"No call, no text, no update, is worth a human life," NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman said in a statement announcing the Board's proposal.

The NTSB wants all 50 states and the District of Columbia to ban the nonemergency use of portable electronic devices - with the exception of those that support the act of driving - for all drivers.  The states would have to pass such laws, as the NTSB lacks the authority to do so.

According to the Associated Press, Hersman acknowledged that complying would involve changing what has become ingrained behavior for many Americans.

"We're not here to win a popularity contest," she said.

The NTSB's call for the drastic measure came on the heels of its investigation of a fatal pile-up in Missouri last year that killed two passengers on a school bus.  The probe revealed that just prior to the accident, the teenaged driver of the pickup that started the chain-reaction crash had sent or received 11 text messages within 11 minutes.

According to a survey of more than 6,000 drivers by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, two out of 10 American drivers overall - and half of drivers between 21 and 24 - say they've read messages or emailed from the while driving.  According to the NTSB, more than 3,000 people lost their lives last year in distraction-related accidents.

Numerous studies have highlighted the danger that comes with cell phone use and driving.  A Virginia Tech Transportation Institute study of commercial drivers found that a safety-critical event is 163 times more likely if a driver is texting, e-mailing, or accessing the Internet, according to the NTSB.  Research from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has found that simply listening to someone speak on the other end of a cell phone reduces by 37 percent the amount of brain activity associated with driving, compared to driving alone.  Another CMU study revealed that making cell phones hands-free or voice-activated is not sufficient in eliminating distraction to drivers.

Initially, 173 of roughly 300 workers evacuated from the Tyson Foods facility were sent to area hospitals after complaining of respiratory problems hospitalizied.  As of today, 14 remain hospitalized, with one still in ICU.

According to local media reports, the chlorine fumes were first noticed Monday morning in an area of the plant where chickens are cleaned. A hazmat team was called to the scene, and the Fayetteville Fire Department had to set up a decontamination tent at Washington Regional Medical center to aid patients from the Tyson leak.

At a news conference yesterday, Tyson officials said a health clinic will be set up at the plant to provide follow-up medical attention for employees who return back to work over the next several days. Anyone who did not receive a medical evaluation after the accident on Monday will be able to undergo one there.

Tyson said it will not comment further on the accident until its own investigation is complete. 

Those other defendants would include Transocean LTD., owner of the doomed Deepwater Horizon oil rig, and Halliburton Co., which performed cement work on the rig. 

According to Reuters, the proposal on the transfer of legal rights is part of a final set of rules being circulated by Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the BP oil spill compensation fund. If adopted, the rule would still offer victims the opportunity for full payment for documented damages, Reuters said. If it is adopted, the rule could help BP’s efforts to collect billions of dollars from its partners on the Deepwater Horizon rig.

According to the Reuters report:

“Language in the draft proposal requires that claimants transfer, or subrogate, their legal rights to BP. Claimants would sign over their right to sue those responsible for the spill in the same way a car owner might when accepting an insurance payment after being hit by a negligent driver.”

That would enable BP to pursue its partners for a portion of the claims it paid.

Feinberg circulated the proposed rules to lawmakers and attorneys for comment, but he has made clear the decision to implement the rules will be his, not BP’s, Reuters said.

Over the summer, BP agreed to set aside at least $20 billion to pay economic loss and physical damage claims stemming from the BP oil spill. Feinberg, who had previously administered the 9/11 Victims’ Compensation Fund, was tapped to oversee the BP fund.

Businesses, individuals and government entities who suffered economic losses or physical injury as a result of the BP oil spill are eligible to file two types of claims: Emergency Advance Payments and long-term final damage claims. They have until November 23, 2010 to file Emergency Advance Payment claims for up to 6 months of economic losses or physical injuries. Claims forms for final payments must be submitted by August 23, 2013.

Claimants may accept an Emergency Advance Payment without waiving any of their legal rights. Accepting a final payment of long-term damages requires that claimants waive their right to sue BP or any of the parties responsible for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Any Emergency Advance Payments will be deducted from any final long-term damage payment a claimant receives. However, it is important to note that claimants may accept an Emergency Advance Payment and still reject the final payment if they find it to be unsatisfactory.

Help filing claims and other legal assistance for the victims of the BP oil spill is available at www.bigspill.com.

The two groups are examining the probable causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, fire, and oil spill at the request of the US Department of the Interior in order to identify measures for preventing similar harm in the future.
 
According to a report in The Washington Post, the committee of academic experts conducting the study appears to have been taken aback by the education and training levels of people on the rig.

“Personnel on the Deepwater Horizon were mostly trained on the job, and this training was supplemented with limited short courses,” the report said. “While this appears to be consistent with industry standard practice and current regulations it is not consistent with other safety-critical industries such as nuclear power or chemical manufacturing.”

The panel also takes issue with the cementing job on the BP well, The Washington Post said. It noted that the well design complicated the drilling operation, especially given that there were multiple hydrocarbon zones. It also criticized the failure to run one kind of cement test and the failure to pay any attention to bad results from another test of the cement. The rig workers’ failure to determine why a critical pressure test failed, “suggests a lack of onboard expertise and of clearly defined responsibilities” and “a lack of management discipline that is inconsistent with the stakes involved,” the report said.

The study does not address any issues associated with the subsequent fire and release of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico, such as the rescue and fire response, plans for the spill response, spill response and clean up, or the related consequences of the oil spill on the environment or human health.

The BP oil spill began with an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 men on April 20. All attempts to staunch the gusher failed, until a cap was successfully deployed over the well on July 15. By that time roughly 4.4 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico.

Help filing claims and other legal assistance for the victims of the BP oil spill is available at www.bigspill.com.

The Carnival Splendor had only left Long Beach, California on Sunday on a seven day Mexican cruise. The Carnival Splendor’s itinerary was to include stops in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but the voyage had to be scrapped. The ship was 200 miles south of San Diego at the time of the engine fire, and began drifting about 55 miles off shore. The cause of the fire, which was put out by the crew and the ship’s automatic fire-suppression system after about three hours, is unknown. 

While engineers aboard the Carnival Splendor were able to restore enough electrical service to get the ship’s toilets and cold water working again, the 4,500 passengers and crew aboard were forced to live without air conditioning, hot water, or hot food. Lack of refrigeration also meant that food supplies were running low. On Tuesday, the US Navy ferried 70,000 lbs of provisions to the ship, including canned crab meat, croissants, Pop Tarts and Spam.

It wasn’t until a small flotilla of tugboats hauled the 952-foot cruise liner into a San Diego dock Thursday that those aboard were finally able to leave. Now they are telling their stories.

“Until the Coast Guard and the US Navy and the Mexican Navy came out, I was pretty scared. We didn’t know what was wrong with the ship. Everything was dark. The toilets were overflooded,” passenger Maria Avila, 41, told Reuters.

“It was scary,” Avila said. “People were sleeping everywhere — in the lounge, in the Lido lounge and on the decks. I cried every morning.” She told Reuters that, due to broken toilets, one end of the Carnival Splendor smelled like “crap.”

Another passenger spoke of eating “hot dog salad” and yogurt sandwiches.

Newlywed Stacy Noreiga told ABC’s “Good Morning America” the situation was particularly concerning for her because she’s pregnant.

“It was very difficult, especially because the smells were unbelievable,” she said. “It seemed almost like every floor we went up there was a different odor.”

Others described the eerie, total darkness that engulfed the ship, according to the Associated Press.

“Some people said it was like a coffin, it’s so dark,” Karyn van Latum said. “We left our front door open, so that we had some little light, but it looked like a coffin. We stayed on the deck.”

Now that the nightmare cruise is finally over, attention has turned to the cause of the disaster. According to a report in USA Today, some experts are baffled as to why the fire knocked out power to the entire ship.

Clark Dodge, former chief engineer for Washington State Ferries, said large passenger vessels are designed to ensure that such a fire doesn’t cause a loss of all power. An engine-room fire and damage to a generator and a switchboard shouldn’t shut down other generators and engines, he said.

“What happened makes no sense to me,” said Dodge, a consultant. “If things were designed properly, all the power shouldn’t have gone out.”

According to a Newscore report, the US Coast Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Panamanian authorities will be investigating the Carnival Splendor fire. The vessel is flagged in Panama, but officials there have agreed to allow US authorities to join the investigation as most of the passengers on board the ship were Americans.

Carnival said that guests on the Splendor’s nightmare voyage will be receiving a full refund along with reimbursement for transportation costs. Additionally, they will receive a complimentary future cruise equal to the amount paid for this voyage.

Carnival also canceled the Splendor’s next voyage, scheduled to begin on November 14. Those guests will receive a full refund of their cruise fare and air transportation costs, along with a 25 percent discount on a future cruise, Carnival said.

At the symposium, it was pointed out that five years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, the region’s herring fishery collapsed, at least in part because of the oil spill. The scientists hope that by planning now, similar collapses can be avoided in the Gulf of Mexico. 

To that end, the group is recommending the creation of a unified research and monitoring effort to detect the first signs of trouble with Gulf species and provide that information to management agencies in an effort head off disastrous effects.

“Right now there is no agency that pulls together and coordinates all the information we need about the Gulf,” marine biologist Michael Crosby, senior vice president for research at Mote Marine Laboratory, said at the end of the two-day gathering. “Scientists at different institutions might be collecting different pieces of data — but if we don’t put those together, we could miss the big picture until populations crash.”

The scientists expressed concerns about some changes already being observed in the Gulf. That includes dead and dying coral discovered near the site of BP’s ruptured well that we reported last week. The scientists who made that discovery noted that the coral was covered with a brown substance thought to be rotting tissue. Tests are needed to determine if the coral is being killed off because of the spill.

Some of the scientists expressed concerns that predatory species already endangered, including sharks or blue fin tuna, could be pushed closer to extinction because of the spill. Other wildlife that could face long-term impacts include shrimp, menhaden, blue crabs, various types of plankton, coral reefs, sargassum algae, seabirds, tuna, dolphins, sea turtles, and mackerel, tarpon and other sport fish. On Monday, researchers reported that non-toxic components of oil already have made it up the food chain from oil-eating microbes to plankton that are an important food source for fish.

The symposium plans to release a final report in January. In addition to recommending a unified research and monitoring effort, it will recommend the creation of science-based models of how oil could affect the Gulf, creation of long-term research sites to monitor for future oil spill effects and other environmental problems, and money to pay for the new research programs.

The fire caused the Carnival Splendor cruise ship to lose power early Monday morning, just one day after it left port in Long Beach for a seven-day Mexican cruise. Scheduled to stop in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the cruise was canceled as the ship drifted 200 miles from San Diego awaiting a tow. 

With no power, passengers were forced to wait in hot, dark rooms eating rations delivered to the ship by the U.S. Navy when the ship’s refrigeration system lost power, said the News.

Tug boats pulled the 952-foot, 113,000-ton ship into the San Diego Bay today with two tug boats bringing the ship from the coast of Mexico and four additional vessels on hand to steer the ship to the dock, explained the News, citing Coast Guard Petty Officer Rachel Polish. Rigging was expected take about one hour, with another two hours needed to reach the dock said Petty Officer Polish, adding, “It has to come in at a certain angle,” she said. “You can’t just pull it in as you would at a parking spot,” quoted the News.

The ship, according to emerging reports from the LA Times, is docking now, ending a days-long ordeal.

Passengers had to cope with limited food, massively long food lines, stinky toilets, no showers, and no lights, said the News. “… Guests have been magnificent and have risen to the obvious challenges and difficult conditions onboard,” said John Heald, Carnival’s senior cruise director, also on the Splendor, quoted the News. “I don’t smell of roses at the best of times but as the laundry is not working and I only have two pairs of underpants I smell like Paris on a hot summer’s day,” said Heald in his blog, reported the News.

Electrically powered appliances and equipment have been down since Monday meaning that there was no air conditioning, no hot water, and no swimming pools and passengers and crew had to eat shelf-stable or packaged foods, waiting for hours on lines for cold foods. According to Gerry Cahill, Carnival Corp.’s Carnival Cruise Lines chief executive said that most room toilets were operational and the bar was giving out free drinks.

According to Cahill, speaking at a news conference yesterday, the crankcase on a six diesel generator “split,” which caused the fire. “We’ve never had anything like this happen before, so I really don’t think we have any risks to other ships…. This is a very unusual situation,” quoted the News.

Passenger issues went beyond the discomfort of hot, dark rooms and cold food. Some passengers complained of the stench of spoiling food, stopped up toilets, and smoke. One passenger, a diabetic, said she did not have sufficient food to take her insulin. When her husband asked a crew member for food for his wife, he was told to give her a Tic-Tac, the News reported.

The cruise ship lost power early Monday morning, after a fire broke out in the engine room. The Carnival Splendor had only left Long Beach on Sunday on a seven day Mexican cruise. The Carnival Splendor’s itinerary was to include stops in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but the remainder of the cruise has been canceled. 

The ship was 200 miles south of San Diego at the time of the engine fire. It began drifting about 55 miles off shore. Around 6:30 a.m. on Monday, passengers were directed from their cabins to the ship’s upper deck, but eventually allowed to go back to their rooms. Carnival is reporting that there were no injures.

The fire was extinguished after three hours. While engineers aboard the Carnival Splendor were able to restore enough electrical service to get the ship’s toilets and cold water working again, passengers and crew have been living without air conditioning or hot water, and because the refrigeration systems were knocked out, the ship was running low on food.

The vessel’s command is in contact with the US Coast Guard which has deployed aircraft and cutters to the cruise ship’s location, Yesterday, US Navy helicopters began ferrying 70,000 lbs of provisions from the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Instead of the gourmet fare cruise ship passengers expect, those aboard the Carnival Splendor will be given canned crab meat, croissants, Pop Tarts and Spam. The Mexican navy is also part of the relief effort.

Originally, the tugboats were to tow the Carnival Splendor to Ensenada, Mexico, and passengers were to be bused back to California. But late yesterday, Carnival announced that given the ship’s speed and current position, the Splendor would be towed back to San Diego. The ship should arrive sometime tomorrow night.

Carnival said guests on the current voyage will be receiving a full refund along with reimbursement for transportation costs. Additionally, they will receive a complimentary future cruise equal to the amount paid for this voyage.

Carnival also canceled the Splendor’s next voyage, scheduled to begin on November 14. Those guests will receive a full refund of their cruise fare and air transportation costs, along with a 25 percent discount on a future cruise, Carnival said.

Bill Reilly, the commission’s Republican co-chair, said in his opening statements yesterday that each company was “responsible for one or more egregiously bad decision,” called them “safety laggards,” and said the firms were “in need of top-to-bottom reform.” Reilly, former Environmental Protection Agency chief under during the George H.W. Bush administration, also singled out BP for having “been notoriously challenged on matters of process safety.” 

BP owned the Gulf of Mexico oil well, Halliburton performed critical cement work on the well, and Transocean was the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig.

In making his remarks, Reilly pointed to the commissions’ staff reports that cited a host of decision made by the companies. These included “failed cement tests, premature removal of muds underbalancing the well, a negative pressure test that failed but was adjudged a success, apparent inattention, distraction or misreading of a key indicator that gas was rising toward the rig,” Reilly said.

Reilly and another co-chair, former Democratic Senator Bob Graham, also commented on statements by the commission’s chief investigator that his probe did not find any evidence that the companies cut corners on safety to save money.

“The problem here is that there was a culture that did not promote safety … leaders did not take risks seriously enough, didn’t identify risks that proved to be fatal,” Graham said.

Reilly noted that the investigators “didn’t rule out cost, just said they weren’t prepared to attribute mercenary motives to men who cannot speak for themselves because they are not alive.”

The BP oil spill began with an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 men on April 20. All attempts to staunch the gusher failed, until a cap was successfully deployed over the well on July 15. By that time roughly 4.4 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico.

The BP oil spill began with an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 men on April 20. All attempts to staunch the gusher failed, until a cap was successfully deployed over the well on July 15. By that time roughly 4.4 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. It was the largest offshore oil disaster in US history. 

Hayward has been a frequent target of criticism since the spill, and his unfortunate habit of putting his foot in his mouth – “I want my life back” – angered many. In July, BP announced Hayward would be stepping down as CEO, effective October 1. He was be replaced by American Bob Dudley, who had been overseeing BP’s spill response.

In excerpts of his interview released by the BBC, Hayward expresses anger at the scorn levied against him. He tells the network he is not certain he would do anything different, and goes so far as to defend his decision to take part in a yacht race with his family at the height of the crisis.

Hayward also reveals that BP came close to financial disaster during the spill, as its credit sources evaporated. He said that before a meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House in June, “the capital markets were effectively closed to BP.”

In other news, investigators on a special presidential commission investigating the BP spill are saying that there is no evidence that BP took shortcuts aboard the rig to save money.

“To date we have not seen a single instance where a human being made a conscious decision to favor dollars over safety,” commission chief attorney Fred H. Bartlit Jr. said yesterday in a presentation before the commission.

However, according to The New York Times, Bartlit also told the commission a number of “critical questions about the accident remained in dispute, including the cause of the failure of the cement at the bottom of the well, why BP and its partners went ahead with trying to close in the well after it failed an important pressure test and why crew members failed for too long to recognize that oil and gas were gushing up the well bore.”

“The interesting question is why these experienced men out on that rig talked themselves into believing that this was a good test that indicated well integrity,” said Sean Grimsley, one of Bartlit’s deputies, according to the Times. “None of them wanted to die or jeopardize their safety. The question is why.”

Bartlit also said he could not reach any conclusions about the well’s blowout preventer because it is currently in the hands of federal agents as possible evidence in criminal and civil trials. According to the Times, the government has hired a Norwegian engineering firm to examine it and determine if and how it might have failed. Bartlit said he is awaiting the results of that study.

Finally, Bartlit said his probe had been handicapped by Congress’s refusal to grant the commission subpoena power. The commission does plan to ask Congress to reconsider granting the panel subpoena power, the Times said.

Over the summer, BP agreed to set aside at least $20 billion to pay economic loss and physical damage claims stemming from the BP oil spill. Feinberg, who had previously administered the 9/11 Victims’ Compensation Fund, was tapped to oversee the BP fund. Businesses, individuals and government entities who suffered economic losses or physical injury as a result of the BP oil spill are eligible to file two types of claims: Emergency Advance Payments and long-term final damage claims. They have until November 23, 2010 to file Emergency Advance Payment claims for up to 6 months of economic losses or physical injuries. Claims forms for final payments must be submitted by August 23, 2013. 

The $60 million is being set aside to pay Realtors’ emergency claims. Feinberg is deferring decisions on payouts to Realtor associations in the five Gulf States affected by the oil spill – Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

In other news, NPR is reporting that Feinberg’s law firm, Feinberg Rozen LLP, has been paid about $3.35 million from BP PLC to administer the BP compensation fund. The firm received $850,000 a month starting in mid-June, according to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. Those payments will continue through the end of the year, at which time, the contract with the firm will be reviewed.

For some people along the Gulf Coast, the revelation of significant fees from BP are undermining Feinberg’s claims that he is operating independently of the oil giant, NPR said.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s working for BP,” said Louisiana shrimp processor Dean Blanchard. “He can say he’s independent, but he’s working for BP and he’s low-balling all of us, the people affected the most.”

As of November 3, the claims fund had paid victims about $1.7 billion. The facility has received about 337,000 claims for compensation. About 97,000 have been paid or approved for payment. Another 97,000 claimants have filed requests for money but have provided no documentation to back up their losses, according to Feinberg. To date, about 32,000 claimants have been denied.

Once the November 23 deadline for filing emergency claims passes, claimants will only be able to submit a claim for a final settlement from BP. If they accept the final settlement offer, they must give up their right to ever sue BP.

Help filing claims and other legal assistance for the victims of the BP oil spill is available at www.bigspill.com.

Scientist aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) ship Ronald H. Brown, just returned Thursday from a three-week cruise studying coral reef in the northern Gulf of Mexico, according to Nola.com. The coral expedition was planned before the oil spill, so its purpose was not to assess the disaster's impacts, but it did give the researchers a good look at seafloor life near the spill zone.

They reported that soft coral in a 15-meter to 40-meter area was covered by what appeared to be a brown substance. Ninety percent of 40 large corals were heavily affected and showed dead and dying parts and discoloration, according to the scientists.

Another site 400 meters away had a colony of stony coral that showed the same symptoms. According to a press release issued by the team, they “observed dead and dying corals with sloughing tissue and discoloration.”

In addition to the NOAA, the cruise was co-sponsored by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. Scientists from Penn State University, Louisiana State University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Temple University, Florida State University, the U.S. Geological Survey, PAST Foundation, T.D.I Brooks International and C&C Technologies participated in the cruise.

The scientist did not reach any conclusions about what may be causing the problems with coral at the two sites where they were observed. They await tests that will tell them whethe the brown substance is oil, and whether it came from the ruptured well.

The ship stopped at several locations in a triangular area along the deep slope of the Gulf about 200 miles off the coasts of Mississippi, Alabama and westernmost Florida before returning to port in Pensacola. It should be noted, the team observed no changes at most other coral locations this year.

BP agreed over the summer to provide at least $20 billion into the BP oil spill claims fund to reimburse businesses, individuals and government entities for economic losses and physical damage sustained as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. They have until November 23, 2010 to file for an Emergency Advance Payment for up to 6 months of economic losses or physical injuries. Claims forms for final payments for long-term damages must be submitted by August 23, 2013. 

Claimants may accept an Emergency Advance Payment without waiving any of their legal rights, while accepting a final payment of long-term damages requires that claimants waive their right to sue. However, they may accept an emergency payment, and later turn down their final payment if they find it unsatisfactory.

Feinberg told the Associated Press that since October 1, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility has received thousands of new claims for emergency payments, likely due to the impending deadline. Some of the 315,000 emergency payment claims are undocumented, he said, and he speculated that many are illegitimate requests by people who “sense a gold rush.” He also said the claims facility has sent about 30 potentially fraudulent claims to the Justice Department for investigation, and hundreds more are under review.

Feinberg also denied that the claims process is in chaos.

“I disagree about disarray,” Feinberg told the Associated Press. “There are discrepancies in claims based on documentation and your ability to demonstrate a connection to the spill and your damage.”

But some Gulf Coast residents whose claims have been denied say they are mystified by their rejections. One wedding planner in Orange Beach, Alabama told The Washington Post that she requested $240,000 for lost revenue because of beach wedding cancellations and received a check for just $7,700. She was not told a reason for the denial, and expressed frustration over the apparent secrecy.

While claimants who receive smaller emergency payments than requested can apply for more money in their final payment claim, it could be months before they receive that money. Many simply do not have the luxury of time, however. The wedding planner, for instance, told the Post that her business may have to file for bankruptcy because of the way her emergency payment claim was handled.

While BP oil spill claimants can file for Emergency Advance Payments on their own, it is becoming clear that legal assistance could be helpful. Help filing claims and other legal assistance for the victims of the BP oil spill is available at www.bigspill.com.

This development is raising a lot of eyebrows, because up until now, Halliburton has been able to avoid most of the blame for the BP oil spill disaster. Halliburton previously blamed BP for failing to heed its advice on the design of the well and failing to do all the necessary tests. BP has pointed the finger at the cement mixture Halliburton used. 

According to a report on MSNBC, BP at the last-minute increased the amount of a critical ingredient in that cement mixture. While an earlier test showed the cement was stable, the company never performed a stability test on the new blend. According to Halliburton, a successful test was performed on a cement mix different than the one that was eventually used. Tests that were performed on the mixture used did not include a foam stability test, MSNBC said.

Halliburton’s admission followed the issuance of a letter to the president’s oil spill commission from its chief investigative counsel Fred H. Bartlit Jr. The letter said BP and Halliburton knew weeks before the Deepwater Horizon explosion that the cement mixture they planned to use to seal the new well was unstable but still completed the work, according to MSNBC.

The letter also placed some blame on Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig:

“The oil industry has developed tests, such as the negative pressure test and cement evaluation logs, to identify cementing failures” the letter said, but “BP and/or Transocean personnel misinterpreted or chose not to conduct such tests at the Macondo well.”

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the letter cautioned that the new findings don’t absolve BP of responsibility for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It notes that cement failures are relatively common, and points out that the well owner – BP – is responsible for testing the cement and fixing any problems.

However, BP could still benefit if investigators determine that Halliburton’s cement design was at fault, the Journal said. Such a development would make it less likely that BP would be found grossly negligent in the disaster, which would reduce its penalties under federal pollution laws.

At a news conference yesterday to mark the end of a three-month expedition by the group’s Arctic Sunrise vessel, Greenpeace microbiologist John Hocevar said that test results from a single oiled sediment sample taken in late September from 1 mile deep and about 4 1/2 miles from the spill site confirmed that the oil was from the BP spill.

The Arctic Sunrise spent three months looking for oil and marine life in trouble after it arrived in the Gulf following the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Greenpeace is working with scientists from over a dozen institutions and the Gulf Restoration Network to try and get a better understanding of the true impacts of BP’s oil spill.

Federal agencies have said that most of the oil spilled into the Gulf has evaporated, dissipated, been dispersed or been burned and skimmed. Government scientists also say they have not found any visible oil on the sea floor so far.

“One of the things that has been important about this is that it was independent scientists, so we don’t take corporate or government money. It’s independent,” said Captain Pater Willcox, who has been with Greenpeace for over 30 years, and brought the Arctic Sun to the Gulf after the BP oil spill.

At yesterday’s news conference, Hocevar said the White House should have waited before lifting the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf because so much about the spill remains unknown.

The BP oil spill began with an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 men on April 20. All attempts to staunch the gusher failed, until a cap was successfully deployed over the well on July 15. By that time roughly 4.4 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. It was the largest offshore oil disaster in US history.

Using a cell phone while driving is often a recipe for disaster. According to information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2009, 995 of 5,474 p traffic accident fatalities involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction. In fact, cell phone use played a role in 18 percent of all fatal distracted driving crashes.

According to the Pew study, some 75 percent of 12-17 year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45 percent in 2004. Fully 72 percent of all teens — or 88 percent of teen cell phone users — are text-messagers – up from the 51 percent of teens who were texters in 2006. More than half of teens (54 percent) are daily texters, the Pew study found. Among all teens, their frequency of use of texting has now overtaken the frequency of every other common form of interaction with their friends.

The study also found that teens are sending enormous quantities of text messages a day. Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than 3,000 texts a month.

Most disturbingly, 34 percent of teens aged 16-17 admitted to texting while driving. According to the Pew study, that translates into 26 percent of all American teens ages 16-17.

Other findings on cell phone use and driving included:

• Half (52 percent) of cell-owning teens ages 16-17 say they have talked on a cell phone while driving. That translates into 43 percent of all American teens ages 16-17.

• 48 percent of all teens ages 12-17 say they have been in a car when the driver was texting.

• 40 percent say they have been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger.

Boys and girls are equally likely to report texting behind the wheel as well as riding with texting drivers. As teens get older, they are more likely to report riding with drivers who text.

“Cell phones are often seen as devices that can make our lives more efficient, allowing us to multi-task in our idle moments,” said Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist and co-author of the report, “and whether you’re a teenager or an adult, it’s tempting to think you can manage several different activities at once.”

The Pew study was based on the 2009 Parent-Teen Cell Phone Survey which obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 800 teens age 12-to-17 years-old and their parents living in the continental US and on 9 focus groups conducted in 4 US cities in June and October 2009 with teens between the ages of 12 and 18.

BP released the results of its internal investigation last month. While it cited BP workers for failing to correctly evaluate negative-pressure tests the day of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, it also maintained that its well design was not to blame for the catastrophe. BP also placed much of the onus on contractors for Transocean Ltd., which owned the doomed Deepwater Horizon rig, as well as Halliburton Co., which cemented the well.

According to an ABC News report, BP’s design for its well included a number of cheaper options, including the use of a single tube from the surface to the reservoir, rather than two overlapping tubes.

“Shell clearly would have drilled this well in a different way and would have had more options to prevent the accident,” Voser said while speaking at the Oil and Money conference in London. Shell generally includes more barriers to hydrocarbon leaks in its well designs, ABC News noted.

Voser also said that BP’s investigation should have looked more closely at the design chosen for the blown well.

However, Voser also acknowledged that the entire oil industry has failed to prepare properly for a major accident, and added that he expects more regulation as a result of the BP disaster. Finally, he said Shell would be more selective about who it would partner with on projects in the Gulf of Mexico, in order to make sure contractors have the necessary technical skills and the financial ability to handle their part when accidents do occur.

The BP oil spill began with an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 men on April 20. All attempts to staunch the gusher failed, until a cap was successfully deployed over the well on July 15. By that time roughly 4.4 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. It was the largest offshore oil disaster in US history.

The BP oil spill began with an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 men on April 20. All attempts to staunch the gusher failed, until a cap was successfully deployed over the well on July 15. By that time roughly 4.4 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico. It was the largest offshore oil disaster in US history.

The end of the moratorium was hinted at this morning by White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs. That was followed by an email to reporters from the Interior Department announcing a 1:00 p.m. conference call to discuss the end of the deepwater drilling ban.

“I have decided that it is now appropriate to lift the suspension on deepwater drilling for those operators that are able to clear the higher bar that we have set,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said during today’s media conference call.

According to The New York Times, the Obama administration is lifting the moratorium following the imposition of new rules governing areas like well casing and cementing, blowout preventers, safety certification, emergency response and worker training. Michael Bromwich, head of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said yesterday that have lessened the risks associated with drilling.

“We think things have advanced and we’ve raised the bar substantially and that drilling can now proceed more safely than it has in the past,” he said.

Despite the economic and environmental devastation the BP oil spill brought to the Gulf Coast, the moratorium angered many who complained that it cost jobs and hurt the economy further. Senator Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, for example, has said she will block Senate action on the President’s nominee to lead the White House budget office until the moratorium is lifted.

Though the moratorium is now officially history, drilling is unlikely to resume quickly because of the need for more inspections and compliance with new regulations, the Interior Department said.

According to a report on Bloomberg News, the hydrogen sulfide leak began on October 4. Exxon Mobile Corp. is cutting its production rates at Chalmette Refining while it works to stop the leak.

The death occurred sometime Wednesday night. The deceased worker was Gregory Starkey, 33, of Roseland. He worked for Team Industrial Services of Harahan. The St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s office said last night that it was unclear whether the cause of death was exposure or a pre-existing medical problem. Some answers from the St. Bernard Parish coroner are expected today.

The Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group, is reporting on its site that Starkey’s respirator was cracked, exposing him to toxins.

Rodney Mallett, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Quality, told Nola.com that the hydrogen sulfide gas leak happened at the site of a previous leak that had been covered by a metal clamp. Sampling has shown no readings of hydrogen sulfide outside of the Chalmette Refining property, he said.

The public was not made aware of the hydrogen sulfide leak until Thursday, when news of Starkey’s death was released. While relevant state and local agencies were notified, Mallet said that because hydrogen sulfide was not detected at the refinery’s fences line, warning the public was “not warranted.”

Anne Rolfes, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, told WDSU that the refinery has averaged 83 accidents per year from 2005 to 2009.

“This refinery is laying off workers just when it needs to be hiring more to maintain this facility,” Rolfes said. “This is a notorious refinery, one of the worst in the state.”

One of those accidents, last month’s catalyst powder release, blanketed parts of Chalmette, Arabi and New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward in a fine white powder. Refinery officials, as well as health officials in Louisiana, said repeatedly that the substance was spent catalyst powder, a byproduct of the refining process. But now we know, thanks to a report Chalmette Refining submitted to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the incident also released 2,000 pounds of the sulfur dioxide, 1,000 pounds of nitrogen oxide and an unspecified amount of hydrogen sulfide into the air. That information has been confirmed by the DEQ, but the agency maintains that the amounts released fell below levels of concern specified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to those documents, unnamed officials told the commission that in late April or early May, the White House budget office denied a request from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to release the worst-case models. According to a report in the Associated Press, BP estimated the worse scenario to be a leak of 2.5 million gallons per day, but at the time, the administration told the public it amounted to 210,000 gallons per day. It wasn’t until August that the government’s estimates came close to the worst-case models.

In response to the commission’s allegations, Kenneth Baer, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, said the budget office had concerns about the reliability of the NOAA estimates.

“The issue was the modeling, the science and the assumptions they were using to come up with their analysis. Not public relations or presentation,” he told the Associated Press. “We offered NOAA suggestions of ways to improve their analysis, and they happily accepted it.”

According to the Associated Press, the report also faults the director of the White
House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy, Carol Browner, for claiming during various TV appearances in August that as much as 75 percent of the oil released from the spill was gone. According to the report, the analysis cited by Browner never actually said that. Instead, it said the oil had dispersed, dissolved or evaporated — meaning it could still be there.

“By initially underestimating the amount of oil flow and then, at the end of the summer, appearing to underestimate the amount of oil remaining in the Gulf, the federal government created the impression that it was either not fully competent to handle the spill or not fully candid with the American people about the scope of the problem,” investigators for the commission wrote in their report.

Failing to get flow estimate right early on in the disaster also appears to have slowed the federal response to the spill, the commission said. The investigators write that “for the first ten days of the spill, it appears that a sense of over optimism affected responders.” The commission staff said it is “possible that inaccurate flow-rate figures may have hindered the sub-sea efforts to stop and to contain the flow of oil at the wellhead.”

The BP oil spill began with an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 men on April 20. All attempts to staunch the gusher failed, until a cap was successfully deployed over the well on July 15. By that time roughly 4.4 million barrels of oil had leaked into the Gulf of Mexico.

Transocean was the owner of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which it leased to BP. The rig exploded on April 20, killing 11 men and spawning the worst oil spill in US history.

The joint investigative panel is holding its fifth week of hearings into the disaster. During a hearing in Metairie, Louisiana yesterday, U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Hung Nguyen complained that he had been trying to get copies of the safety audits for two months. Transocean refused both an August 4 request and a September 2 request.

“Transocean has not been responsive to the requests of this joint board,” Nguyen said. “I have significant concerns with the safety-culture aspect” related to the disaster.

Nguyen said the panel also has been unable to get a specific Transocean manager to come in and testify about safety. Another panel member, Captain Mark Higgins, also complained that Transocean had “thwarted” access to some witnesses.

In an emailed statement to Bloomberg News, Transocean disputed those charges. “Transocean has produced more witnesses than any other party involved in this investigation and significant volumes of documentary evidence, including audit records of the Deepwater Horizon,” the statement said. “Any assertion to the contrary is simply not correct.”

During yesterday’s hearing, Transocean’s attorney said the company has acted in good faith and produced everything it believes it should, adding that the panel could go to court to enforce the subpoenas it issued for the documents.

As to witnesses testifying, the attorney said their availability was not in Transocean’s control.

BP agreed over the summer to fund the $20 billion compensation account. In addition to submitting claims for emergency payments for six month of losses, people and businesses impacted economically by the spill can also apply for final payment of long term damages. While claimants don’t have to surrender their right to sue BP and other responsible parties if they accept emergency payments, they will have to give up that right to collect final damages.

Ken Feinberg, the Washington D.C. lawyer tapped by the White House to administer the fund, took charge of the claims process in August. At the time, he promised the claims process would be faster than it had been when BP was handling claims.

So far, Feinberg has had problems keeping that promise. While it’s still taking longer to resolve claims than Feinberg had hoped, some who have received emergency payments have complained that they are far lower than what was requested. According to the Associated Press, the fund has so far paid out nearly $1 billion to about 50,000 claimants. However, claims officials would not provide a total amount actually requested by those claimants.

While Feinberg said he had heard complaints about low payouts and was planning to address the problem, he also told the Associated Press that claimants share some of the blame given the volume of claims filed with no proof of losses, inflated requests and fraudulent ones. Of the nearly 98,000 claims filed as of Oct. 2, about 35,000 require additional documentation and remain on hold, the Associated Press said.

In an interview with the Associated Press last week, Feinberg promised that problems would be fixed and more generous payments would come. The fund is also re-evaluating some previously paid claims and contacting claimants who believe they were short changed. In addition, Feinberg has decided that proximity to affected areas will no longer play a role in compensation approval, something that resulted in denied claims.

Some progress has been reported, according the Associated Press. In the past week, denied claims dropped from 528 to 116, as claims were paid to people and businesses initially told they would get no help.

The April 20 explosion aboard The Deepwater Horizon oil rig spawned what now ranks as the worst oil spill in US history. In addition to killing 11 men aboard the rig, the explosion caused more than 4 million barrels of oil to spew into the Gulf of Mexico until the well was finally contained on July 15.

BP had already announced the departure of CEO Tony Hayward in July, effective October 1. He will be replaced by American Bob Dudley, who has been overseeing BP’s spill response. In announcing the restructuring, BP said it was designed to improve safety and rebuild confidence in the company after the disaster.

“These are the first and most urgent steps in a program I am putting in place to rebuild trust in BP,” Dudley said in a statement. “That trust is vital to the restoration of shareholder value which has been so adversely affected by recent events.”

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, a BP spokesperson said the restructuring will give Dudley a more direct and detailed view of safety and operations in the company’s upstream division than his predecessors had. The Exploration and Production division, formerly headed by Inglis, will be split into three divisions – Exploration, Development, and Production. The three executives running those divisions will report directly to Dudley, the Journal said.

The restructuring will create a new Safety and Operational Risk division, with staff assigned to every business unit who will have the power to intervene if safety standards are breached, the company said in a statement. The staff assigned to monitor safety will report through their own shorter chain of command, rather than through existing business lines where other operational concerns in addition to safety are a factor, the spokesperson said. No word yet, though, on the number of safety staff nor where they will be assigned, the Journal said.

BP will also conduct two reviews into some of the fundamental ways it does business that have been linked to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The company will examine how it manages relationships with third-party contractors, and it will review how its business incentives affect safety and risk management, the Journal said.

This is not the first time a disaster has caused a major restructuring at BP. It did so after a fatal 2005 accident at its Texas City refinery. And in 2007, then-incoming CEO Hayward promised to focus “like a laser” on safety.

To measure the flow, two scientists from Columbia University used high-resolution video from underwater cameras to track the motion of turbulent billows and flows in the water. The images were then broken down into pixels. According to a USA Today report, the scientists’ calculations are based on just a few short clips of high-resolution video because that is all BP has released so far. The true figures could still be higher.

“This is not the last word. It is the first peer-reviewed word. But we think it’s a really good ballpark,” one of the researchers told USA Today.

Though higher, the new number isn’t that far off from government estimates of 172 million gallons. But many people were suspicious of that figure, mainly because prior estimates were revised so many times. Federal officials first used BP’s estimate that 42,000 gallons a day were leaking, and then upped it to 210,000 gallons a day. In mid-June, they said the well could be leaking as much as 2.4 million gallons a day.

The BP oils spill began with an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 men on April 20. All attempts to staunch the gusher failed, until a cap was successfully deployed over the well on July 15. The well wasn’t declared officially dead until this past Sunday.

The BP oil spill now ranks as the worst oil disaster in US history.

Researchers hope to enroll 27,000 people who participated in oil spill cleanup. Recruitment of volunteers will begin next month. The expert committee formed by the Institute of Medicine met in Tampa, Florida yesterday to discuss how to conduct the study.

Crude oil contains components, such as benzene, napthalene and toluene, which are toxic to humans. Benzene is known to cause leukemia, while napthalene is a suspected human carcinogen. Benzene and toluene, along with xylene, another component of oil, can also cause respiratory irritation and affect the central nervous system.

Oil also releases hydrogen sulfide gas, which can damage the brain and central nervous system as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are considered likely carcinogens.

In the early months of the spill, more than 300 individuals, three-fourths of whom were cleanup workers, sought medical care for constitutional symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, cough, respiratory distress, and chest pain in Louisiana alone. These symptoms are typical of acute exposure to hydrocarbons or hydrogen sulfide.

Despite these hazards, little research has been done on the health consequences of oil spills. According to the Associated Press, of the 38 large oil tanker spills in past 50 years, only 8 were studied for human health effects.

Following the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 men and set off the worst oil spill in US history, about 2,000 commercial fishing vessels and charter boats participated in spill cleanup via BP’s “Vessels of Opportunity” program. The program provided some commercial fisherman whose businesses were shut down by the spill with a chance to earn income.

Reportedly, BP claims representatives had told participating fishermen that the income earned from the program would not be deducted from their loss of income claims, but when Feinberg took over the process in August, he made the opposite ruling. Fishermen in the region complained that they felt misled, and U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La, wrote Feinberg last week urging him to reverse course.

While Feinberg’s reversal will make thousands of commercial fishermen happy, it seems the BP oil spill claims process is still beset with problems. According to a report in the Press-Register, several business owners in Alabama are complaining that emergency payments issued by Feinberg are only a fraction of the amount requested. One wedding planner who specializes in beach weddings – a business that pretty much shut down this summer because of the spill – told the Press-Register that she requested $240,000 to cover six months’ worth of lost business, but received just $7,700. The decision on the emergency claim, which can’t be appealed, has left the business with no choice but to file for bankruptcy.

There are similar cases, according to the Press-Register. In one instance, the operator of a seafood restaurant received a check for $16,000 on a claim of $159,000. One accountant in Gulf Shores who has assisted hundreds of people with claims said not a single client has received their full request. None of those interviewed by the Press-Register were given any information about why the checks differed so substantially from their submitted claims.

As we’ve reported previously, the Gulf Coast Claims Center has also been criticized for taking too long to resolve emergency claims. When Feinberg took over in August, he promised the claims process would be faster than it had been when BP was handling claims. But earlier this month, he backed away from that promise, telling ProPublica that the lengthy and complex supporting documentation claimants are required to submit “requires careful scrutiny and attention to assure that each claimant will be afforded the benefit of the most generous payment.” Feinberg also told the New Orleans Time-Picayune that his staff was having trouble keeping up with fully documented claims. He said that he has 25 people working in shifts around the clock to review the claims, and they are able to get through an average of about 1,000 a day.

The Gulf Coast Claims Facility allows businesses and individuals to submit emergency claims for six months worth of losses. In addition, claimants can also apply for final payment of long term damages. While claimants don’t have to surrender their right to sue BP and other responsible parties if they accept emergency payments, they will have to give up that right to collect final damages. Decisions on emergency claims can’t be appealed.

According to information released by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, it has so far approved 13,462 claims and denied one. It has sent 3,420 back to the claimants with a request for more paperwork. The remaining 38,481 are waiting to be reviewed.

The Chalmette Refining release blanketed parts of Chalmette, Arabi and New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, including cars and homes, in a fine white powder. Refinery officials, as well as health officials in Louisiana, said repeatedly that the substance was spent catalyst powder, a byproduct of the refining process.

But now we know, thanks to a report Chalmette Refining submitted to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the incident also released 2,000 pounds of the sulfur dioxide, 1,000 pounds of nitrogen oxide and an unspecified amount of hydrogen sulfide into the air. That information has been confirmed by the DEQ, but the agency maintains that the amounts released fell below levels of concern specified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The days following the release, officials also issued reassurances that the powder was not toxic and could be safely washed from surfaces. This in spite of the fact that the Material Safety Data Sheet for the catalyst powder says it can be an irritant to the eyes and skin if inhaled or ingested. The data sheet cautions people to wear rubber gloves when handling the powder, and to decontaminate clothes and shoes, or even dispose of them all together.

Dr. Diaz told WWLTV that in addition to chemicals found in Chinese drywall, the Chalmette Refining accident also released chemicals found in car exhaust and volcanic ash. He recommended that people with certain pre-existing conditions should see a doctor if they are still having symptoms from the day of the chemical leak.

“I certainly think that if anyone has a pre-existing cardiopulmonary problem, and I’m talking about asthma, COPD or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or even a cardiac condition such as congestive heart failure, that can result in a pulmonary condition called pulmonary edema, these individuals should not be part of the clean up,” Dr. Diaz said.

The BP oil spill began on April 20, when a massive explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 men. More than 4 million barrels of oil gushed into the ocean before BP was able to cap the well from above on July 15. Hundreds of miles of US coastline were fouled by oil, and the Gulf Coast’s vital seafood and tourism industries were devastated in the aftermath.

In a statement released over the weekend, Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen declared BP’s well was “effectively dead” and said tests verified the strength of a cement plug placed at its bottom. “Additional regulatory steps will be undertaken, but we can now state, definitively, that the Macondo well poses no continuing threat to the Gulf of Mexico,” he said.

A relief well that BP had been drilling since May finally intersected the ruptured well on Thursday. Over the weekend, the well was killed by pumping mud up through its bottom, and then it was sealed with the cement plug.

There’s still no consensus on how much damage the BP oil spill actually caused, as the cleanup is still ongoing. As we’ve reportedly previously, a government report released in August maintained that 3/4 of the oil was already gone, or was being broken down by bacteria. However, other scientists disagree. Last month, for example, we reported that scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution had discovered an underwater plume of hydrocarbons 22 miles long deep beneath the surface of the ocean, casting doubts on the government’s optimistic claims.

Thousands of people and businesses along the Gulf Coast are still waiting for their compensation claims to be paid, and lawsuits stemming from the disaster will take years to resolve. BP and its partners on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig face numerous investigations, some of them criminal. Finally, the oil industry as a whole is facing greater scrutiny, and the specter of more government oversight and regulation.

The BP oil spill began on April 20, when a massive explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 men. More than 4 million barrels of oil gushed into the ocean before BP was able to cap the well from above on July 15. Hundreds of miles of US coastline were fouled by oil, and the Gulf Coast’s vital seafood and tourism industries were devastated in the aftermath. BP has already spent more than $8 billion responding to the spill.

A statement from BP did not say when the final operation will begin. However, the oil company said it should be completed sometime Saturday.

According to BP’s statement, tests showed there was no cement or oil and gas in the annulus -the space between the well’s metal casing and the surrounding rock – at the point where it was intercepted by the relief well. As a result, BP said there is no need to perform a “bottom kill”, a procedure where heavy drilling mud would be pumped into the annulus through the relief well. Instead, crews will pump only cement into the annulus for the final seal.

Of course, the disaster is far from over. The environmental cleanup could take years, and no one knows how long it will take the delicate Gulf Coast ecosystem to recover. And of course, there are still thousand of people whose incomes were destroyed by the spill waiting for their compensation claims to be paid.

Finally, BP and its partners on the Deepwater Horizon rig face a number of civil and criminal investigations, and the litigation surrounding the oil spill is likely to continue for years.

The Chalmette Refining release blanketed parts of Chalmette, Arabi and New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, including cars and homes, in a fine white powder. Refinery officials, as well as health officials in Louisiana, said repeatedly that the substance was spent catalyst powder, a byproduct of the refining process.

They also issued reassurances that the powder was not toxic and could be safely washed from surfaces. This in spite of the fact that the Material Safety Data Sheet for the catalyst powder says it can be an irritant to the eyes and skin if inhaled or ingested. The data sheet cautions people to wear rubber gloves when handling the powder, and to decontaminate clothes and shoes, or even dispose of them all together.

But now we know, thanks to a report Chalmette Refining submitted to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the incident also released 2,000 pounds of the sulfur dioxide, 1,000 pounds of nitrogen oxide and an unspecified amount of hydrogen sulfide into the air.

That information has been confirmed by the DEQ, but the agency maintains that the amounts released fell below levels of concern specified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says sulfur dioxide may cause breathing difficulty and a burning of the nose and throat in children as well as adults. Specifically for children, the ATSDR says, “Long-term studies surveying large numbers of children indicate that children who have breathed sulfur dioxide pollution may develop more breathing problems as they get older, may make more emergency room visits for treatment of wheezing fits, and may get more respiratory illnesses than other children.”

For hydrogen sulfide, the ATSDR says: “Exposure to low concentrations of hydrogen sulfide may cause irritation to the eyes, nose or throat. It may also cause difficulty in breathing for some asthmatics.” Finally, the same agency says: “Low levels of nitrogen oxides in the air can irritate your eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, possibly causing you to cough and experience shortness of breath, tiredness, and nausea. Exposure to low levels can also result in fluid build-up in the lungs 1 or 2 days after exposure.”

The Louisiana Bucket Brigade is again accusing officials from Chalmette Refining, as well as the state and parish, of downplaying the Labor Day release.

“The only substance people were told about is what was raining down on their property – the catalyst the refinery couldn’t hide,” said Anne Rolfes, founding director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade. “Chalmette Refining failed to be open and honest with its neighbors about a host of other chemicals that were released.”

“People in St. Bernard have repeated chemical exposure and the parish and the refinery routinely overlook this fact in their emergency response,” Rolfes continued.

In a statement, the group also alleged that residents in neighborhoods impacted by the Chalmette Refining release were being coerced into accepting small initial compensation to prevent eventual lawsuits. Additionally, some residents of the Lower 9th who called the Chalmette Refining claims hotline were told they lived too far from the incident, even though officials previously confirmed the powdery pollution reached that far.

Existing regulations already require wells to be plugged and platforms to be dismantled within one year after a lease is terminated. But under the new rules, companies must decommission unused equipment even if the leases are still active.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, there are 3,500 non-producing wells in the Gulf of Mexico, and 650 oil and gas platforms that are no longer in use. When they are finished with a well, gas and oil producers often seal them temporarily, in case they want to reopen it a later time. Permanently sealing a well, as the government is demanding, makes it nearly impossible to reopen it.

But the Interior Department and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement say plugging the idle wells is necessary.

“As infrastructure continues to age, the risk of damage increases. That risk increases substantially during storm season,” Michael R. Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said in a statement. “This initiative is the product of careful thought and analysis and requires that these wells, platforms and pipelines are plugged and dismantled correctly and in a timely manner to substantially reduce such hazards.”

According to the statement, oil and gas firms will have 120 days to submit a company-wide plan for decommissioning affected facilities and wells. The plans must contain details for each individual well and facility, including specific dates for the submission of related permits and for commencing and completing decommissioning work. After the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement has approved a company’s decommissioning plan, bureau officials will track the progress of each company and of the industry as a whole.

Producers, of course, are crying foul over this new initiative. One expert told The Wall Street Journal that the cost to plug idle wells and remove unused structures could total $1.4 billion to $3.5 billion. Producers also could potentially give up as much as $18 billion in revenue from future production.

But, the same Journal article also points out that the initiative is likely to increase employment in the area. Yesterday’s announcement boosted the stock prices of some oil-field service and offshore drilling companies, as investors bet the companies could profit from new government-mandated work, the Journal said.

BP agreed over the summer to fund the $20 billion compensation account. In addition to submitting claims for emergency payments for six month of losses, people and businesses impacted economically by the spill can also apply for final payment of long term damages. While claimants don’t have to surrender their right to sue BP and other responsible parties if they accept emergency payments, they will have to give up that right to collect final damages.

Ken Feinberg, the Washington D.C. lawyer tapped by the White House to administer the fund, took charge of the claims process last month. At the time, he promised the claims process would be faster than it had been when BP was handling claims.

According to the Miami-Herald, the vast majority of Florida claims remain unresolved. Of the 17,105 emergency claims submitted by the state’s residents and businesses so far, 5,134 have been settled by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. None of the state’s 1,360 “final” claims have been resolved. Floridians have so far received less than $40 million.

Yesterday, Gov. Charlie Crist criticized the claims process.

“I think it would be more than appropriate for us (the governor and Cabinet) to co-sign a letter encouraging increased urgency,” Crist said. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult for (some businesses) to be able to hang on. Twenty billion is no small sum of change, but it’s no good unless it’s utilized.”

Feinberg had said previously that claims from business not in the immediate proximity and without clear documentation that they lost money will not be paid. That’s been difficult for many Florida businesses, because the entire tourism industry in the state took a huge hit this summer because of perceptions about the spill, even though many of the state’s beaches remained oil free.

Yesterday, speaking before the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Feinberg did indicate he might be willing to be a little more flexible.

“I was skeptical of the eligibility of lodging and restaurants far from the spill. I still am skeptical,” Feinberg said. “But I must say, that having spent a good deal of time chatting … I’m trying to help. I’m walking a tight rope.”

But he also cautioned he was making “no promises” and pointed out that if proximity to the spill was not given relevance, the claims center would “be inundated with claims from 50 states.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, PG&E says the relief fund will be used to cover any expenses not covered by insurance of residents of the San Francisco suburb whose property was damaged by the fires. The funds will also pay for rebuilding or replacing public property damaged or destroyed in the accident, and for certain costs incurred by emergency responders and government services who responded to the fire.

The relief fund, however, is not intended to pay for personal injury or wrongful death claims. According to the Journal, those will be dealt with separately.

The company said it will provide payments of $15,000, $25,000, or $50,000 per household depending on the extent of damage incurred, and that residents that accept such payments won’t be asked to waive any potential claims against the company.

“We know that no amount of money can ever make up for what’s been lost,” PG&E Chief Executive Officer Peter Darbee said in a statement. “This program is just one piece of our promise that PG&E will live up to its commitment to help rebuild this community and help the people of San Bruno rebuild their lives.”

In the future, however, PG&E wants to look to its customers to foot the bill for any similar disasters. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, California regulators will soon consider a proposal backed by the utility that would require customers to pay all costs of future catastrophic fires which exceed a utility company’s insurance policy. PG&E said it expects to have ‘most of the costs’ related to the recent explosion in San Bruno covered but if the new proposal is passed, customer are likely to see a hike in rates further down the line, the Chronicle said.

Under current rules, utilities in California can seek a rate increase if the costs of a disaster exceed their insurance coverage. But the Public Utility Commission can veto the request and force utility shareholders to pay the bill.

The explosion, which occurred last Thursday around 6:00 p.m. local time, shot a fireball more than 1,000 feet in the air, and sent fire tearing across several blocks. According to a CNN report, the blast sent concrete flying, and the heat from the flames melted tail lights on cars blocks away from the blaze. The blast killed at least four people, and four others are missing. About 60 people were injured, and 37 homes were destroyed.

PG&E said last Friday that the company’s gas transmission line ruptured, leading to the blaze. It is not known what caused the rupture. According to a CNN report, the ruptured line was installed in 1948, and had a “relatively high risk and likelihood of failure,” according to a PG&E document obtained by the network. The document recommended the line be replaced because of its proximity to a populated area. The Wall Street Journal reported that the gas line had an unusual construction, in that it contained a longitudinal seam and numerous welds indicating it had been made from many small segments of steel pipe.

In court papers, BP and its partners in the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, including Transocean Ltd and Halliburton Co, argued that any lawsuits should be delayed until the “bedrock issue of whether a large number of the plaintiffs should even be before the court’’ is resolved.

The $20 bilion BP-funded Gulf Coast Claims Facility is being administered by Kenneth Feinberg. It has so far approved 13,462 claims and denied one.

More than 300 oil spill damage lawsuits have been consolidated before Judge Carl Barbier in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana. If the judge goes along with BP's wishes, the litigtion will be delayed by months.

Understandably, plaintiffs oppose the move, and urged the court to begin expanded discovery next month. The plaintiffs want test trials to start in March.

The Claims Facility was set up to expedite payments to oil spill victims, but many complain that is not happening.  In fact, many claims seem to be in limbo. According to the Claims Facility's own numbers, 3,420 clims have been retuned  to the claimants with a request for more paperwork. The remaining 38,481 are waiting to be reviewed.

Feinberg has acknowledge that his staff is overwhelmed.  He said that he has 25 people working in shifts around the clock to review the claims, and they are able to get through an average of about 1,000 a day.

The explosion, which occurred last Thursday around 6:00 p.m. local time, shot a fireball more than 1,000 feet in the air, and sent fire tearing across several blocks. According to a CNN report, the blast sent concrete flying, and the heat from the flames melted tail lights on cars blocks away from the blaze.

A Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) spokesman said last Friday that the company’s gas transmission line ruptured, leading to the blaze. It is not known what caused the rupture. According to a CNN report, the ruptured line was installed in 1948, and had a “relatively high risk and likelihood of failure,” according to a PG&E document obtained by the network. The document recommended the line be replaced because of its proximity to a populated area.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the gas line had an unusual construction, in that it contained a longitudinal seam and numerous welds indicating it had been made from many small segments of steel pipe. It’s not known yet if the numerous welds could have weakened the pipe. A 28-foot section of the pipe has been excavated and will be sent to the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) metallurgy labs in Washington for study.

According to Bloomberg News, a PG&E spokesman said the company inspected the pipeline in November and performed an annual gas-leak assessment in March. However, the official would not discuss the results of the inspections.

The blast and resulting inferno injured 52 people and destroyed 37 homes. Another four people remained unaccounted for Sunday. Additional remains have been discovered, and are being tested to determine their origin and identity.

Residents returned to 293 of the 377 homes in the neighborhood over a three-and-a-half-hour period Sunday afternoon. The 84 homes still off limits were either destroyed, have extensive damage or are on a police perimeter that encompasses the zone closest to the blast site.

Meanwhile, the California Public Utilities Commission has ordered PG&E to inspect all of its natural gas pipelines in the state, and to focus on high-pressure pipelines in heavily populated areas. The Commission also wants PG&E to detail how much it has spent to replace pipelines and ensure their safety since 2005.

Investigators are also looking into reports that residents in the area had made complaints to PG&E in the weeks prior to the blast about gas leaks in the neighborhood. PG&E has not been able to confirm those reports., and says it has searched about two thirds of its phone records from the neighborhood from Sept. 1 through Sept. 9.

Feinberg made those promises last month, when he took over the claims process from BP. But a spokesperson for Feinberg told ProPublica last week that, among other things, the lengthy and complex supporting documentation claimants are required to submit “requires careful scrutiny and attention to assure that each claimant will be afforded the benefit of the most generous payment.”

“The announced 48-hour claim determination rule for individual claims, and the 7-day claim determination rule for business claims will be extended as necessary and appropriate,” Feinberg’s spokeswoman Amy Weiss said. “The policy remains to review all individual and business claims as quickly as possible.”

Last week, Feinberg apologized to those affected by the delays. He told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that many claims could not be processed because people hadn’t submitted required documentation, but acknowledged that his staff was having trouble keeping up with fully documented claims. He said that he has 25 people working in shifts around the clock to review the claims, and they are able to get through an average of about 1,000 a day

So far, more than 55,000 compensation claims have been filed. As of September 8, Feinberg’s staff had paid 10,252 claims for nearly $80 million. Most claims paid are small, with payouts of $5,000 or less.

According to information released by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, Florida claimants have received the most payments: 4,323 for $25.8 million. Louisiana claimants got the most money: $43.8 million from 3,580 claims. Alabama is third in both regards, with 3,279 claims paid worth $19.6 million. Mississippi is fourth, with 1,154 claims paid worth $10.3 million.

The claims facility has approved 13,462 claims and denied one. It has sent 3,420 back to the claimants with a request for more paperwork. The remaining 38,481 are waiting to be reviewed.

The explosion, which occurred around 6:00 p.m. local time, shot a fireball more than 1,000 feet in the air, and sent fire tearing across several blocks. Residents of the affected neighborhoods have told various media outlets that they first thought the loud boom they heard was the result of an earthquake or an airplane crash.

According to a CNN report, the blast sent concrete flying, and the heat from the flames melted tail lights on cars blocks away from the blaze. According to the Associated Press, the fire had spread to 10 acres and was 50 percent contained late Thursday. Between 150 and 200 firefighters remained at the scene through the night.

In addition to homes, the fire destroyed the grid of water mains that supplied the local fire hydrants, leaving firefighters without water to fight the blaze. They were forced to pump water from more than two miles away.

Local hospitals reported Thursday night that at least 28 people were being treated for injuries from the fire, some with critical burn injuries.

Not all residents in the blast area have been accounted for, though it is known that about 100 had evacuated to shelters. The persistent flames have kept crews from searching the area for additional victims. No estimate of the number of residents missing is currently available.

According to a report on CNN, a Pacific Gas and Electric spokesman said Friday that the company’s gas transmission line ruptured, leading to the blaze. It is not known what caused the rupture.

One person living near the blast site told KRON that people living in the area have smelled natural gas for the past three weeks.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it has started an investigation into yesterday’s explosion and fire. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the California Public Utilities Commission also is probing the cause and is at the scene gathering evidence.

At least 2,000 lbs of the powder, a byproduct of refining operations, was released on Monday as a result of a power outage that occurred around 2:00 a.m. local time. The powder release blanketed parts of Chalmette, Arabi and New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward.

Officials from both the refinery and St. Bernard’s Parish maintained that the powder was not hazardous, and said it was safe for residents to wash it off cars and buildings. However, one local TV station reported that the Material Safety Data Sheet for the catalyst powder says it can be an irritant to the eyes and skin if inhaled or ingested. The data sheet cautions people to wear rubber gloves when handling the powder, and to decontaminate clothes and shoes, or even dispose of them all together.

The lead plaintiff in the Chalmette Refining powder release lawsuit is Lauren Stone, a St. Bernard Parish resident. She alleges that the substance released on Labor Day was harmful and hazardous, and that Chalmette Refining failed to warn people to stay away from the powder. The lawsuit further alleges that, among other things, Stone and others similarly affected suffered injuries, symptoms and damages resulting from the catalyst powder release, and have incurred, or may incur, medical expenses, lost wages or loss of earning capacity.

This is not the first time Chalmette Refining has been named in such a class action lawsuit. A similar complaint was filed in 2007, following a release of coke dust from the facility. Hundreds of fourth- and fifth-graders were exposed to the coke dust while on a field trip to the Chalmette Battlefield. Two children were hospitalized during that incident. That lawsuit was granted class action certification in June.

BP agreed over the summer to fund the $20 billion compensation account. In addition to submitting claims for emergency payments for six month of losses, people and businesses impacted economically by the spill can also apply for payment of long term damages. While claimants don’t have to surrender their right to sue BP and other responsible parties if they accept emergency payments, they will have to give up that right to collect for long term damages.

Ken Feinberg, the Washington D.C. lawyer tapped by the White House, took over the administration of the $20 billion BP oil spill compensation fund last month. At the time, he promised the claims process would be faster than it had been when BP was handling claims.

But it appears reality is falling short of that promise. One restaurant owner whose business lost $45,000 this summer, and only got $15,000 when BP was taking care of claims, told NPR that the process is still bogged down. The diner filed for $120,000 to stay afloat through January, but has only received $4,500 since the August takeover.

The new claims process does not allow appeals for the emergency payment, so the diner’s options are limited.

“We can file the final claim, give up all right to sue,” the business owner said. “Or we can retain an attorney. Or we can file bankruptcy and walk away from it all.”

Feinberg told NPR that he realizes now that he promised more than he has been able to deliver given the complexity and sheer volume of claims. The process, he said, has been made difficult by problems that include duplicate claims, or no proof of lost income.

“It’s taken longer than I thought,” Feinberg says. “And that criticism, the false expectations that have been raised, I think are justifiable.”

In an interview with USA Today, Feinberg promised a better response times as his staff weeds through old claims. “I’ve inherited a huge number of claims that have never been processed that need to be processed, especially business claims,” he said. Such claims, he said, were placed on a “side track” by BP when it was handling the process.

According to USA Today, more than 46,000 people have filed claims since Feinberg took charge. By September 8, his staff had paid 10,252 claims for nearly $80 million. Most claims paid are small, with payouts of $5,000 or less, USA Today said.

Transocean is the owner of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which exploded on April 20 and spawned the massive BP oil spill. Halliburton cemented the undersea well.

BP’s report cited its own workers for failing to correctly evaluate negative-pressure tests the day of the blast, but the investigation also found that the oil company’s well design was not to blame for the catastrophe.

The study listed eight failures BP said caused the disaster. These included “weaknesses in cement design and testing, quality assurance and risk assessment” conducted by Halliburton. Transocean’s rig crew and BP well site leaders were cited for having “reached the incorrect view that the test [of cementing the well to close it] was successful and that well integrity had been established.” The report also said the Transocean crew “did not recognize the influx (of hydrocarbons) and did not act to control the well until hydrocarbons had passed” through the blowout preventer on the sea floor and into the riser pipe that went to the rig.

Both Transocean and Halliburton are taking exception to BP’s findings. Transocean, in particular, disputed BP’s contention that its well design did not play a role in the blowout.

“This is a self-serving report that attempts to conceal the critical factor that set the stage for the Macondo incident: BP’s fatally flawed well design. In both its design and construction, BP made a series of cost-saving decisions that risk – in some cases, severely,” Transocean said in a statement.

Halliburton maintained that BP, as the owner of the well, signed off on every step of its work.

“Deepwater operations are inherently complex and a number of contractors are involved which routinely make recommendations to a single point of contact, the well owner,” Halliburton said in a statement. “The well owner is responsible for designing the well program and any testing related to the well. Contractors do not specify well design or make decisions regarding testing procedures as that responsibility lies with the well owner.”

The BP report was criticized by others as well. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, dismissed the report, and said he was waiting for the “real story.”

“Just as the environmental damage did not end with the capping of BP’s well, this company-run investigation is not the end of the inquiries into the BP oil spill,” Markey said in a statement. “This report is not BP’s mea culpa. Of their own eight key findings, they only explicitly take responsibility for half of one.”

Some environmental groups were also less than impressed.

“This report is more concerned with calming BP’s shareholders than taking responsibility for its actions,” Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, told the Houston Chronicle.

The report is based on a four-month investigation led by Mark Bly, BP’s Head of Safety and Operations. Its key findings include:

• The cement and shoe track barriers – and in particular the cement slurry that was used – at the bottom of the Macondo well failed to contain hydrocarbons within the reservoir, as they were designed to do, and allowed gas and liquids to flow up the production casing;

• The results of the negative pressure test were incorrectly accepted by BP and Transocean, although well integrity had not been established;

• Over a 40-minute period, the Transocean rig crew failed to recognize and act on the influx of hydrocarbons into the well until the hydrocarbons were in the riser and rapidly flowing to the surface;

• After the well-flow reached the rig it was routed to a mud-gas separator, causing gas to be vented directly on to the rig rather than being diverted overboard;

• The flow of gas into the engine rooms through the ventilation system created a potential for ignition which the rig’s fire and gas system did not prevent;

• Even after explosion and fire had disabled its crew-operated controls, the rig’s blow-out preventer on the sea-bed should have activated automatically to seal the well. But it failed to operate, probably because critical components were not working.

Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Cementing work on the platform was performed by Halliburton Co.

In a statement released this morning, outgoing BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward maintained that the investigation found that “it would appear unlikely that the well design contributed to the incident.” However, according to a report in The Washington Post, other oil company executives have said BP used a well design that was cheaper and easier to implement instead of a safer but more expensive design.

The BP report is just the first of several addressing the Deepwater Horizon disaster that is expected to be released in the coming months. The catastrophe is being investigated by several federal agencies, including the Justice Department, Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.

The Post report also noted that the other parties cited in the BP report have yet to give their version of events. Transocean, in particular, recently complained that BP hasn’t turned over data that would help with its own internal investigation.

At least 2,000 lbs of the powder, a byproduct of refining operations, was released on Monday as a result of a power outage that occurred around 2:00 a.m. local time. Officials from both the refinery and St. Bernard’s Parish have maintained that the powder is not hazardous, and said it was safe for residents to wash it off cars and buildings.

However, one local TV station reported that the Material Safety Data Sheet for the catalyst powder says it can be an irritant to the eyes and skin if inhaled or ingested. The data sheet cautions people to wear rubber gloves when handling the powder, and to decontaminate clothes and shoes, or even dispose of them all together.

According to that document, the largest component of the spent catalyst is kaolin, a naturally occurring clay-like substance. There are small amounts of more hazardous ingredients, including titanium oxide.

Ann Rolfes, Founding Director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, is also pointing to the Material Safety Data Sheet to back its claims that the powder is hazardous.

“You had advice given to them to hose off your car. Well what happens when you hose off, well, your kids come and play in the water and you all track it all through your house,” Rolfes told Fox8TV.

She added that US Environmental Protection Agency considers “Spent Catalyst” dust the type of pollution that could lead to a variety of health risks like difficulty breathing and aggravated asthma if one breathes in the fine particles.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has launched an investigation into the Chalmette Refining powder release. But even with the investigation in its early stages, an official with the DEQ told Fox8TV that data collected so far indicates there are no long term effects associated with the release, and that it is a short term irritant.

Chalmette Refining and St. Bernard Parish officials continue to maintain that the powder poses no hazards.

According to the Times, the legislation would also bar permits if a company had been penalized with fines of $10 million or more under the Clean Air or Clean Water Acts within a seven-year period. BP is the only company that meets the criteria for a drilling permit ban under the proposed bill.

The company said that if the legislation were adopted, it would cripple its Gulf of Mexico operations, which the Times said generate $5 billion to $7 billion in profits annually. The Gulf accounts for 11 percent of BP’s global production.

BP insists its threat doesn’t mean it is backing away from its promise to set aside $20 billion for a compensation fund to pay damage claims. But officials from both state and federal governments and others are seeking additional funds beyond the company’s legal obligations, which is what BP says would be placed in jeopardy by drilling limits. This includes Gulf Coast restoration efforts that officials want the company to voluntarily support, the Times said.

“I am not going to make a direct linkage to the $20 billion, but our ability to fund these assets and the cash coming from these assets that are securing these funds would be lost” if the House bill were enacted by Congress, a BP spokesperson told the Times.

Daniel Weiss, Chief of Staff for Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and one of the authors of the amendment, dismissed BP’s threat. “BP has substantial assets, whether they develop them or sell them,” he told the Times. “If BP needs to sell assets to meet its financial obligations, that’s a decision they have to make.”

BP said today it has spent $8 billion so far in response to the oil spill. The company also said that about 28,400 personnel, more than 4,050 vessels and dozens of aircraft were still engaged in the response effort

According to the House Energy Committee, BP spent $93.4 million – about $5 million per week – on newspaper advertisements and TV spots between April and the end of July. The ad campaign targeted mostly national and local newspapers, magazines, and national and local television stations.

BP claims that the advertising campaign was needed to inform the public about clean-up efforts and the compensation claims process. A spokesperson for the company also told The Los Angeles Times that the $93.4 million spent on advertising was a relatively small portion of BP’s total expenditures of about $6.1 billion on the oil spill to date.

But not everyone is convinced that information dissemination was BP’s true objective. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who asked for the information on advertising, accused the company of spending the money to burnish its image.

“While BP’s advertising campaign ramped up, businesses and the gulf communities struggled to deal with the costs of the disaster,” Castor said. “While BP certainly has the right to advertise, its approach has been insensitive to the taxpayers and business owners harmed by the Deepwater Horizon blowout.”

Castor called on BP to divert “a significant portion of its advertising dollars” to help tourism-dependent small businesses.

According to the Associated Press, Bureau employees must now notify a supervisor about any potential conflict of interest and step aside when inspections or other official duties involve a company that employs a family member or close personal friend. Furthermore, inspectors who join the agency from the oil industry cannot perform inspections or other work involving their former employers for two years.

Employees must also now report any incident in which contacts “attempt to bribe, harass, coerce, or improperly pressure or influence’’ a federal regulator, the Associated Press said. And they must avoid even the appearance of a conflict and report activities that “raise a question regarding his or her impartiality.”

The new policy becomes effective immediately, the Associated Press said.

The former MMS had a joint mission that critics charged created conflicts of interest. On one hand, it was supposed to be an industry watchdog. But on the other, the agency was also charged with promoting energy independence and generating government revenue from drilling on government lands. What’s more, half of the MMS budget came from the oil industry in the form of fees and rental receipts.

While the BP oil spill helped shine a light on the incompetence of the MMS, even before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster, the agency was mired in scandal. As we reported previously, the inspector general for the Interior Department issued a report in May that found that staff at an MMS office in Louisiana accepted tickets to sports events, lunches and other gifts from oil and gas companies. According to the report, individuals involved in the fraternizing and gift exchange — both government and industry — often knew one another since childhood. In a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the inspector general said their relationships took precedence over their jobs.

According to the Associated Press, a similar report issued in 2008 found that employees at an MMS office in Colorado had engaged in sexual relationships with energy company executives and accepting gifts from them.

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