Shell admits Nigeria liability

BBC News, August 12, 2011

Oil giant Shell has accepted responsibility for two devastating oil spills in Nigeria's Ogoniland region.

The Bodo fishing community sued Shell in the UK, alleging that spills in 2008 and 2009 had destroyed the environment and ruined their livelihoods. Their lawyer said they would seek hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for one of the world's "most devastating oil spills". Read more...

The Legacy of the Gulf Spill: What to Expect for the Future?

Yale 360, August 09, 2010

The Gulf of Mexico’s capacity to recover from previous environmental assaults — especially the 1979 Ixtoc explosion — provides encouragement about the prospects for its post-Deepwater future. But scientists remain worried about the BP spill's long-term effects on the health of the Gulf and its sea life. Read more...

Στα 750 εκατ. ευρώ το κόστος της πετρελαιοκηλίδας για την ΒΡ

OIKO, 28 Μαΐου 2010

Η διαρροή στην πλατφόρμα πετρελαίου Deepwater Horizon στον Κόλπο του Μεξικού έχει στοιχίσει στην εταιρεία περισσότερα από 750 εκατομμύρια ευρώ, ανακοίνωσε σήμερα η BP, που ευθύνεται για τη χειρότερη διαρροή πετρελαίου στην ιστορία των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών. Σύμφωνα με τη διευθύντρια του Αμερικανικού Ινστιτούτου Γεωλογικών Ερευνών (USGS), από την πετρελαιοπηγή της BP διέρρεαν στον Κόλπο του Μεξικού από 12.000 έως και 19.000 βαρέλια πετρελαίου την ημέρα (2 με 3 εκατομμύρια λίτρα), τα οποία έχουν ήδη μολύνει περισσότερα από 160 χιλιόμετρα στην ακτογραμμή της Λουιζιάνα, καταστροφή χειρότερη και από αυτή που είχε προκαλέσει το τάνκερ Exxon Valdez στην Αλάσκα, τo 1989. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Διαβάστε ακόμα: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has extended the boundaries of the closed fishing area in the Gulf of Mexico

How big is the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?

BBC News, May 7, 2010

Thousands of tonnes of oil have poured into the Gulf of Mexico after the disaster at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig over two weeks ago. But how does this leak compare with the largest offshore spills on record? The current size of the Deepwater Horizon spill is hard to measure exactly, but attempts can be made to estimate it.Based on oil flow calculations from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dr Simon Boxall, a marine pollution expert, says a total current spill can be estimated at about 7,000 to 10,000 tonnes of oil. (See factbox below for how this was worked out.) Read more...

Disaster in Black Sea as storm sinks tanker

Guardian Unlimited, November 12 2007

The Black Sea region suffered its worst environmental disaster in years after an oil tanker sank in stormy weather last night. The bodies of five seamen have been recovered and up to 18 are still missing after the storm struck 10 ships in the Strait of Kerch, which links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Crewmen aboard the Russian oil tanker, the Volganeft-139, were rescued. It split in two and spilled at least 1,300 tonnes of oil. The severe weather prevented emergency workers from collecting the oil, which authorities said was sinking to the seabed. Read more...