http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/oilandgas_nsps/?r=232012&id=30706-2107199-hwfng6x

Tell the EPA

How can it be that on some days, the air in rural Wyoming is smoggier than the worst days in Los Angeles?

Oil and gas drilling in 30 states releases a slew of dangerous and toxic air pollution like smog-forming ozone, benzene and formaldehyde.

Despite the serious respiratory and neurological impacts, the clean air rules governing drilling pollution haven’t been updated since the 1980’s. And many of the worst chemicals still aren’t regulated at all.

The EPA has proposed long-overdue updates to oil and gas air pollution rules and is accepting public comments until November 30th. Amidst mounting industry pressure, and mounting political pressure from within the Obama administration to cave to polluters ahead of the 2012 election, it’s really important that the EPA hears our strong support.

Tell the EPA: Stop toxic air pollution from oil and gas drilling.

With the rapid expansion of oil and gas drilling – especially the controversial gas drilling process known as horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking – these rules need to be implemented without delay.

But the EPA has been under enormous pressure to delay or derail one clean air rule after another, as the agency works through the backlog of legally required clean air updates left in the wake of eight years of inaction and backsliding from the Bush Administration.

Unfortunately, many of President Obama’s advisers have gotten into the game too. This was detailed in a blockbuster article in this week’s New York Times, which chronicled the decision by President Obama and others to torpedo the EPA’s life-saving ozone rule.1

Tell the EPA: Don’t delay on strong rules to reduce air pollution from oil and gas drilling. Submit a comment now.

Many of these oil and gas drilling facilities operate in close proximity to homes or schools, where residents report severe headaches, dizziness, difficulty breathing, nosebleeds, rashes and even trouble walking or speaking.

The proposed rules are an important first step to limit toxic air pollution, using cost-effective, readily available technology. Unfortunately, the rules fail to address methane released from oil and gas, the most potent greenhouse gas pollutant — and should be strengthened to do so.

The oil and gas industry has been unaccountable for their pollution for far too long. As the President continues to approve expansion of oil and gas drilling, we need to show that the EPA has strong support for this rule to limit some of its toxic effects.

Submit a public comment now to tell the EPA to reduce toxic air pollution from oil and gas drilling.

http://www.keysnet.com/2011/11/17/397400/legislation-aimed-at-discouraging.html

Nelson introduces bill as rig set to arrive here soon
By David Goodhue dgoodhue@keysreporter.com
Posted – Thursday, November 17, 2011 04:53 PM EST

Bill Nelson, Florida’s senior senator, and a Senate colleague from New Jersey introduced a bill last week that would hold foreign oil companies directly accountable for oil spills that pollute U.S. territory. The bill was written in anticipation of a massive foreign offshore drilling operation that could begin in Cuban waters – as close as 50 miles from Key West – by late next month.
Nelson, a Democrat, and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., introduced the bill on Nov. 9. It ensures that in the event of an oil spill, claimants can directly sue companies responsible for the disaster. The bill also removes the $75 million liability cap.
Nelson and Menendez said in a statement that the legislation is meant to be a “big stick” to discourage foreign oil companies from drilling offshore near Florida.

“Hopefully, companies seeking to drill in Cuban waters will think twice once they know they would be fully liable for any damages to the Florida Keys, South Florida beaches, or if the spill reached the Gulf Stream, anywhere up the East Coast,” Menendez said in a prepared statement.

A statement from Nelson’s office said current law contains “ambiguities” that might allow companies “to argue that [lawsuits] could not be brought directly against them under the Oil Pollution Act, the main body of law that protects America from oil spills.”

Spanish oil company Repsol will be the first of several foreign companies to explore for oil in the Florida Straits aboard a giant Italian-owned semi-submersible rig constructed in China and Taiwan. The $750 million rig, named the Scarabeo 9, is en route to the Cuban coast and is expected to arrive in late December or January.

Companies from countries including Russia, Brazil, Vietnam and Norway will operate from the rig after Repsol. What is most concerning to some observers is the depth of the project – more than 6,000 feet underwater. The 2010 DeepWater Horizon/British Petroleum spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which took 85 days to stop, happened at a depth of 5,500 feet.

Another concern about the project stems from the 50-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba’s communist government. In the event of a spill, U.S. companies with needed expertise would be delayed in helping with cleanup efforts because they would need special permission from the federal government to operate in Cuban waters.

Nelson said any delay in spill mitigation could prove disastrous for Florida’s environment and tourism-dependent economy. “If there is a spill there, we could lose part of the Everglades, or the Keys, or the coral reefs, or our fishing industry or tourism – and jobs,” he said. How much oil is located in the area of the Florida Straits Repsol will explore is up for debate. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates about 5 billion barrels, but the Cuban government thinks the offshore area holds up to 20 billion barrels.

Cuba is not the only Florida neighbor hoping to take advantage of its potential oil reserves. A Bahamian energy investment firm, Bahamas Petroleum Co., said recently that it hopes to partner with a major oil company and begin exploration by 2012.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/11/17-3

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 17, 2011 11:34 AM

CONTACT: Friends of The Earth, Kelly Trout, 202-222-0722, ktrout@foe.org
Emilie Openchowski, 202-222-0723, eopenchowski@foe.org

This is so egregeous that I have posted it here even tho it is not technically offshore oil–it is onshore oil—taking a bad turn. DV

WASHINGTON – November 17 – A new tranche of internal State Department documents released today by public interest groups is raising fresh concerns about pro-pipeline bias — just as the department begins a new review of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline’s likely impacts.

“What we see in these new documents is additional evidence that State Department officials acted as though they were on the same team as TransCanada, rather than meeting their obligation to be independent regulators,” Friends of the Earth climate and energy director Damon Moglen said. “There are also a surprising number of redactions and withheld documents, begging the question: what is it that the State Department is covering up?”

Redactions litter a series of email exchanges around two internal State Department Keystone XL meetings, raising cover-up concerns. The excisions include correspondence involving Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Dan Clune and Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Environment, and Science Kerri-Ann Jones.

The documents were obtained via the Freedom of Information Act by Friends of the Earth, the Center for International Environmental Law and Corporate Ethics International, after the groups, represented by Earthjustice, sued the State Department to force their release.

Among other concerns, the documents:

Indicate State official Matthew McManus viewed a meeting with TransCanada as an opportunity to “be able to address the Nebraska/water issues with one voice,” raising the alarming possibility that State was collaborating with TransCanada to push back against Nebraskans’ concerns.
Demonstrate that in at least one lobby meeting orchestrated by Paul Elliott between TransCanada and the State Department, the controversial contractor Cardno Entrix was present.
Suggest State and TransCanada may have been coordinating on media strategy.
Show that State official Michael Stewart, who was called State’s “guru on all things Keystone XL” in one email, took a special tour of the Keystone I control room in Calgary with a TransCanada executive and in turn advocated high-level access for that executive.
Reference other documents that should have been provided or listed in response to the FOIA request but were not.

Earlier in November, the Inspector General of the State Department announced it was launching an investigation into wrongdoing in the department’s review of the Keystone XL pipeline. The investigation came in response to concerns raised by more than a dozen members of Congress led by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.).

“The further evidence of collaboration between State Department officials and TransCanada that these documents provide should disqualify the unrepentant State Department from playing any role in the new environmental review,” Moglen said. “Given that the State Department is already under investigation by its own Inspector General for conflicts of interest and potential malfeasance in its handling of the pipeline review process, it is neither appropriate nor acceptable that the department would remain in charge.”

The new tranche of documents, and a memo providing a more detailed overview of their contents, can be found at: http://foe.org/new-keystone-xl-documents-raise-fresh-concerns-about-state-department
###

Friends of the Earth is the U.S. voice of the world’s largest grassroots environmental network, with member groups in 77 countries. Since 1969, Friends of the Earth has fought to create a more healthy, just world.

Special thanks to Common Dreams.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/15/us-chevron-brazil-idUSTRE7AD1D420111115?type=GCA-GreenBusiness&feedType=RSS&

1:19pm EST
(Reuters) – Chevron Corp. said on Tuesday that oil flow from an appraisal well drilled at its Frade field in Brazil appears to have ceased, the first sign of progress in efforts to contain an oil spill in the region. Monitoring by the company also showed “a significant decrease” in the amount of oil observed leaking from a line of seeps on the ocean floor, the company said in a statement.

Cementing of the well, which is suspected to have been a cause for the oil leak, will be finished in coming days. Oil seeps have created a “sheen” with a volume of 400 barrels to 650 barrels of oil on the ocean in the area, which lies 370 kilometers (230 miles) northeast of Rio de Janeiro.

The statement is the first signal by the company that actions taken to control the spill are yielding results. Government officials began a probe and said that drilling likely increased pressure on the area where the well is located, leading to the leak.

The incident is likely to increase scrutiny of safety in Brazil’s offshore operations as the Latin American country seeks to tap huge, newly found reserves and become a major oil exporter. Analysts said it is too early to know whether the spill will slow Brazil’s plans to develop ultra-deepwater fields in the prolific region known as the subsalt, which is believed to hold more than 50 billion barrels of oil.

The Frade field is located in the Campos Basin, which produces the vast majority of Brazil’s oil, in water depths of 1,200 meters (3,800 feet). The company has said Frade is not part of the subsalt. Last year’s BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico spurred greater vigilance by regulatory authorities over Brazil’s offshore operations, state oil company Petrobras has said. New investments in the subsalt are on hold due to a political dispute over how to distribute royalties among states.

(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; editing by Bob Burgdorfer)

Special thanks to Richard Charter

sounds suspicious. DV

http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/chevron-brazil-idINN1E7A91MQ20111111

Fri Nov 11, 2011 6:15am IST

* Regulator says leak one km from Chevron’s Frade field

* Company says leaking from seep, unrelated to production (Adds Chevron statement)

Nov 10 (Reuters) – An oil leak near Chevron’s Frade field off Brazil’s coast, which had temporarily halted work there, is from a natural seep on the seabed and is unrelated to Frade’s production, Chevron said on Thursday.

Chevron Corp (CVX.N) said it had notified the appropriate agencies and was working with partners to deploy response vessels to control the sheen and minimize any environmental impact.

“An inspection of the Frade facility found that production activities were unrelated to the sheen and production is continuing,” the U.S. oil company said in a statement.

A subsea vehicle deployed by Chevron found the source was a seep, where hydrocarbons naturally escape from underground. Investigations into the sheen’s causes were continuing, Chevron said.

ANP, Brazil’s oil regulator, has begun its own investigation after earlier reporting oil on the ocean surface about a kilometer (0.6 mile) from the Frade field, which began production in 2009 and averaged 50,000 barrels per day of output in 2010.

After flyovers of the area, Chevron estimated the total volume on the surface at about 60 barrels of oil.

Chevron owns 51.7 percent of Frade, while state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) has a 30 percent slice and the remainder belongs to the Frade Japao Petroleo consortium.
The field is about 230 miles (370 km) from the northeast coast of Rio de Janeiro state and its output feeds into a floating production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), according to details on Chevron’s website.

The company has been drilling to add five more development wells and three injection wells to the project on top of the existing eight development and four injection wells.
The leak is in the Campos Basin, which accounts for the bulk of Brazil’s oil output off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. Brazil’s output is expected to leap from about 2 million barrels of crude per day now, once vast reserves lying at depths of about 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) below the seabed come on stream.

The ANP tightened regulations for offshore oil production in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010 which dumped millions of barrels of crude into the ocean following an explosion on a drilling rig working for BP (BP.L). (Reporting by Brian Ellsworth, Reese Ewing and Sabrina Lorenzi and Peter Murphy, with additional reporting by Braden Reddall in San Francisco; editing by Sofina Mirza-Reid, Phil Berlowitz)
REGULATORY NEWS

Special thanks to Rchard Charter