New oil spill spotted in Gulf near BP Macondo well

While there have been no new reports of damaged oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, a massive oil slick has been spotted.

The US Coast Guard has confirmed that there appears to be a massive oil sheen on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 20 miles north of the site of the 2010 BP oil spill.

The half-mile wide, hundred mile long oil slick was reported by local residents, who spotted it on Saturday, according to the Times-Picayune.

During the early stages of the 2010 BP Gulf oil spill, there were reports of three leaks at the Macondo well site. One was plugged within a week. The second held the international spotlight, until it was finally capped five months later, after spewing 4.9 million barrels of oil and a million gallons of chemical dispersant into the Gulf.

The third leak was largely ignored by the media.  However, oil industry expert, Matt Simmons claimed in an MSBNC news interview, that the third leak, located about 5 miles from the Macondo well, was the “elephant behind the mouse.”

Simmons died unexpectedly on August 8^th, 2010.  The circumstances surrounding his death suggest to some people that he may have been assassinated for being a whistle blower during the BP oil spill.

BP oil spill report: Expect more oil spill disasters with deregulation

President Obama’s oil spill commission has concluded that BP and Halliburton were both guilty of contributing to the cause of the Deepwater Horizon disaster which resulted in the worst oil spill in US history.

A 48 page final report released Wednesday found that BP failed to test the cement plug Halliburton used to seal the exploratory Macondo well.  The flawed cement mix failed, caused the rig to explode on April 20, 2010, and kill eleven crew members, dump nearly 5 million barrels of oil, and 2 million gallons of chemical dispersant into the Gulf of Mexico.

The commission concluded that short-cuts are an industry-wide practice that will result in continuing oil spill disasters, unless new, stiffer regulations are put in place.

The problem with preventing further oil spill disasters lies in the plans of the new republican congress.

Incoming chairman of the government Oversight Committee, Rep. Darrel Issa of California, has stated that he plans to roll back and remove as many government regulations as he can, including those that regulate the oil industry.

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Sunken oil from BP spill forms deadly blankets in Gulf waters

Fears of scientists over the BP oil spill are becoming evidenced in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Contamination from sunken oil is covering patches of the sea floor like black toxic blankets, smothering the ecosystem and threatening its delicate balance.

Sediment around the site of the BP blowout is showing high levels of toxins, according to data sited in the Wall Street Journal. “There is no practical way to clean up the spilled oil that has settled deep in the Gulf, officials said.”

During the height of the disaster, BP’s unprecedented use of nearly 2 million gallons of chemical dispersant came under fire from the EPA and scientific community, and in early May, just two weeks after the April 20, 2010 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon that took eleven lives and marked the beginning of the disaster, the EPA ordered BP to stop using the dispersant for fear of long term environmental damage and risks to human health.

In June, under suspicion of a media blackout on the gushing Macondo well, the EPA did a sudden reversal on the dangers of the dispersant, issuing a report that claimed BP’s chemical was as harmless as ‘dish soap.”

The EPA turnaround, say whistleblowers, came in the form of pressure from the Obama Administration and BP officials concerned about the falling stock price of the oil giant.

By June 11th, 71 oil spill cleanup workers had been hospitalized in Louisiana, due to exposure to vapors from the toxic dispersant. On June 23^rd, the US Coast Guard confirmed the death of two members of the cleanup crew.