BP has just put a new cap on its leaking oil well in the Gulf Of Mexico. It’s not clear yet whether this latest attempt to halt the flow of oil will work. The US government has been uncompromising in its punishment of BP. The clean-up has cost the company $3.5bn so far, and the Obama administration has forced it to set aside another $20bn to pay for further clean-up, compensation and other costs.
When an American company is the guilty party, though, US attitudes are rather different. Yesterday, protestors in India demanded the extradition from America of Warren Anderson. Mr Anderson was the boss of US company Union Carbide when cyanide gas leaked from its plant in Bhopal in 1984, and the Indian authorities have a warrant out for his arrest. The US has resisted all their efforts.
While the BP accident killed 11 people, Bhopal cost the lives of at least 3,800 in the immediate aftermath, while up to 20,000 more may have perished since, and perhaps another 120,000 are still suffering ill effects – making this probably the deadliest industrial accident in history.
So how many billions in compensation did Union Carbide pay? Er, no billions actually - just $470 million.
(See also my blogs of June 9 and Aug 1, 2009; March 17, April 24, May 1, June 7 and 9, 2010.)
Showing posts with label oil spill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oil spill. Show all posts
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Oil spills
A week ago (April 24), I blogged on the 11 people who lost their lives when BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank off Louisiana. Now this is also turning into an environmental disaster, with up to 5,000 barrels of oil a day gushing into the sea.
The slick is 130 miles long, and efforts to contain it are being hampered by choppy seas. Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida have all declared states of emergency, and the US government has launched a fierce attack on the British oil company. It is only a month since President Obama eased restrictions on offshore drilling.
The worst oil spill in history came in 1991 when the Iraqis opened valves at the Sea Island terminal and dumped oil from several tankers into the Persian Gulf to try to foil any landing by US marines during the first Gulf War.
Estimates of the volume spilled range as high as 1.5 million tons (that compares with about 35,000 from the Exxon Valdez in 1989 – up to now America’s worst oil spill). Though wildlife was harmed in the Gulf, a study sponsored by UNESCO, the USA and countries in the region suggested that it did little long-term damage.
The slick is 130 miles long, and efforts to contain it are being hampered by choppy seas. Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida have all declared states of emergency, and the US government has launched a fierce attack on the British oil company. It is only a month since President Obama eased restrictions on offshore drilling.
The worst oil spill in history came in 1991 when the Iraqis opened valves at the Sea Island terminal and dumped oil from several tankers into the Persian Gulf to try to foil any landing by US marines during the first Gulf War.
Estimates of the volume spilled range as high as 1.5 million tons (that compares with about 35,000 from the Exxon Valdez in 1989 – up to now America’s worst oil spill). Though wildlife was harmed in the Gulf, a study sponsored by UNESCO, the USA and countries in the region suggested that it did little long-term damage.
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