Secrecy shrouds decade-old oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

[webfact]

Secrecy shrouds decade-old oil spill in Gulf of Mexico
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and JEFF DONN

OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO (AP) — Down to just one full-time employee, Taylor Energy Company exists for only one reason: to fight an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico that has gone largely unnoticed, despite creating miles-long slicks for more than a decade.

The New Orleans-based company has downplayed the leak's environmental impact, likening it to scores of minor spills and natural seeps that the Gulf routinely absorbs.

But an Associated Press investigation has revealed evidence that the spill is far worse than what Taylor — or the government — has publicly reported. Presented with AP's findings, the Coast Guard provided a new leak estimate that is about 20 times greater than one recently touted by the company.

Outside experts say the spill could be even worse — possibly one of the largest ever in the Gulf, albeit still dwarfed by BP's massive 2010 gusher.

The roots of the leak lie in an underwater mudslide triggered by Hurricane Ivan's waves in September 2004. That toppled Taylor's platform and buried 28 wells under sediment about 10 miles off Louisiana's coast at a depth of roughly 475 feet. Without access to the buried wells, traditional "plug and abandon" efforts wouldn't work.

The Coast Guard said in 2008 the leak posed a "significant threat" to the environment, though there is no evidence oil from the site has reached shore. Ian MacDonald, a Florida State University biological oceanography professor and expert witness in a lawsuit against Taylor, said the sheen "presents a substantial threat to the environment" and is capable of harming birds, fish and other marine life. Even after spending tens of millions of dollars to contain and stop the leak, Taylor says nothing can be done to completely halt the chronic oil sheens.

Last year, the company presented federal regulators with a proposed "final resolution." While the details remain under wraps, it contends experts and government officials agree that the "best course of action ... is to not take any affirmative action" due to the possible environmental risks.

The government has allowed the company to shield other spill-related information from public scrutiny — all in the name of protecting trade secrets.

"The Taylor leak is just a great example of what I call a dirty little secret in plain sight," said SkyTruth President John Amos, a geologist whose environmental watchdog group has monitored the slicks by satellite.

Amos estimates that between 300,000 and 1.4 million gallons of oil has spilled from the site since 2004, with an annual average daily leak rate between 37 and 900 gallons. The government has given much smaller estimates, from an average of 22 gallons per day in 2008 down to an average of 12 gallons per day over roughly the next five years. In a February court filing, Taylor said experts concluded last year that the sheens contained an average volume of less than 4 gallons per day.

But the AP's review of more than 2,300 pollution reports since 2008 found they didn't match official accounts of a diminishing leak. In fact, the reports show a dramatic spike in sheen sizes and oil volumes since Sept. 1, 2014. That came just after federal regulators held a workshop to improve the accuracy of slick estimates reported by a Taylor contractor and started sending government observers on the monitoring flights.

From April 2008 through August 2014, the average sheen size reported to the Coast Guard was 2 square miles with an average volume of 11 gallons of oil. Since then, the daily average sheen size ballooned to 8 square miles with an average volume of 91 gallons.

When presented by AP with evidence of the spike, the Coast Guard attributed it to an improved method for estimating the slicks from the air — with the clear implication that far more oil had been spilling for years than had been reported.

After initially providing AP with an outdated, lower estimate, the Coast Guard then disclosed a new estimate — that approximately 16,000 gallons of oil have been spotted in slicks over the past seven months. That is roughly six times higher than its 2013 estimate, of about 4,500 gallons a year, and 20 times higher than the figure cited by Taylor in a Feb. 19 court filing.

A Taylor spokesman declined to comment on AP's findings.

Five years ago, it took 87 days for BP to cap its blown-out Gulf well and halt the worst offshore oil spill in the nation's history. The disaster exposed weaknesses in the drilling industry's safety culture and gaps in its spill response capabilities.

Taylor's leak — at a site once operated by BP — provided earlier evidence of how difficult it can be for the industry to prevent or stop a spill in an unforgiving environment. But the company has balked at sharing information that could help other offshore operators prepare for a similar incident, saying it's a valuable asset.

Whether it can profit from any industry innovations is debatable. The company sold all its offshore leases and oil and gas interests in 2008, four years after founder Patrick Taylor died.

"It's not normal to have a spill like this," said Ken Arnold, an industry consultant. "The whole thing surprises me. Normally, we fix things much more quickly than this."
___

Donn reported from Plymouth, Massachusetts.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-04-17

[FlipSide]

The wanton death, destruction, pollution and evil karma that has created some of the worlds worst wars to keep everyone addicted to oil as the main source of energy, it's so sad when we have had the technology since Victorian days with the genius of Tesla to create access to free energy. Unlimited sources of electricity freely & cleanly from the Orgone energy fields all around us. While any of the modern day inventors who have made their own devices, or promoted the free energy business have all been silenced, by threat or murder. The Energy business has become too powerful to mess with, & yet they seem to be able to write their own rules, control government policies and get away with murder, polluting, media lobbied lies time & time again. And you armchair critics who don't know what Free energy is, are just going to think I'm wearing a tin foil hat. Do your own research & expand the possibilities.

[Geordie59]

If that had been BP you can be sure they would have been told to fix it years ago, no matter what the cost.

Buy then Taylor Energy was probably and American company with friends in high places.

[Baerboxer]

If that had been BP you can be sure they would have been told to fix it years ago, no matter what the cost.

Buy then Taylor Energy was probably and American company with friends in high places.

Spot on - if it was BP Obama would again have got personally involved, lectured them severely and no doubt pointed out how much better those wonderful responsible caring American companies are.

But it seems an American company. So they are not only allowed to lie, do little to correct it as it might cost too much, but the government appears complicit too.

Obama wouldn't know the truth if it bit him.

But hey, he knows how to lay the law down for everyone else.

[Doc46]

The wanton death, destruction, pollution and evil karma that has created some of the worlds worst wars to keep everyone addicted to oil as the main source of energy, it's so sad when we have had the technology since Victorian days with the genius of Tesla to create access to free energy. Unlimited sources of electricity freely & cleanly from the Orgone energy fields all around us. While any of the modern day inventors who have made their own devices, or promoted the free energy business have all been silenced, by threat or murder. The Energy business has become too powerful to mess with, & yet they seem to be able to write their own rules, control government policies and get away with murder, polluting, media lobbied lies time & time again. And you armchair critics who don't know what Free energy is, are just going to think I'm wearing a tin foil hat. Do your own research & expand the possibilities.

There is no such thing as free energy,,,Nothing is free,,Many tried many things,,they all cost more to make or to store than what we have now,,FlipSide ,,,,,,,You Are Flipped,,,,,,

[Johpa]

Yes, that's right, Taylor is American and, don't you people listen to us at sporting events, We are Number One! We don't blame Taylor just like we don't blame GE for the Fukashima meltdown. When you are Number One, the fault can always be found elsewhere. All you European wussies, just get over it and blame the Greeks.

[Thongkorn]

If that had been BP you can be sure they would have been told to fix it years ago, no matter what the cost.

Buy then Taylor Energy was probably and American company with friends in high places.

It was an american company who ran the rig, but Anti British America made BP pay for it, America has two faces on many things, if its Involved in any thing one rule for the rest and one for Americas self interests.

[Credo]

If that had been BP you can be sure they would have been told to fix it years ago, no matter what the cost.

Buy then Taylor Energy was probably and American company with friends in high places.

It was an american company who ran the rig, but Anti British America made BP pay for it, America has two faces on many things, if its Involved in any thing one rule for the rest and one for Americas self interests.

So, let's see, this little deflection has to do with anti-British sentiment? You might want to consider that the BP disaster killed eleven people, or at least 11 people were never found and it is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. It had an enormous economic toll on the Gulf of Mexico at a time when the area was in a precarious economic situation.

[F430murci]

If that had been BP you can be sure they would have been told to fix it years ago, no matter what the cost.

Buy then Taylor Energy was probably and American company with friends in high places.

Spot on - if it was BP Obama would again have got personally involved, lectured them severely and no doubt pointed out how much better those wonderful responsible caring American companies are.

But it seems an American company. So they are not only allowed to lie, do little to correct it as it might cost too much, but the government appears complicit too.

Obama wouldn't know the truth if it bit him.

But hey, he knows how to lay the law down for everyone else.

I filed the second Class Action Complaint in the BP oil spill and was on the steering committee for the MDL. Nothing could be further from the truth.

BP was not singled out and as a Gulf resident who lived directly on the beach in Florida, got sick surfing in the tar balls and saw first hand the damage done by the BP spill in 100 feet off water just off shore up and down the Florida coast many miles from the spill . . . the Macondo blowout is an environmental disaster of epic proportions that US has never seen and the long term effects, especially the long term impact of the various forms of Corexit used to make to keep the oil off the surface and off the beaches to conceal what was really going on.

BP got off way too easy in the Macondo Deep Water Horizon spill, but carry on . . . Some of you guys just love the victim mentality, but at least try and pick a topic to play victim on you have some first hand knowledge or experience about before slinging such ridiculous allegations.

Edited April 18, 2015 by F430murci

[impulse]

If that had been BP you can be sure they would have been told to fix it years ago, no matter what the cost.

Buy then Taylor Energy was probably and American company with friends in high places.

It was an american company who ran the rig, but Anti British America made BP pay for it, America has two faces on many things, if its Involved in any thing one rule for the rest and one for Americas self interests.

Nice try. Transocean is Swiss.

[Sealbash]

If that had been BP you can be sure they would have been told to fix it years ago, no matter what the cost.

Buy then Taylor Energy was probably and American company with friends in high places.

It was an american company who ran the rig, but Anti British America made BP pay for it, America has two faces on many things, if its Involved in any thing one rule for the rest and one for Americas self interests.

What American company ran the rig?

Impulse beat me to it

Edited April 19, 2015 by Sealbash

[Soutpeel]

If that had been BP you can be sure they would have been told to fix it years ago, no matter what the cost.

Buy then Taylor Energy was probably and American company with friends in high places.

It was an american company who ran the rig, but Anti British America made BP pay for it, America has two faces on many things, if its Involved in any thing one rule for the rest and one for Americas self interests.

What American company ran the rig?

Impulse beat me to it

I suggest you read up on Transocean is a Swiss BASED company not a Swiss company Transocean is an American company and only set up the Swiss end of things in 2008 to circumnavigate tax it only employs 12 people in Switzerland, but nice try all the same

[impulse]

I suggest you read up on Transocean is a Swiss BASED company not a Swiss company Transocean is an American company and only set up the Swiss end of things in 2008 to circumnavigate tax it only employs 12 people in Switzerland, but nice try all the same

Look into the history of the company and you'll find a name also closely associated with the Ixtoc oil spill...

Edited April 19, 2015 by impulse