Deepwater Horizon

NEW ORLEANS - A former BP engineer was arrested on charges of intentionally destroying evidence requested by US authorities about the size of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The United States said Kurt Mix, who worked on internal BP efforts to estimate the amount of oil leaking from the well, deleted text messages between him and a supervisor. Mix, 50, was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in New Orleans and unsealed Tuesday.

NEW ORLEANS - A former BP engineer was arrested on charges of intentionally destroying evidence requested by US authorities about the size of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The United States said Kurt Mix, who worked on internal BP efforts to estimate the amount of oil leaking from the well, deleted text messages between him and a supervisor. Mix, 50, was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice in a criminal complaint filed in federal court in New Orleans and unsealed Tuesday.

A BP PLC well site leader on the Deepwater Horizon is appealing a judge's order he undergo a medical examination before he can claim to be unfit to answer questions under oath about the deadly 2010 rig explosion that spawned the nation's worst offshore oil spill. Last month, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said Donald Vidrine should undergo a medical exam. Vidrine was one of BP's well site leaders on the Deepwater Horizon and he has claimed medical problems should prevent him from being questioned.

Friday, April 20, is the 111th day of 2012. There are 255 days left in the year. Today's Birthdays: Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is 92. Actor Leslie Phillips is 88. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), is 76. Actor George Takei is 75. Singer Johnny Tillotson is 73. Actor Ryan O'Neal is 71. Bluegrass singer-musician Doyle Lawson (Quicksilver) is 68. Rock musician Craig Frost (Grand Funk; Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band) is 64. Actor Gregory Itzin is 64. Actress Jessica Lange is 63. Actress Veronica Cartwright is 63. Actor Clint Howard is 53. Actor Crispin Glover is 48. Actor Andy Serkis is 48. Country...

LOS ANGELES — The federal agency responsible for ensuring that the Deepwater Horizon was operating safely before it exploded last month fell well short of its own policy that the rig be inspected at least once per month, an Associated Press investigation found. In fact, the agency’s inspection frequency on the Deepwater Horizon fell dramatically over the past five years, according to federal Minerals Management Service records. The rig blew up April 20, killing 11 people before sinking and triggering a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

NEW YORK — The United States has approved the first deep-water drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico since last year’s massive oil spill. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement said yesterday that it issued a permit to Noble Energy Inc. to continue work on a well about 70 miles southeast of Venice, La. Noble started drilling the well four days before the Deepwater Horizon exploded. Drilling activity was suspended on June 12 under a moratorium the United States placed on exploration in waters deeper than 500 feet.

NEW YORK — The company that owns the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig will petition a federal court to cap its liability at less than $27 million. Transocean Ltd. would then be left with as much as $533 million in insurance money from the failed venture — almost enough to cover the revenue it expected from a three-year contract with BP. It has, however, estimated additional expenses from higher insurance premiums and legal fees of about $200 million. The move comes as lawsuits pile up against Transocean and BP, which leased the rig and is trying to shut off a well that’s...

WASHINGTON — The company that owned the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico is accusing BP of withholding critical evidence needed to investigate the cause of the worst offshore oil spill in US history, according to a confidential document obtained by the Associated Press. The complaint by Transocean follows similar complaints by US lawmakers about difficulties obtaining necessary information from BP in their investigations. In a sternly worded letter to BP’s attorneys, Transocean said the oil giant has in its sole possession information key to identifying...

WASHINGTON - A presidential commission that investigated the Gulf oil spill blasted Congress for inaction Tuesday as it issued a report card on industry and government response to the massive BP oil spill. "Across the board, we are disappointed with Congress's lack of action. Two years have passed since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers, and Congress has yet to enact one piece of legislation to make drilling safer," said former senator Bob Graham of Florida, a Democrat who cochaired the presidential...

ATLANTA - A year after it capped its out-of-control well in the Gulf of Mexico, oil giant BP PLC said yesterday that it is taking new steps to improve the reliability of the cement used to seal its wells and the fail-safe devices used to prevent blowouts. The US government welcomed the voluntary measures announced by the British firm - which seemed to target shortcomings addressed in several investigations of the disaster - but also noted that it has already established what it believes are strong safety and environmental standards that all operators are...

WASHINGTON - A presidential commission that investigated the Gulf oil spill blasted Congress for inaction Tuesday as it issued a report card on industry and government response to the massive BP oil spill. "Across the board, we are disappointed with Congress's lack of action. Two years have passed since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers, and Congress has yet to enact one piece of legislation to make drilling safer," said former senator Bob Graham of Florida, a Democrat who cochaired the presidential commission.

A BP PLC well site leader on the Deepwater Horizon is appealing a judge's order he undergo a medical examination before he can claim to be unfit to answer questions under oath about the deadly 2010 rig explosion that spawned the nation's worst offshore oil spill. Last month, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said Donald Vidrine should undergo a medical exam. Vidrine was one of BP's well site leaders on the Deepwater Horizon and he has claimed medical problems should prevent him from being questioned.

BP's settlement deal with thousands of victims of the 2010 Gulf oil spill is a major step toward putting the worst oil spill in U.S. history behind it. BP says it will not have to increase the $37.2 billion it has set aside to pay for the spill, and analysts say the settlement could allow BP to quickly resolve outstanding claims by states and the federal government. If approved by the court, the deal would settle lawsuits filed by 100,000 individuals and businesses affected by the spill.

NEW ORLEANS - A minority partner in BP's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico agreed yesterday to pay $90 million in a settlement with the federal government and Gulf states over the 2010 oil spill. It includes the largest civil penalty ever recovered under the federal Clean Water Act. MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC owned 10 percent interest in the Macondo well, about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. The well blew out in April 2010, destroying the BP-leased rig Deepwater Horizon, killing 11 men and resulting in the nation's worst offshore oil...

JACKSON, Miss. - Federal regulators cited BP PLC yesterday for a second set of alleged violations stemming from the 2010 well blowout that killed 11 rig workers and caused the worst offshore oil spill in US history. The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement cited BP for five alleged violations. The citations, announced after a further review of evidence, were in addition to seven others issued against BP in October. BP spokesman Scott Dean said the British company would appeal all the violations.

NEW ORLEANS - Word that the government is letting BP end its cleanup of the Gulf Coast left many residents seething and fearful over who would monitor or respond to any lingering effects of the worst oil spill in US history. Estimates that 90 percent of the region's shores have been cleaned of oil from last year's spill belie the sentiments of many locals who are likely to think first of BP when they spot tar balls or mats of weathered oil in the sand. Such waste has washed ashore for years from a variety of sources, but the spill's traumatic...

NEW ORLEANS — Flaws in Transocean Ltd.’s emergency training and equipment and a poor safety culture contributed to the deadly Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion that led to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to a report released yesterday. The Coast Guard report centered on Transocean’s role in the disaster because it owned the rig and was primarily responsible for ensuring its safety, the Coast Guard said. BP owned the well that blew out. The Coast Guard report also concluded that decisions made by workers aboard the rig, such as failing to follow procedures for...

BILOXI, Miss. — A key US government official said yesterday that the moratorium on deepwater oil drilling probably won’t be extended past Nov. 30, but whether it is cut short will depend on industry compliance with federal rules. Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, said during a break in a public forum in Mississippi that the industry must comply with current and soon-to-be-imposed safety regulations. He said the government is mindful of the impact the moratorium has had on communities that rely on offshore...

WASHINGTON - BP, running weeks behind schedule and tens of millions of dollars over budget trying to complete its troubled Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, took numerous shortcuts that contributed to the disastrous blowout and oil spill last year, federal investigators concluded in a report released yesterday. The central cause of the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig was a failure of the cement at the base of the 18,000-foot-deep well that was supposed to contain oil and gas within the well bore.

A year ago, Paul Gaj found himself in what he refers to as a pit of discouragement. A lifelong artist who early in his career made the leap from fine arts to the more marketable arena of commercial arts, he had been laid off from his position as creative director for a human resources technology company, and although he'd worked as a freelancer in the past and possessed skills in graphic design, exhibit design, architectural design, and...