Greenpeace obtained documents relating to the 2010 BP oil spill indicating that Obama administration officials tried to restrict information about whales and other wildlife affected by the disaster. The newly released pictures and emails show that, two years ago, the U.S. government tried to cover up the number of whales which came into close contact with BP’s leaking oil well after the Gulf of Mexico spill.

The environmental organization obtained the pictures and emails in late September through a Freedom of information request. The pictures were taken in the summer of 2010 and show the carcass of a sperm whale whose skin had been burnt black. According to The Guardian, the dead whale was sighted at sea, south of the Deepwater Horizon oilrig.

It is thought the photos were taken by crewmembers of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) research vessel,Pisces, who found the dead whale on June 15, 2010. It was floating 77 miles from the Deepwater Horizon. The young sperm whale’s skin had been burned and partially eaten by sharks. On the same day, NOAA observers aboard another vessel spotted five whales covered in oil. After the decomposed carcass was discovered, U.S. officials gave strict instructionsto the crew aboard the vessels that no information or photographs were to be released. NOAA did later issue a press release about the dead whale, though it was soon edited in such a way that it appeared to minimize the oil’s effect on whales.

There were believed to be about 1,200 sperm whales in the Gulf of Mexico at the time of the spill, making it one of the biggest populations in the world. Environmental organizations and the U.S. government still need to determine the exact impact of the oil spill on wildlife in the area, particularly on endangered species, such as sea turtles and sperm whales. The outcome may have enormous financial implications for BP.

This might be one reason that the oil company recently asked a judge in New Orleans to finalize its settlement for economic damages caused by the Gulf spill. BP estimates that the final cost of reparations will be in the order of $7.8 billion, though the company still has to face claims for environmental damages, and account for wildlife killed as a direct result of the spill.

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_10_26/Greenpeace-US-tried-to-cover-up-effects-of-BP-s-Gulf-oil-spill/

Factbox: BP’s potential price tag for the Gulf spill

July 14 (Reuters) – BP Plc faces substantial civil and potentially criminal liability stemming from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which killed 11 rig workers and caused America’s biggest offshore oil spill. A rough calculation of those costs, based on estimates from analysts and some previously paid items, could put the total bill at more than $69 billion. That would assume a judge finds BP to be grossly negligent, a contention BP strongly disputes. BP has taken a $37.2 billion charge against its earnings for the spill.

Here is how some of the major costs could break down:

INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY: $14.3 billion

Hundreds of thousands of individuals and businesses have sued BP, with claimants ranging from fishermen andoyster men to hoteliers and restaurateurs to tourist businesses. BP in August 2010 set aside $20 billion to cover damage claims in the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. The facility paid out nearly $6.5 billion on over 200,000 claims, and BP in March agreed to a settlement that commits an additional estimated $7.8 billion for about 125,000 claims. BP has acknowledged that figure could increase, and a U.S. judge must give final approval to the deal.

OPERATIONAL RESPONSE: $14 billion

As the responsible party for the spill under the Oil Pollution Act, BP has so far spent $14 billion, including the cost to cap the mile-deep Macondo well, hire hundreds of marine vessels to skim oil slicks and clean up hundreds of miles of oil-soaked shoreline in five U.S. states.

CIVIL PENALTIES: $5.4 billion to $21 billion

The federal Clean Water Act lets the U.S. government seek fines up to $1,100 per barrel of oil spilled. Assuming that 4.9 million barrels were spilled, a fine could reach $5.4 billion. But if gross negligence or willful misconduct is found, the fine rises to $4,300 a barrel. The resulting bill would be $21 billion. Thomas Claps, litigation analyst for Susquehanna Financial Group LLP, has pegged likely Clean Water Act fines at between $7 billion and $10 billion. BP has set aside $3.5 billion to cover Clean Water Act violations.

CRIMINAL PENALTIES: $5 billion to $15 billion

Weeks after the rig explosion, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder took the unusual step of confirming that the Justice Department had launched a criminal probe into the spill. The U.S. government has not filed any criminal charges against BP or its Macondo partners. But in January, Martijn Rats, head of European oil research at Morgan Stanley, put the cost of potential criminal penalties at $5 billion to $15 billion. Thomas Claps at Susquehanna Financial Group estimated criminal penalties at between $5 billion and $10 billion.

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE: $5 billion

The U.S. government is undertaking a multi-year study of the ecological damage caused by the spill in a process called a Natural Resource Damage Assessment. Louisiana bore the brunt of the BP Plc spill’s damage – about 650 miles of its coastline were oiled, versus 174 miles in Florida, 159 miles in Mississippi and 90 miles in Alabama. It could be years before the damage assessment is complete, and coastal states could choose to settle in the meantime. Morgan Stanley’s Rats pegged the cost of environmental damage and recovery at $5 billion. Some Gulf Coast state officials have criticized that figure as too low.

(Reporting by Chris Baltimore)

http://newsandinsight.thomsonreuters.com/Legal/News/2012/07_-_July/Factbox__BP_s_potential_price_tag_for_the_Gulf_spill/

BP asks for final approval on Gulf spill settlement deal despite objections

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press
Published: 10/24/2012  1:52 AM
Last Modified: 10/24/2012  2:43 AM

NEW ORLEANS – Oil giant BP has asked a federal judge to disregard objections from a fraction of claimants and give final approval to a proposed multibillion-dollar settlement over economic damages from the Gulf oil spill.

BP was joined in the request by plaintiffs’ attorneys who helped broker the class-action deal spawned by the 2010 disaster. BP estimates it will pay $7.8 billion to resolve claims through the uncapped settlement.

In court filings late Monday, BP PLC and plaintiffs’ lawyers say the deal should not be derailed by a low number of individuals and businesses objecting or asking to opt-out.

Roughly 200 people and groups have formally objected to the deal, while 983 potential claimants asked to opt out as of Oct. 19.

More than 100,000 plaintiffs could benefit from the deal.

BP cited the numbers as evidence that U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier should approve the agreement after a Nov. 8 “fairness hearing.” The judge preliminarily approved the proposed settlement in May.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/business/article.aspx?subjectid=49&articleid=20121024_46_E6_CUTLIN505861

Insight – BP oil spill settlement before U.S. election seen unlikely

By Chris Baltimore

HOUSTON | Sat Oct 27, 2012

A pre-election settlement could also expose Obama to criticism for selling out Gulf Coast politicians and environmental groups. Rumours have been flying.

Gulf Coast lawmakers recently and loudly protested press reports that BP and the Justice Department have discussed shifting settlement payments based on the Clean Water Act – with their promised billions of dollars to Gulf state coffers – instead to payments based on natural resource statutes, which would not only go to the U.S. Treasury but also be tax-deductible for BP.

“BP, who is responsible for this, would also get a tax deduction that could write off millions,” Representative Jo Bonner, an Alabama Republican, told Reuters. “The audacity of giving BP a tax write-off!”

Environmentalists are also worried about press reports that peg BP’s settlement offer is as low as $18 billion — far short of penalties demanded by U.S. environmental and criminal statutes.

“We believe a full throated debate over the settlement amount needs to happen before any deal is done,” said John Kostyack, a vice president at the National Wildlife Federation, who estimates BP’s potential liability at more than $50 billion.

More here

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/27/uk-bp-oilspill-election-idUKBRE89Q04W20121027