Environment

Government Files First Criminal Charges In BP Oil Spill

Credit U.S. Coast Guard / Getty Images

Fire boats battle a fire at the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon in April of 2010.

By editor

Originally published on Tue April 24, 2012 1:31 pm

"The first criminal charges in connection with the BP oil spill have been filed against a former BP engineer named Kurt Mix," NPR's Carrie Johnson reports exclusively.

Carrie just told our Newscast unit that Mix has been charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly deleting text messages after the spill. The texts were related to the amount of oil gushing into the Gulf. Mix will make his first appearence in court today.

5:06 pm

Fri April 20, 2012

Two Years Later, BP Spill Reminders Litter Gulf Coast

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Credit Mario Tama / Getty Images

Pictured here on April 13, 2011, Barataria Bay — part of Louisiana's Barataria Basin — was one of the hardest hit areas in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. Today, obvious signs of the spill have faded, but communities are still reeling from its effects.

Credit Debbie Elliott / NPR

Orange Beach, Ala., Environmental Manager Phillip West holds a tar ball that has washed onto the area's sugar-white sand beaches. He says the clumps of weathered oil come in when the surf is rough — an indication that two years later, there's still oil lingering offshore.

Credit Debbie Elliott / NPR

Two years later, this Bay Jimmy island is part of 200 miles of Louisiana shoreline still fouled by the BP oil spill. A layer of oil has hardened along the coast, creating a thick layer of asphalt-like tar that's choking the edge of the marsh and accelerating an already alarming rate of coastal erosion.

By Debbie Elliott

Originally published on Fri April 20, 2012 5:17 pm

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It's been two years since the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 rig workers and unleashing the worst oil spill in U.S. history. The oil has long stopped flowing and BP spent billions of dollars to clean up oiled beaches and waterways, but the disaster isn't necessarily over.

Oil fouled some 1,100 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline, but today, in most spots, you can't see obvious signs of the spill. In Orange Beach, Ala., the clear emerald waters of the Gulf roll onto sugar-white sand beaches.

10:25 am

Thu April 19, 2012

Scientists: Fish are Sick Where BP's Oil Spill Hit

By The Associated Press

BARATARIA BAY, La. (AP) — Two years after the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, scientists say they're finding trouble with sick fish that dwell along offshore reefs and in the deep waters — especially in places where the oil spill hit the hardest.

6:00 am

Thu April 12, 2012

Tabasco Joins Forces with America's Wetland Foundation to Fight Coastal Erosion

By Eileen Fleming

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A leading Louisiana export is joining the effort to fight coastal erosion, and asking consumers around the world to help save the wetlands.

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11:05 am

Tue April 24, 2012