Photo by Mark O'Neil. Some rights reserved.
Though much of the world seems to have moved on from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the struggle continues along the Gulf of Mexico. Last week, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) announced its final rules governing payment options and final payment methodology after receiving more than 1,440 comments from individuals and businesses. These comments range from pleas to move forward quickly to a 24-page comment from BP PLC itself, saying that Kenneth Feinberg’s allocation of the $20 billion damages fund has been overly generous.
In a recent press release, the Gulf Coast Restoration and Protection Foundation announced that qualified workers will have a second opportunity to apply for financial assistance this spring, stating that “up to 9,000 people might qualify for awards ranging from $3,000-30,000.”
There is another mammalian population that seems to be suffering from the fallout of the spill that cannot even apply for restitution. The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (IMMS) announced this week that dead baby dolphins have been washing ashore at ten times the normal rate. Some 26 dolphins, many aborted before they reached maturity, have been found along the Mississippi and Alabama coastlines in recent weeks.
Though experts have not officially linked the spike in death rates to the oil spill, this is the first birthing season for dolphins since the oil spill last year. As institute director Moby Solangi told reporters, “this is more than just a coincidence.”
Mortality rates in the Gulf Coast dolphin population tripled last year; with a gestation period of 11 to 12 months, the baby dolphins now being found were conceived at least two months before the Deepwater Horizon exploded.
Meanwhile, in light of the continued unrest in Libya (the world’s 17th-largest oil producer) and the surrounding area, key House Republicans are urging the Obama Administration to move forward with the issuing of offshore oil-and-gas drilling permits. BP has announced this week that it will pay $7.2 billion for a stake in India’s rapidly expanding oil industry; the historic partnership with Reliance Industries Limited is slated to combine Reliance’s project management expertise “with BP’s world-class deepwater exploration and development capabilities.”
