Marine Pollution ControlMarine Pollution Control
8631 West Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, MI 48209 USA
313.849.2333 - 24/hour

11324 E Lakewood Blvd., #12 & #13
Holland, MI 49424
800-521-8232 – 24/Hour

GSA Contract #: GS-10F-0268R
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‘Deepwater Horizon’ movie gets the facts mostly right, but simplifies the blame


The movie “Deepwater Horizon” gets the facts right, and admirably so — but only up to a point. You could imagine all manner of ways in which Hollywood could have turned the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico into a more traditional disaster movie. You could invent love stories, improbable acts of square-jawed heroism, maybe throw in a sea monster. Instead, Peter Berg’s film, which describes itself as “based on true events,” generally sticks to what actually happened on April 20, 2010. The biggest exception is that the film simplifies the culpability. (I covered the oil spill for The Washington Post and later wrote a book about the BP oil spill and effort to plug the well.)

The filmmakers get high marks for capturing the texture of rig life — the immense scale of the operation, the huge pipes and machinery involved, the powerful geological forces at work, and the specialized terminology of the crew (you probably don’t have to know what a “cement bond log” is to grasp the central fact that it’s a routine and potentially critical test of well integrity, and BP chose to skip it).

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Shipowner Wins in Oil Spill Litigation

September 8th, 2016 
 
Following an eight-week trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Montgomery McCracken partners, won a $71.5 million judgment against CITGO Asphalt Refining and related companies in connection with a 2004 oil spill in the Port of Philadelphia.  
 
The partners, John J. Levy, Alfred J. Kuffler, Eugene O’Connor, Timothy J. Bergère and Tricia J. Sadd, represented the Frescati Shipping and Tsakos Shipping & Trading the Greek owners and operators of the M/V Athos I. The tanker was chartered by CITGO to transport oil from CITGO facilities in Venezuela to a CITGO asphalt refinery in Paulsboro, NJ.
 
On November 26, 2004, while the Athos I was attempting to dock at CITGO’s Paulsboro refinery on the Delaware River, her hull was punctured by a nine-ton anchor abandoned on the river bed. The anchor punched a hole in a cargo tank allowing over 264,000 gallons of heavy crude oil to spill into the river, closing the Port while emergency responders scrambled to contain the spill under difficult tidal and weather conditions.  
 
The oil spill response took nearly six months, involved over 1,100 oil spill response workers on both sides of the river across three states and cost in excess of $143 million.  The vessel also suffered millions of dollars in damages and was out of commission for many months.  

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OSHA 1910.120 40 Hour HAZWOPER Course


Marine Pollution Control is offering an OSHA 1910.120 40 Hour HAZWOPER Course beginning on Monday, September 19, 2016. Additionally for those who would need a refresher course (8-hour, 24-hour and 40-hour), this will also be offered on Monday, September 19, 2016. For more information, please call (313) 849-2674 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
 

Now that Coal Companies are Troubled, Who Should Pay for Environmental Cleanups?

August 25, 2016

Coal companies are going dark. They are economically troubled, with nearly all of them experiencing bankruptcy or emerging from it in a different form. The reasons are numerous and depending one’s view, can range from depleted coal seams to less demand to strict environmental regulations.
 
Regardless of how their troubles started, coal companies still have to clean up their sites. But the companies are bankrupt, which leads to the question of just who is going to pay. 

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Coast Guard demonstrates cold weather oil response technology


8/17/2016

The Coast Guard Research and Development Center, located in New London, Connecticut, and the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Juniper worked throughout the week to demonstrate and evaluate new technologies to use when responding to oil spills in harsh cold weather environments.

The technologies include a prototype ice cage to keep ice away from an oil skimmer as it collects spilled oil from the water’s surface, a temporary storage device for collected oil that can be mounted on the deck of a vessel, and methods to decontaminate personnel who have been working in an oiled environment.

"The lessons we've demonstrated here and in the other tests clearly illustrate the feasibility of using technology to solve the issues surrounding oil spill cleanup in ice conditions,” said Kurt Hansen, a project manager at the Coast Guard Research and Development Center.   “The ice cage, for instance, has been shown to be a valuable tool for keeping ice away from oil skimmers, keeping their brushes clear and working more efficiently.”

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  2. Tugboat engineers accused of polluting Lake Huron
  3. Congress passes bill ratcheting up Mackinac pipeline safety rules
  4. Deepwater spill pollution lingers on seabed