8 months after BP Gulf oil spill began, BP’s Operation Deep Clean, which is responsible for cleaning up area beaches, is winding down.
The Coast Guard says 30 miles of the original 928 miles of oil-soiled beach still have to be cleaned. But, you don’t have to dig far down into the sand to smell oil and experts believe oil will continue to wash in from the Gulf as well as bubble up to the surface from under the sand.
About 6000 people and 380 vessels are still working on clean-up, down from 47,000 people and over 10,000 vessels at the height of the catastrophe.
Shell’s Clean Air Permits Revoked in Arctic
While the Obama Administration continues to evaluate whether oil drilling will be allowed off the coast of the Alaska, native and conservation groups stepped in to challenge Shell’s permits.
They succeeded in revoking Shell’s clean air permits which allow the company to drill exploration wells in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.
A coalition of groups appealed to the federal Environmental Appeals Board that the permits, which were granted by the US EPA, violate the Clean Air Act. The permits allow Shell to emit tons of pollutants into the Arctic environment from a drill ship and support vessels.
The Appeals Board revoked the permits, telling the EPA to analyze the impact of nitrogen dioxide emissions from the ships on Alaska Native communities.
Without those permits, Shell can’t proceed with its drilling plans in 2011.
Interior Allows Resumed Drilling
Meanwhile, the Obama administration has decided to allow 13 companies to resume deepwater drilling without additional environmental scrutiny. The decision comes after the administration said it would require strict reviews for new drilling in the Gulf.
The Dept of Interior gave those companies the go-ahead, they say, because they were in the middle of previously approved projects when the Gulf spill occurred.
The drilling moratorium that was put in force after the BP spilll ended in October. The Obama administration has been under intense pressure to resume drilling from Gulf state leaders, congressional Republicans and the oil industry.
"We are taking into account the special circumstances of those companies whose operations were interrupted by the moratorium and ensuring that they are able to resume previously approved activities," said Michael Bromwich, head of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
The 13 companies are: ATP Oil & Gas; BHP Billiton Petroleum; Chevron USA; Cobalt International Energy; ENI U.S. Operating Co. Inc.; Hess Corp.; Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp.; Marathon Oil Co.; Murphy Exploration & Production-USA; Noble Energy Inc.; Shell Offshore; Statoil USA; and Walter Oil & Gas Corp.
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