Posts Tagged ‘ BP Oil Spill ’

NWF Top 10 Pipeline Accident States

August 13th, 2010. By AbiK

An interesting tidbit from the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) report, Assault on America: A Decade of Petroleum Company Disaster, Pollution and Profit (released July, 2010) is their chart that depicts the top ten US states for pipeline accidents, 2000-2009.

While it’s natural to think that Texas—often synonymous with big oil—tops the chart (it does) for “significant incidents”, what’s more surprising are the states with the most fatalities associated with pipeline accidents.

Here’s the list of 2000-2009 Onshore Pipeline Accidents, sorted by “Significant Incidents”—apparently defined as those  where injury or fatality occurred or property damage was greater than or equal to $50,000 in 1984 dollars:

Texas                     523

Louisiana               223

California               177

Kansas                   117

Illinois                    115

Pennsylvania         114

Oklahoma              113

Ohio                       74

Michigan                 61

New Mexico            58

Now, if you resort the same list and look at fatalities, here’s what you’ll find:

Texas                     15

New Mexico           15

Pennsylvania         10

California                9

Louisiana                6

Ohio                       6

Michigan                 5

Kansas                   3

Oklahoma               3

Illinois                     2

For the record, if you look at total US—i.e., not just the top ten states listed above–Onshore significant incidents, the numbers go like this: 2,554 significant incidents, 161 fatalities, and 576 injuries.

If you want to add in total US Offshore incidents from 2001-2007—so remember, this data predates the BP oil spill, there were 1,443 incidents resulting in 41 fatalites, 302 injuries, 476 fires, nd 356 pollution events.

Tags: BP, BP Oil Spill
Posted in Environment | No Comments »

Results are in – 60% Say BP won’t Survive the Spill

August 9th, 2010. By AbiK

We’ve had a poll here on the LawyersAndSettlements.com blog since just after the BP Oil Spill occurred. The question was a simple yes or no:

Will BP Survive the Gulf Oil Disaster?

Just took the poll down and the final results were a pretty straight 60/40 split—60% of you think that BP will not be able to come out of the aftermath of the BP oil spill alive; 40% of you think they will.

Of course, it’s a PR game at play as well and an interesting thing has happened over the time that the poll was live. In the initial week or two of the poll, 70% of you felt BP would not survive this mess. Then, little by little, I watched the numbers start to head more in the direction that BP just may come out of this with a future.

Perhaps it speaks to the containment (?) of the spill. Perhaps it has to do with BP coughing up the $20 billion fund for claims. Or that BP finally ousted its CEO. Who knows? And of course, only time will tell what will ultimately become of BP…

For the latest figures on the BP spill, check out Update: BP Oil Spill by the Numbers.

Tags: BP, BP Oil Spill
Posted in Environment | No Comments »

What Good is BP Lifeline if it Doesn’t Rescue Victims?

July 29th, 2010. By AbiK

Here’s the situation—really a Catch-22. You’re stranded at sea, and a seemingly kind soul passes by on a boat, with a life buoy—you know, the type lifeguards use with that long rope. The kind soul tosses it out to you, reaching just beyond your shoulder like he’s been taught to do—and your countenance immediately turns from one of panic to one of relief…safe and secure that you’ll be able to remain afloat for a while and, although exhausted, enjoy the tow in toward the boat.

Ahhh…but funny thing happened on the way to the boat! The kind soul sort of, uh, dropped his end of the lifeline. Whoops! And guess what? Since you grabbed the line, you don’t have any other options for being saved other than saying some prayers.

Enter the current hell that BP oil spill victims are living right now. They can see that seemingly kind soul with the life buoy in hand (i.e., BP & Feinberg), but there’s also a ship way off on the horizon that may take days to get to them (i.e., litigation) and, if they turn toward litigation, Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: BP, BP Lawsuit, BP Oil Spill, Feinberg
Posted in Emerging Issues, Environment | No Comments »

3 for Hall of Shame Forgot their School Lessons (1st up, BP)

July 22nd, 2010. By Hunter West

There are three events going on in the world right now that are downright shameful. And while the three are not at all related, there is enough of a common denominator to illicit a cry of, “what the hell???…” 

Item: BP somehow manages to unleash the worst oil spill in US history. The environment, fragile eco-systems and the livelihoods of thousands of innocent people are affected by the misguided actions of a few… 

Item: Toyota knew in 1996 that there was a problem with the steering rods in its sport utility vehicles (the 4Runner over here, but marketed under another name in Japan). Toyota quietly switched the rods to a better version, but didn’t tell anybody. It was only when the accidents started happening in Japan that they bowed to a recall in their own country. In 2004, eight years later. Oh, but the 4Runners in the US are fine, they said. 

A year later, in 2005, they recalled more than 900,000 vehicles 1996 and prior… 

Item: More than 1000 war veterans will have to be tested for communicable diseases such Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: BP, BP Oil Spill, Toyota, VA Hospital, Veterans
Posted in Personal Injury | No Comments »

Remember Jumanji? BP Game is Like Living it For Real

July 9th, 2010. By AbiK

This one’s been making the rounds lately—had to share in the event you hadn’t seen it yet. I’m not sure who exactly dug it up—one report says someone at UK Metro found it—but it’s a board game from the 1970’s: BP Offshore Oil Strike. No, you can’t make this stuff up.

Can’t make this up either…tagline is “An exciting game for all the family”. You betcha—particularly if you’re living it Jumanji-style in the Gulf right now. The lead-in line at top is noteworthy, too: “The thrills of drilling, the hazards and rewards as you bring in your own…” Yeah.

It was an actual game where you drill for oil and build platforms and pipelines—all the usual oil biz doings. But here’s the stroke of irony from the benefit of hindsight—it also has “Hazard” cards that players might wind up with. No small hazards either, mind you. These hazards make the game rigs blow up—causing oil spills and major clean-ups (cha-ching!). Sound vaguely familiar?

The thing I’m trying to digest here is that BP apparently marketed this themselves—heck, clearly they at least lent their logo to the thing. And I’m trying to do a little mental flashback to the ’70’s…had no one thought that this might actually be in bad taste? A little brand image no-no? Perhaps because it wasn’t until the later part of the decade when folks turned their focus to more environmental concerns after Three Mile Island and energy sources gone wrong? I don’t know. But even now, the re-emergence of this little gem across the virtual airwaves cannot possibly be a plus for BP’s image—even after some thirty-plus years.

Tags: BP, BP Oil Spill
Posted in Environment | 1 Comment »