In Brazil, Chevron Fine Close To $25 Million For Rio Oil Spill

July 17, 2012

Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency, ANP, said it will fine Chevron for its November oil spill below the maximum allowable fine of R$50 million, or roughly $25 million. Given that it is not at the maximum, Chevron is actually being fined less than many people had expected at the outset of the November oil spill.

ANP said on Monday that they will deliver the exact fine to Chevron this week for 25 infractions caused in the oil spill in the so-called Frade Field in the Santos Basin. Between 2,400  and 3,000 barrels of oil seeped into the Atlantic Ocean from a crack in the ocean floor during a drilling miscalculation. No wildlife was believed to have been harmed and no oil washed up on shore, though the spill sparked outrage and lawsuits galore in Rio de Janeiro and basically put its president, George Buck, under house arrest. Buck was not allowed to leave the country during the investigation.

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Mayors make declaration to protect Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River

July 9, 2012

Mayors from Québec, Ontario and the U.S., representing more than 15 million people, made a Declaration on Water Sustainability June 28 and committed to common sustainable water management practices to protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.

“Today, my fellow mayors and I made an important declaration on water sustainability to protect the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence through our cities’ daily operations and long-term investments,” said Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee and Chair of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative.

In support of the Declaration on Water Sustainability, the Cities Initiative released a report on Sustainable Municipal Water Management, with best practices from members, along with a method for evaluating and publicly reporting on progress on common actions by cities across the basin.

“In the face of climate change, increased urbanization and dwindling water supplies in some parts of the globe, we must never take the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence, the world’s largest source of surface freshwater, for granted,” said Mayor Régis Labeaume of the Québec Metropolitan Community and Vice Chair of the Cities Initiative. “As water managers, cities have a responsibility to be water-wise and report publicly on our progress in managing this globally threatened resource.”

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Enbridge seeks to rebuild pipeline; NTSB to discuss report Tuesday

July 9, 2012

The pipeline company that faces a proposed $3.7-million fine for an oil spill that dumped more than 800,000 gallons of oil into a Kalamazoo River tributary in 2010 wants to build a new pipeline next to its existing line through Oakland, Macomb and St. Clair counties.

The line would be part of its massive pipeline replacement project in Michigan.

Enbridge Energy has applied to the Michigan Public Service Commission to build the pipeline, the same line that ruptured near Marshall. Under the plan, the company says it would deactivate the old line but leave it in place.

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Arctic drilling creeps forward now, and in 5 years

July 2, 2012

ANCHORAGE, Alaska –  In choppy water under blue sky off Bellingham, Wash., a Shell Oil crew on Monday lowered a "capping stack" 200 feet in the water and put it through maneuvers with underwater robots connected by cable to operators on the surface, a test that fulfilled one of the final steps required for permission to drill exploratory wells in Arctic waters.
 
The capping stack looks like a giant spark plug and is designed to kill an undersea oil well blowout by providing a metal-to-metal seal on a malfunctioning blowout preventer.
 
Shell is sending the capping stack, skimmers, boom and a containment dome on board a flotilla accompanying drill ships to Alaska's northern shores as part of a spill response plan that has the blessing of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Shell expects final approvals within weeks and drilling by late this month.

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