After insisting for months that a pair of costly relief wells were the only surefire way to kill the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, BP officials say they may be able to do it just with lines running from a ship to the blown-out well. (Aug. 2)
Bad weather is now moving across the Atlantic and Caribbean with the potential to disrupt oil cleanup operations in the Gulf of Mexico. One wave near Puerto Rico could become a named storm, threatening the Gulf by this weekend. “We talked with the Coast Guard again this morning about the impact of the storm on their containment efforts and on the impact on Louisiana’s coast,” said Gov. Bobby Jindal. “You saw what Alex did.” Three weeks ago Hurricane Alex pushed oil into the Mississippi River delta and scattered miles of containment boom, even though it passed far to the south of the Louisiana coast and BP’s wrecked wellhead. Jindal fears the same could happen, or worse, depending on where the next storm hits. He’s asking FEMA to clarify the lines of responsibility when it comes to damage caused by the oil. “For example, there was some concern before about what flood insurance does and does not cover versus homeowners insurance, what the Stafford Act covers versus what’s BP’s responsibility,” said Jindal. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said it’s all BP’s responsibility. “The obvious or the common sense answer is, it’s their oil, their responsible,” said Nungesser. “You dump oil and it runs into your neighbors yard and it kills it, you’re responsible, right? It’s your oil.” Nungesser has no confidence BP will be able to pull its people or equipment out of the parish in advance of a hurricane. That’s why he’s offering the company a piece of land off of Hebert …
