BP

From Oiled Shores to the Courtroom: NPR's Debbie Elliott on the BP Oil Spill

Ashley Westerman — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 10:42:30 +0000

Debbie Elliott is NPR’s national correspondent based in Alabama. She has covered the 2010 BP oil spill, and its aftermath, since the beginning.

Reporting in Terrebone Parish in 2010, Elliott met the Chauvin family that had been shrimpers for five generations before the disaster. Now covering the trial over BP’s liability for the spill, Elliott tells WRKF’s Ashley Westerman that family story is one that has stuck with her.

BP Ready for Trial in Civil Case

Associated Press — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:23:32 +0000

BP says it has failed to reach a settlement in advance of next week's civil trial on the Deepwater Horizon accident and is ready to defend itself vigorously against allegations of gross negligence in the U.S.'s biggest environmental disaster.

Rupert Bondy, the group's general counsel, said in a statement Tuesday that settlement demands were "not based on reality or the merits of the case."

Billions are at stake in the Feb. 25 trial in New Orleans to determine BP's civil liability. BP already agreed to a $4.5 billion settlement of federal criminal charges.

BP's Profit Drops

editor — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:10:00 +0000

Transcript

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with a slip for BP.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The British oil company, BP, announced its 4th quarter earnings today, and its net profit was about a billion dollars lower than a year earlier. BP has been shrinking as assets have been sold off to pay for its liabilities tied to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

MONTAGNE: Billions more could flow out of the company this year. A civil penalties trial is due to begin in New Orleans later this month.

BP Facing Billions More In Fines Over Oil Spill

Eileen Fleming — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:22:35 +0000

Huge civil penalties looming for BP.

BP has agreed to a $4 billion settlement of a criminal case filed by the Justice Department over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A pending civil case could cost tens of billions of dollars more in penalties.

Judge Approves BP's Manslaughter Plea In 2010 Gulf Oil Spill

Carrie Johnson — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 18:43:00 +0000

A federal judge has approved a guilty plea by BP to manslaughter charges in connection with the 2010 Gulf oil spill.

The approved deal includes a record $4 billion in criminal penalties.

Eleven workers on the Deep Water Horizon rig died in the April 2010 explosion.

Transocean's Battle in Gulf Oil Spill Case Concludes

Amy Jeffries — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:17:11 +0000

The Deepwater Horizon rig exploded off Louisiana’s coast in 2010, unleashing an unmatched oil spill from BP’s Macondo well.

About eight months later, the Justice Department filed suit to recover damages.

BP entered into a $4.5 billion settlement of criminal claims in November.

The owner of the rig, Transocean, has just agreed to plead guilty and pay $1.4 billion in criminal and civil penalties for violating the Clean Water Act. A federal judge is likely to sign off on the agreement at a hearing set for Feb. 14.

Carrie Johnson, NPR’s Justice Correspondent, has been following this case from the beginning.

Coast Guard To Invesigate Oil Sheen Near BP Spill Site

Ashley Westerman — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 19:32:09 +0000

The Coast Guard has approved plans to investigate another oil sheen spotted near the site of BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The sheen was initially spotted on Nov. 2 in the same area where a discarded steel container leaking oil had been capped and plugged the week before.

Play Highlights the Human Side of the BP Spill

Tegan Wendland — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Actors, directors and theater groups all over the country are marking the anniversary of the BP oil spill this spring with a play. ‘The Way of the Water" focuses on the aftermath of 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill. It was written by an award-winning playwright and will be performed by a group of volunteers in Baton Rouge this weekend. WRKF's Tegan Wendland talked with local Director and doctoral theater student at LSU, Eric Mayer Garcia, about why he thought it was important to bring the play to Louisiana for the first time.The performance will be Saturday, June 1 at 7:30p.m.at The Red Shoes Center for Personal & Spiritual Growth, 2303 Government St. Donations are welcome.

Sick Fish Suggest Lingering Impact of BP Spill

Tegan Wendland — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

In November 2011, roughly a year and a half after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, commercial fisherman began catching red snapper with dark sores and lesions in the Gulf.

A group of LSU scientists studying the impact of the disaster is still finding large numbers of sick fish -- snapper in particular -- throughout the area of the oil spill.

Coastal Communities Still Feeling Effects Of Spill

Ashley Westerman — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Two years ago today, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers, and causing the largest marine spill in American history.

Beyond the effects on wildlife, tourism and fishing along the Gulf Coast, the spill has had a lasting impact on the lives and relationships in communities there.

Diane Austin, an anthropologist at the University of Arizona, was part of a research team that published a report last year on those social effects. She talked with WRKF's Ashley Westerman by phone about the pervasiveness of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.