Gulf oil rig explosion anniversary: Prayers for fishers lost in the BP claims process

There has been no shortage of stories about the BP oil spill on this first anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, and the world's media is reminding all who will read or listen that coastal communities are still reeling.

But Archbishop Gregory Aymond knows news stories can get repetitive, compromising our ability to empathize. So, on bended knee, Aymond tended to the needs of depressed and bewildered fishers, restaurant workers and others who came to the Catholic Charities office in Violet for counseling and help with their spill damage claims.

BP's Iris Cross starred in two disaster PR campaigns

Last fall, Iris Cross beamed into millions of homes, the friendly BP worker hailing from New Orleans who assured TV viewers that the oil giant won’t stop cleaning up the worst oil spill in U.S. history “until we make this right.”

She became the very public face of BP, a soothing contrast to former CEO Tony Heyward, whose PR gaffes cemented public opinion against the oil company.

This is not the first time Cross sought to soothe public anger from a BP disaster. One of her efforts in 2006 so angered a judge that BP was accused of jury tampering and threatened with fines and contempt charges.

BP's criminal negligence exposed

Ryan Lambert is enraged.

The owner of a charter fishing business, he had always supported the oil industry in his home state of Louisiana.

He previously trusted BP, and the rest of the oil industry, to do the right thing in case an accident happened. But not any more. "I'm seeing people starving to death and BP won't pay them," said Lambert.

BP Handling of Claims Slammed by Gulf Residents

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, Apr 17, 2011 (IPS) - Attorney Kenneth Feinberg, paid by BP to administer the firm's 20-billion-dollar compensation fund, has become the focal point of anger for Gulf residents who are angry, frustrated and desperate for help following last year's massive oil disaster.

A year after BP oil spill, cleanup continues

As the one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill approaches next week, areas along the Gulf Coast are still plagued by "chronic re-oiling" from balls of oil and sand that wash ashore after breaking free from submerged mats of degraded oil and sediments, according to officials overseeing federal cleanup efforts.

BP’s Gulf of Mexico drilling could resume in July

One-year anniversary of Deepwater Horizon disaster approaches

By Kim Hjelmgaard, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — BP PLC could be just a few months away from resuming drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico after reportedly asking to strike a deal with U.S. regulators less than a year following the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 and triggered the worst oil spill in American history.

BP loses laptop containing oil spill claimants data

A laptop containing personal data of 13,000 people seeking compensation over the 2010 Gulf oil spill has been lost by a BP employee, the company says.

'Please, please don't give up': Locals urged to continue filing BP claims

FORT WALTON BEACH — Don’t give up. You have people ready to help you fight BP.

A handful of those people passed along that message to local residents and business owners Monday night at the Fort Walton Beach Municipal Auditorium.

BP Can Run More Tests on Deepwater Horizon Blowout Preventer

BP Plc (BP/) can conduct additional tests on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig’s blowout prevention equipment now that government examiners have finished their own forensic testing, a judge ruled.

“The additional BOP testing shall be performed in a manner that preserves the evidence to the maximum extent possible,’’ U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said in his order, referring to the blowout prevention equipment. He ruled that other companies involved in the disaster could also now run additional tests, so long as everyone is allowed to monitor the procedures and share in the results.

Report Foresees Quick Gulf of Mexico Recovery

New York Times

The Gulf of Mexico should recover from the environmental damage caused by the enormous BP oil spill last year faster than many people expected, according to new estimates in reports commissioned by Kenneth R. Feinberg, the administrator of the $20 billion compensation fund.