BP polluters’ huge profits

This video is called BP oil spill-Video/Poem.

By Andre Damon in the USA:

Two years since the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster

21 April 2012

Two years ago yesterday, an explosion at the BP-run Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers and unleashed an oil spill that resulted in the worst environmental catastrophe in US history.

Before it was finally capped nearly three months later, the erupting well released 4.9 million barrels of oil, making it the largest accidental oil spill ever. It caused hundreds of billions of dollars in damage to the local economy, from Texas to Florida. Its impact on human health and the gulf ecosystem will last for decades, with consequences that are not fully known.

To this day, however, not a single executive—from BP, rig owner Transocean, or rig contractor Halliburton—has been held criminally responsible, and the oil giant has yet to pay any fines to the US government.

Meanwhile, BP is pulling in bumper profits. The company posted a $26 billion profit in 2011, erasing a $4 billion loss the year before. It anticipates even higher profits in the coming years, with oil prices on the rise and new drilling projects in the offing.

Last November, the Coast Guard approved drilling for BP’s first offshore oil well since the spill, located 250 miles southwest of New Orleans and 1,000 feet deeper than the Macondo Prospect, the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The company has stepped up its efforts to drill in even more remote areas, including the Arctic.

On Wednesday, BP finalized a $7.8 billion settlement with some 100,000 fishermen, hotel owners and others whose livelihoods and health were affected by the spill. The deal puts an end to any speculation that BP might be made to pay the full $20 billion it set aside for damages.

Under the Clean Water Act, the company is liable for up to $17 billion in fines to the government. Confident that it will be made to pay far less than this, the company has put aside just $3.5 billion for this purpose.

Two Years After the BP Drilling Disaster, Gulf Residents Fear for the Future. Jordan Flaherty, Truthout: “While it’s too early to assess the long-term environmental impact, a host of recent studies published by the National Academy of Sciences and other respected institutions have shown troubling results. They describe mass deaths of deepwater coral; dolphins; and killifish, a small animal at the base of the Gulf food chain. ‘If you add them all up, it’s clear the oil is still in the ecosystem, it’s still having an effect,’ says Aaron Viles, deputy director of Gulf Restoration Network, a leading environmental organization active in the region”: here.

Two Years Later: Deformed Seafood and Sick Dolphins: here.