Oil Seeping News

BP pays billions in compensation but some claims still unpaid; Oil still appearing on beaches in Gulf of Mexico. Company says claims process is flawed, not all oil from spill. Four years after the Deepwater Horizon spill, oil is still washing up on the long sandy beaches of Grand Isle, Louisiana, and some islanders are fed up with hearing from BP that the crisis is over. Jules Melancon, the last remaining oyster fisherman on an island dotted with colourful houses on stilts, says he has not found a single oyster alive in his leases in the area since the leak and relies on an onshore oyster nursery to make a living. He and others in the southern U.S. state say compensation has been paid unevenly and lawyers have taken big cuts.

Four years after the Deepwater Horizon spill, oil is still washing up on the long sandy beaches of Grand Isle, Louisiana, and some islanders are fed up with hearing from BP that the crisis is over. Jules Melancon, the last remaining oyster fisherman on an island dotted with colourful houses on stilts, says he has not found a single oyster alive in his leases in the area since the leak and relies on an onshore oyster nursery to make a living. He and others in the southern U.S. state say compensation has been paid unevenly and lawyers have taken big cuts. The British oil major has paid out billions of dollars in compensation under a settlement experts say is unprecedented in its breadth. Some claimants are satisfied, but others are irate that BP is now challenging aspects of the settlement.

“This boat was five years in the planning,” said LA Carriers owner, Russel Plaisance, as he looked over a tug that he will place into operation by the end of December. The new vessel, to be named Lady Loren, will be the seventh vessel in the LA Carriers fleet. The boat is building at Dickie Adams Lockport Fabrication Inc. Plaisance first went to work on his dad’s fishing boat at 17 and by 21 he had his masters license. Several decades have passed since that time and each year has taught him a bit more about the maritime business and boats to serve it.

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, touring beaches devastated by oil seeping from a sunken tanker off the Atlantic coast, pledged to press for stricter global safety rules. Jospin, who cut short a trip to Egypt to return to France as it was hit by violent storms that killed some 60 people and drove two separate oil slicks to its coastline, vowed to use the French presidency of the European Union next year to push for new laws. "We are going to draw the lessons for international regulations," he said. "We are going to make precise proposals. French media reported that the oil slicks, which seeped from the tanker Erika after it sank on Dec. 12, were now threatening 250 miles of France's rugged Atlantic coast, which is heavily dependent on fishing and tourism.