May 14, 2015

Drilling to resume near 2010 BP oil spill site

Deep-water drilling is set to resume near the site of the catastrophic BP PLC well blowout that killed 11 workers and caused the nation's largest offshore oil spill five years ago off the coast of Louisiana.

A Louisiana-based oil company, LLOG Exploration Offshore LLC, plans to drill into the Macondo reservoir, according to federal records reviewed by The Associated Press.

Harper's Magazine first reported the drilling plans late Tuesday.

LLOG's permit to drill a new well near BP's site was approved April 13 by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, an agency overseeing offshore oil and gas drilling operations. The company's exploration plan was approved last October following an environmental review by a sister agency, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

The company, a privately owned firm based in Covington, Louisiana, will be looking to extract oil and gas deep under the Gulf of Mexico's seafloor, an undertaking that proved catastrophic for BP.

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/05/drilling_to_resume_near_2010_b.html

May 14, 2015

Exclusive: Anti-Fracking Filmmaker Josh Fox Arrested In Finger Lakes Protest

The creator of the award-winning film ‘Gasland’ was just arrested at a protest in rural New York. Here’s the mini-documentary he made on the eve of his arrest.


Award-winning documentary filmmaker Josh Fox, who wrote and directed the acclaimed fracking film Gasland, was arrested this afternoon while engaging in a human barricade at a natural-gas storage facility in the Finger Lakes.

“People need to see what’s happening at Seneca Lake, and also understand that this isn’t isolated, it is happening everywhere,” Fox told The Daily Beast before the protest. “We need to educate people that our dependency on fossil fuels has got to change, and it has to change now.”

Working through the night prior to his arrest, Fox put together a new short documentary, exclusively premiered below, on what he says are the facts behind the situation in Seneca Lake.


http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/05/13/exclusive-anti-fracking-filmmaker-josh-fox-arrested-in-finger-lakes-protest.html

April 16, 2015

Awwww! Lovely kitties and great story! I also have a Felix, found him in a grocery store parking lot

Last August. He was so little! The vet said he was about seven weeks and healthy. He is almost all black and is growing up to be quite a beautiful cat...

February 2, 2015

BP oil spill at issue in two federal court cases next week

Legal battles arising from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill play out in two federal courtrooms in New Orleans next week. On Monday, trial resumes in a district courtroom where BP and a minority partner in its ill-fated Macondo well are trying to fend off billions of dollars in Clean Water Act penalties, and on Tuesday, appeals court judges consider BP's request to oust the man overseeing payments to businesses claiming harm from the spill.

The trial is entering its third week. U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has been hearing from dueling experts. They are witnesses called by each side as the Justice Department presses for a penalty for BP at or near the $13.7 billion maximum.

Government witnesses have cited evidence of real and potential harm to environment. Coastal communities' economies and social fabric also were damaged, they say.

BP witnesses have painted a picture of a robust response and strong recovery from the disaster. They disputed government witnesses' findings as BP lawyers argue that the government has ignored some of its own data in pressing for the high fine.

http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2015/01/bp_oil_spill_at_issue_in_two_f.html



This cane pole indicates where land was once located near a marshy patch along the Bay Jimmy in Plaquemines Parish on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. The grass and mangroves in this area were weakened by the effects of the BP oil spill in 2010 and then later hit hard by Hurricane Issac causing it to erode at a quicker than expected pace. (Photo by Chris Granger, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)

February 2, 2015

Millions of gallons of BP oil found resting on the Gulf floor

Yet another study raises questions about the long-term impact of the 2010 disaster

Another study has identified a massive amount of oil resting on the Gulf of Mexico’s floor, contradicting BP’s claims that everything is totally better now and raising questions about the lasting impact of the 2010 spill.

Researchers at Florida State University identified some 6 to 10 million gallons of BP oil buried in the sediment at the bottom of the Gulf, covering a 9,300 square mile area southeast of the Mississippi Delta. Their findings, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, help solve the mystery of where all the oil went: a federal judge ruled that BP spilled about 134 million gallons of oil in total, although government estimates put that amount even higher.

Last year, geochemists at the University of California-Santa Barbara identified a similar phenomenon, of what they called a “bathtub ring” of oil the size of Rhode Island scattered across the Gulf. The authors of this study, as with that one, express concern about what it’s doing down there. Jeff Chanton, a professor of oceanology at FSU and the study’s lead author, notes that as oil remains deep underwater, it encounters less oxygen, making it more difficult to decompose.

And just because it’s buried doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. “This is going to affect the Gulf for years to come,” Chanton said. “Fish will likely ingest contaminants because worms ingest the sediment, and fish eat the worms. It’s a conduit for contamination into the food web.


http://www.salon.com/2015/01/30/millions_of_gallons_of_bp_oil_found_resting_on_the_gulf_floor/



A member of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's staff reaches into thick oil in the Northern regions of Barataria Bay in Plaquemines Parish, La., Tuesday, June 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Credit: Gerald Herbert)

January 10, 2015

Crashed AirAsia's tail hoisted from sea in search of boxes

Source: AP

PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia (AP) — Investigators searching for black boxes in the crashed AirAsia plane lifted the tail portion out of the Java Sea on Saturday, two weeks ago after it went down, killing all 162 people on board.

It was not immediately clear if the cockpit voice and flight data recorders were still inside the tail or have been detached when the Airbus A320 plummeted into the sea Dec. 28. Their recovery is essential to finding out why it crashed.

The tail was hoisted from a depth of about 30 meters (100 feet) using inflatable bags that were attached to the rear of the aircraft and a crane to lift it onto a rescue ship.

Intermittent underwater ping-like sounds were picked up Friday about a kilometer (half mile) from where the tail was located, but it was unclear if they were coming from the recorders located in the back of the aircraft. It was possible the signals were coming from another source.



Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/d5a95bb1618a41c2b901d91914a60f51/divers-fight-waves-hoist-tail-crashed-airasia-jet

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Portion of the tail of AirAsia Flight 8501 floats on the water as Indonesian navy divers conduct search operations for the black boxes of the crashed plane in the Java Sea, Indonesia, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015. Investigators searching for black boxes in the crashed AirAsia plane lifted the tail portion out of the Java Sea on Saturday, two weeks ago after it went down, killing all 162 people on board. (AP Photo/Adek Berry, Pool)

January 10, 2015

Golden Gate Bridge closing for safety upgrade this weekend

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Golden Gate Bridge will shut down to private vehicles for 52 hours starting at midnight Friday so workers can install a moveable median barrier designed to prevent head-on collisions, part of an effort to increase safety along the iconic structure.

Transit buses, emergency vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to cross the bridge while the barrier is being installed, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District said. The bridge is scheduled to reopen to all traffic Monday at 4 a.m.

The weekend closure will be the longest in the bridge's history and the first since 1987, when the bridge closed for a few hours for a celebration of the 50th anniversary of its construction.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Golden-Gate-Bridge-closing-to-install-new-6003829.php



In this Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013 file photo, Golden Gate Bridge workers shift traffic lanes during the end of the morning commute in San Francisco. The Golden Gate Bridge will close to vehicles for 52 hours starting early Saturday morning, Jan. 10, 2014 to install a steel and concrete moveable median barrier that will help make the iconic bridge safer to commuters.
Photo: Eric Risberg, AP

January 9, 2015

How Icebergs Work

Ice­bergs -- giant floating chunks of ice. What else do we need to know? As it turns out, plen­ty. Th­ere's a lot that's deceptive about icebergs. It's true that most of an iceberg's bulk lies unseen beneath the surface of the ocean, but these seemingly sterile ice slabs also harbor their own complex ecosystems, and they shape the ecosystems that they pass through.

Icebergs can seem rather ominous -- they dot high-latitude oceans like mines, and after all, one of them sank the unsinkable Titanic. They also seem to hold a lot of promise -- could we really tow one to Los Angeles and melt it for drinking water? Could you live on one?

Scientists are s­till learning about icebergs. They're difficult to study. In fact, it can be hard just getting to one. While we know where icebergs come from and have a general idea how they behave, every expedition to an iceberg uncovers something new. From floating chunks no bigger than your car to massive islands of ice the size of Connecticut, icebergs come in many shapes and forms.

More: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geophysics/iceberg.htm



Iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, near Iceberg Alley
Grant Faint/Getty Images

January 9, 2015

NY pays most for gas despite falling prices

ALBANY – Gas prices across the nation have fallen to their lowest point in years, but New Yorkers still pay the most in the contiguous United States.

The main reason is New York has as many as seven different state taxes that add up to 45 cents per gallon, as well as 19 cents per gallon in federal taxes.

The average price of unleaded regular in New York on Wednesday was $2.70 a gallon, compared to a national average of $2.19 a gallon. Only Hawaii and Alaska have higher prices.

"I don't think the average New Yorker has any clue how much they pay in taxes when they pull up to the pump," said John Corlett, legislative chairman for AAA New York.


Much More: http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/new-york/2015/01/07/ny-pays-gas-despite-falling-prices/21411081/


This Gulf gas station, located at 688 Freedom Plains Road in LaGrange, offered a cash price of $2.49 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas on Wednesday.
(Photo: Alex H. Wagner/Poughkeepsie Journal)

January 8, 2015

Here Are Photos of Frozen Fountains to Remind You How Cold It Is Everywhere in the U.S.

In case your numb limbs were not enough of an indication

Unless you live somewhere where it’s currently summertime, like Australia, you might have noticed that it’s, um, cold. Really cold. Like, consider renouncing all your possessions and moving to Costa Rica and just somehow making it work cold.

One aesthetically pleasing result of this bitter weather, however, is that fountains across the country are freezing, resulting in oddly beautiful ice sculptures. See, for example, the fountain in New York City’s Bryant Park:



But this bizarre phenomenon is also occurring in the South, where temperatures have also dipped well below 32°F:



More: http://time.com/3659773/frozen-fountains-cold-weather-us/