Contractor Claims BP (NYSE:BP) Got in the Way of Important Operations

BP was accused of interfering in operations which were considered a vital part of attempting to shut down the oil spill leaking into the Gulf by the president of Smit Salvage Americas, Doug Martin.

After the explosion the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, Smit Salvage was hired in an attempt to save the rig.

"When they wanted to calculate the heat load on the boat, I said, 'How do you know how hot the fire is?'" Martin asserted to the joint U.S. Coast Guard-Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement investigative panel. "I had a hard time believing there was data available at that time to do that. That's why I felt it was better just to keep the boat cool and use common sense tools to get the ROV in the water."

BP said through a spokesman that the reason for their actions was to ensure the safety of the people on the rig.

The dispute was over lowering a underwater robot which was going to be used to close the blowout preventer, the last line of defense against oil spilling into the Gulf.

When lawyers questioned Martin he wilted and wasn't as confident in his assertions when he had the floor to himself.

Texas Bills BP (NYSE:BP) And They Paid In Full

Instead of hearing whining and complaining from states who feel they haven't been adequately compensated by BP (NYSE:BP), Texas billed the company and got paid in full. Something to note also, the bill wasn't excessive and lacked the greed that some of the other states seem to have with the astronomical amounts being asked for.

The bill was for $174,295, according to Jim Suydam, Texas General Land Office spokesman. The charges include personnel and vehicle expenses related to the oil spill. A check was received Monday by the agency. The amount included the amount of $77,500 which was the amount used for fire boom that had been used during the initial oil spill cleanup.

Testing in July proved tar bars that were found on McFadden Beach were from BP's oil spill. Suydam stated that Texas will usually bill a party if scientifically identified. While expenses from an unknown source are covered by a tax in a fund on imported oil barrels.

BP's (NYSE:BP) Allen Approved Over 74 Exemptions For Chemical Use

While we are all aware of BP's (NYSE:BP) use of the toxic chemical Corexit, documents have brought to light the excessive use of the chemical despite the Environmental Protection Agency's order to not use it. The order was given by the EPA on May 26th.

The documents, released by a congressional subcommittee states that BP was ordered to use the chemical sparingly and rarely. Coast Guard officials ignored this order, and allowed the company to use hundreds of thousands of dispersants in the Gulf.

There are over 74 documented cases that show the Coast Guard giving exemptions for the use of the chemical, despite the order against it. The time frame was only 48 days that these massive amounts of dispersants were used. One of the documents show that BP was actually given the "OK" to use more chemicals then what was even requested.

Thad Allen, the retired Coast Guard admiral who is in charge of leading the oil spill cleanup efforts defended his decision. He said that the overall use of the chemical dispersants dropped significantly after the EPA's order. Although, on some days the amount of surface oil warranted a "tactical" decision to use them.

Romney on Obama's Mishandling of BP (NYSE:BP) Oil Spill

Obama's inexperience has tragically revealed itself, and the country is paying for it dearly as oil from the BP (NYSE:BP) disaster continues to pour into the Gulf of Mexico, while no one to this day seems to be in charge.

Mitt Romney is the latest to address the mishandling of the crisis by Obama and his administration.

Romney said about Obama's failure, "In this kind of a crisis situation, the president's response should have been to step in, bring in the experts, people from various oil companies, from leading institutions, academic and engineering firms and look at the options for actually capping this oil spill and then actually making those decisions."

Others who have actual management experience have stated similar things. Obama's enlisting of clueless college professors and government scientists has been blasted by many of those viewing the situation as well, saying Obama should have gone out and recruited experienced people who have dealt with similar circumstances.

Obama wouldn't even accept the help of nations with oil skimmers which could have extracted oil from the Gulf almost immediately, because of his catering to unions who would have thrown a fit because he allowed foreign boats in the area which hadn't been built in the country. President Bush trumped the draconian law which was implemented in 1920, and allowed ships in to help with Katrina, which the majority say he did a better job of managing.

BP (NYSE:BP) Oil Spill Cleanup, Wildlife Effects Worsen

It's a sad scene as BP (NYSE:BP) continues their attempt on the oil spill cleanup, wildlife habitats continue to be destroyed and they are moving to shallow waters. Off of the Alabama pier there is a vast and massive variety of animals showing up on shore such as sting rays, crabs, mullets, and small fish trying to find refuge from the oil polluted waters. Off the coast of Florida sharks and dolphins are making their appearance in shallow waters.

This might seem positive but it is not. For these animals to leave their natural habitats and be showing up in extremely shallow waters is an indication that they are fleeing from the oil that has most likely destroyed their homes. Not to mention the fact that with such a dense amount of animals in such small areas, oxygen will run out causing mass die-offs. They are also easy targets for prey.

Larry Crowder, a Duke University marine biologist said, "A parallel would be: Why are the wildlife running to the edge of a forest fire ? There will be a lot of fish, sharks, and turtles trying to get out of this water they detect is unsuitable."

Scientist are daily going out to inspect and collect the hurt and dead animals. They say the numbers are relatively small considering the massive amount of oil that has been deposited into the ocean. Although they fear most fatalities will never fully be accounted for because most animals that can't make it to the shallow waters will die and end up on the bottom of the ocean. The most recent figures of fatalities are: birds 783, turtles 353, and 41 mammals.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL): We're Not Responsible For Spill Containment or Spill Cleanup

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) seems to be under the impression they are absolutely absolved of all responsibility in the current oil spill containment efforts. Rep. Edward Markey wrote letters to all companies involved in the hazardous oil spill requesting contributions to an independent science fund, they got the "cold shoulder" from Halliburton and no funds were given. BP on the other hand offered, within three days a $500 million commitment.

"Halliburton is apparently more worried about litigation than scientific investigations," said Rep. Markey, who is one of the chairman of the Energy and Environmental Subcommittee. "In order to prevent catastrophes like this from ever occurring again, this disaster needs to be a teachable, researchable moment. Halliburton seems more worried about their own impeachable moment."

Tim Probert, Halliburton's president responded personally to Markey by letter yesterday. He stated that he did not believe their company was one of the responsible parties for the oil spill cleanup. Despite the fact Halliburton was the company who had been working on the cement plug that failed on the Deepwater Horizon.

BP's (NYSE:BP) New Plans, Will Make Spill Worse

As BP (NYSE:BP) is putting together a new plan, after the failed "top kill" attempt, it could only make things worse. Although it would only be temporarily.

Carol Browner, the White House energy czar said, "the American people need to know that it is possible we will have oil leaking from this well until August, when the relief wells will be finished." The other complication is that storm season is moving into the Gulf. As storms move in, this causes the oil recovery operations to come to a halt.

Michael Dixon, a lieutenant in charge of oil recovery operations at the Coast Guard Venice staging area said, "the way that the currents are treating this, and the ongoing leaking of oil, this is basically small spills all over the place. It's a series of a lot of small oil spills. We're fighting on a lot of fronts."

So our worst fears are being realized, our oceans will continue to be polluted, our shorelines destroyed, stocks will continue to fall, and the full effects on humans has yet to be fully realized.

BP (NYSE:BP) Stock Plummets Then Rises

BP (NYSE:BP) share prices reflect peoples uncertainty of what will happen as BP starts their "top kill" endeavor. Earlier in the day, BP's stocks fell 1.6 percent. This was as many were waiting in anticipation to hear of news on what BP was going to do.

Than BP shares started rising, seeing an increase of up to 2.6 percent to 498 pence. This being overall in Britain's FTSE 100 index seeing a 2.8 percent increase. This increase was as market talk was optimistic to hear that BP was close to giving a positive update on the situation.

Panmure Gordon analyst Peter Hitchens said, "this week is going to be fairly crucial for the company. If the top kill doesn't work the stocks going to continue to languish.

"Once you get this well under control the stock will recover a lot of lost ground, but until that happens people are just going to be nervous."

Since the oil spill disaster started April 20th, the company has lost $50 billion of its market value. That's about a quarter of its total value.

BP (LON:BP) Adds Independent Claims Mediator

BP (LON:BP) (NYSE:BP) said they've appointed an independent claims mediator to handle the myriad of damage claims coming from the large oil spill after the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said in a statement, "We are absolutely committed to a simple, fair claims process that gets funds to people who have been hurt by this disaster as quickly as possible."

So far over 26,000 claims have been filed, with payments of over $36 million being awarded to date.

BP's (NYSE:BP) Oil Leak Control Efforts Have Declined

Despite the continued efforts of BP (NYSE:BP) to contain the massive oil leak, it is not working as well as before. BP's PLC officials stated Sunday that the mile long tube that was inserted into the spewing oil, is not as effective.

John Curry, BP's spokesman told the Associated Press Sunday that there has been a substantial drop in the amount the tube is siphoning to the surface. As of Friday there was a reported 92,400 gallons a day being collected. On Sunday there was a big drop, down to 57,120 gallons a day.

Three of Obama's top administration officials are heading back to the Gulf Coast to monitor the ongoing oil spill cleanup efforts.

Meanwhile, engineers continue on in their efforts to try and get some control over the oil disaster. This is as the crude oil continues to wash into our shores, wildlife is at a continued high danger, and anger with BP and the government continues to grow.

Has BP (NYSE:BP) Covered Up Extent of Oil Spill?

The idea that BP (NYSE:BP) is attempting to cover up the extent and degree of the oil spill has been thrown out there by the media, but in truth, it's ridiculous when you think about it.

There they are in the public and media eye attempting to do everything they can to stop the flow of oil, and to think they're concerned about the exact amount of oil leaking rather than trying to stop it, would be irresponsible on their part.

It makes no difference whatsoever how much oil is spreading throughout the ocean, from the point of view of trying to plug it oil well, as it's going to keep coming until it's plugged, no matter what the figures are.

BP has rightly said there's no way to know exactly how much is coming, and have stated that's not their priority, and rightly so.

The only priority and focus BP should have is on working as efficiently and effectively as they can to stop the oil leak, and from there work on the rest.

There's a growing suspicion on what the agenda is for those pushing this cover-up idea out there. What is there to cover-up? BP has already said they're going to pay for legitimate claims, and are obviously paying for the attempt to stop the leak, and will pay for cleanup efforts.

Conspiracy theorists evidently don't think this is good enough, and are trying to make something out of nothing, in order to attack the overall oil drilling industry at a weak moment. There can be no doubt this is part of the agenda.

The big, bad oil company hiding the exact amount of oil leaking in the ocean while the entire world watches. That really makes sense.

BP (NYSE:BP) Pollution Cleanup Continues, Cover up Denied

BP (NYSE:BP) had estimated that the fuel oil spill from the oil pipeline was around 5,000 barrels a day. The U.S. government and some scientist have doubted and questioned this figure as the pollution cleanup continues.

BP oil has said that some of the third party estimates on the daily loss from the oil spill are inaccurate and are adamantly denying a cover up. A spokesman from the BP oil company said Friday, "it was only ever meant to be a rough estimate." This statement was prompted by the accusations by U.S. lawmakers accused them of hiding the true and full estimate of the spill.

BP has also stated that there are several ways to measure the oil that is leaking. The damage to the pipe has distorted the diameter by 30 percent, although this flow has been reduced by an additional 10 percent due to the pipe trapped inside the riser.

"Thus, some third party estimates of flow, which assume a 19.5 inch diameter, are inaccurate," BP said. Plus, there is data showing that 50 percent of the plume formed by the oil leak is natural gas not oil.