BP Oil Still Washing Ashore One Year After End of Gulf Spill

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-15/bp-oil-still-washing-ashore-one-year-after-end-of-gulf-spill.html

Crude oil continues to wash ashore along the Gulf of Mexico coast a year after BP Plc (BP/) stopped the flow from its damaged Macondo well, which caused the worst U.S. offshore spill, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

On June 4, the last available tally from field inspections, 530 miles of coastline in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida remained contaminated by oil, said Tim Zink, a spokesman for the agency. That’s down from a high of 1,074 miles. The U.S. government estimates that 4.9 million barrels were spilled into the Gulf from Macondo before London-based BP succeeded in capping the flow a year ago today.

“I’d characterize it as a light sheen and tar balls of all shapes and sizes,” Zink said in an interview yesterday. “For roughly the first year, it was heavy, moderate to light oiling. This is light.”

The pollution of Gulf coast beaches is one of several headwinds BP faces as Europe’s second-largest oil company seeks to rebuild its business and reputation in the U.S. The U.K. oil producer’s share price remains about 30 percent below its pre- spill level and has gained 13 percent since the spill ended.



:mad:

[Shagbark Hickory]

1. We're all paying to clean it up. Why isn't it being cleaned up?

[xchrom]

3. good question. nt

[TroglodyteScholar]

2. I didn't get to take my "Redneck Riviera" vacation last year...

...but I'm going in early autumn this year. The white beaches of coastal Alabama, kept secret quite well in Florida's shadow, are absolutely beautiful. I hope against hope that they still are.

[amborin]

4. kick

[gratuitous]

5. If you'd just quit looking for spilled oil, you wouldn't see any spilled oil

Take a lesson from the bulldogs of the Fourth Estate. You don't see them down on the Gulf anymore, do you? The story is boring and so last year. BP's plan to have the spill rehabilitated by filtering it through the flora and fauna of the local ecosystem is working just fine, and will continue to work just fine as long as you don't look too close, or eat seafood harvested from the Gulf, or spend too much time in the area.

Tony Hayward needs his life back!