. Hayward has returned home to London to chair a crisis board meeting, trying to give his staff an upbeat message. Hayward has emailed staff saying that âI know that many of you have questions about how this incident will impact … Read More