Eni Norge is entering into an oil spill contingency training agreement with the Nordkapp Maritime Training Centre in Honningsvåg. The centre will be the first in the world to employ simulators for oil recovery training in conditions of darkness.

 

The development of the Goliat field has considerably strengthened the oil spill contingency apparatus in West Finnmark, which is tailored to a large extent to conditions prevailing along the Finnmark coast. The Goliat contingency strategy can be employed for incidents on both local and national scales, regardless of whether the source of the discharge is a vessel or an offshore installation. The new agreement is an extension of this strategy, and is part of its continuous improvement. 

 

Almost 3 billion gallons of oil industry wastewater have been illegally dumped into central California aquifers that supply drinking water and farming irrigation, according to state documents obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity. The wastewater entered the aquifers through at least nine injection disposal wells used by the oil industry to dispose of waste contaminated with fracking fluids and other pollutants.

 

The documents also reveal that Central Valley Water Board testing found high levels of arsenic, thallium and nitrates — contaminants sometimes found in oil industry wastewater — in water-supply wells near these waste-disposal operations.

 

Matson agrees to plea deal with feds over Honolulu Harbor molasses spill

 

Matson Inc. reached a plea agreement Tuesday with the U.S. Attorney in Hawaii on charges that the company illegally discharged more than 230,000 gallons of molasses into Honolulu Harbor in 2013, agreeing to pay a total penalty of $1 million.

Matson Terminals Inc. pleaded guilty to the two counts of violating the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 under the charges filed by U.S. Attorney Florence Nakakuni.

 

Matson Terminals will pay a total $1 million — a $400,000 fine and a $600,000 community service payment, with $300,000 of that paid to the Waikiki Aquarium. Another $300,000 payment will be made to Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii – "to inspire local communities to care for their coastlines through beach clean-ups," Matson said in a statement.

 

Lego has ditched a long-standing partnership with Shell, after a Greenpeace video used its toys to illustrate an Arctic oil spill.

 

The decision comes after the slick parody video by the environmental group went viral online, garnering more than 5 million YouTube hits, over the oil giant's plan to drill in the Arctic.

 

Using Lego blocks, the video starts by showing animals in pristine snowy wilderness before moving on to a scene of heavy machinery drilling for oil.

 

To gentle background music a Shell branded road tanker and petrol station are brought into view - before it zooms in on a pin-striped businessman smoking a cigar on a Shell offshore drilling rig.