All posts by Peter Terezakis

Man and Nature, Water

“Gulf of Mexico…. fully recover by 2012” – Kenneth Feinberg

“Earlier this month, Kenneth Feinberg, the government’s oil compensation fund czar, said based on research he commissioned he figured the Gulf of Mexico would almost fully recover by 2012”

“BP Plc’s $20 billion oil-spill damages fund, run by Kenneth Feinberg, “far exceeds” the company’s legal obligations to compensate victims of the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, company lawyers said in a court filing.”

For more on Mr. Feinberg as BP’s fund representative click here.

Man and Nature, Water

Strong Evidence Emerges of BP Oil on Seafloor

Strong Evidence Emerges of BP Oil on Seafloor
Strong Evidence Emerges of BP Oil on Seafloor

Scientific teams have reported in recent months finding a strange substance on the Gulf floor, in some cases as far as about 80 miles from BP’s ill-fated Macondo well, which blew out in April and spilled an estimated 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf before it was capped.

They have speculated that the substance—found as deep as 2,300 meters below the surface— was oil from the BP blowout. But, until now, they haven’t had this evidence from chemical tests.

David Hollander, an oceanographer at the University of South Florida, said in an interview that he and colleagues have just completed tests showing that the chemical profile of oil they found in Gulf sediment matches that from the blown-out BP well.

Fire, Man and Nature

750 KW PV Array at Coronado Navy Base

750 KW PV Array at Coronado Navy Base
750 KW PV Array at Coronado Navy Base

“Already a national leader in energy conservation, the Navy Region Southwest (NRSW) has recently become the proud owner of one of the largest Federal photovoltaic (PV) systems in the nation, demonstrating its commitment to using renewable energy technologies. The 750-kilowatt PV system installed at Naval Base Coronado makes the Navy one of the largest public-sector generators of clean renewable energy in California….”

Man and Nature

Santa Barbara 1969 and Gulf Coast 2010 Oil Spills

1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill:

“What Went Wrong?

Union Oil’s Platform A ruptured because of inadequate protective casing. The oil company had been given permission by the U.S. Geological Survey to cut corners and operate the platform with casings below federal and California standards. Investigators would later determine that more steel pipe sheating inside the drilling hole would have prevented the rupture.

Because the oil rig was beyond California’s three-mile coastal zone, the rig did not have to comply with state standards. At the time, California drilling regulations were far more rigid those implied by the federal government.”


2010 Gulf Oil Spill:

“….technological advances have allowed us to explore oil offshore in ways that protect the environment” and that outer continental shelf areas now off limits “could produce enough oil to match America’s current production for almost 10 years.” – President George Bush, 2008