Justin Velez-Hagan
+ FollowHas BP Paid its Dues?
It’s been nearly two years since the BP oil spill tore through national headlines. Although news from Bin Laden’s death to the Republican takeover in the House to Casey Anthony has kept BP off the front page, the question on everyone’s minds remains: What has BP really done to make up for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?
Most of us can quickly conjure images of the daunting video footage of the uncapped Deepwater Horizon oil leak that was seemingly unstoppable, but after 87 long days, its flow was finally stemmed and the well was deemed “effectively dead” by the federal government.
The formerly named British Petroleum, now simply called “BP,” has been making up for it ever since.
After initially spending more than $1 billion per month in cleanup efforts, BP also quickly set up the highly publicized $20 billion relief fund to compensate victims of the oil spill. And that’s just the start of it.
BP Safety Improvements
Any company that has been around as long as BP – and has been as successful – is going to be adept at repairing and maintaining its image and reputation. In the case of the Gulf oil spill, BP’s existence depends on insuring that a similar incident never happens again.
According to BP, fundamental changes have been made within the organization from the top down. Following former CEO Tony Hayward’s resignation, BP has attempted to change a culture that it admits was partially responsible for the oil disaster by creating an independent Safety and Operational Risk group, which evaluates and intervenes in situations of safety concern and reports directly to the CEO.
In addition to complying with enhanced regulations in the Gulf and throughout the world, BP has also implemented voluntary standards that go beyond what is required. Some of these include updated and independently reviewed standards for cementing procedures (which many viewed as the root cause for the initial explosion) as well as new industry-leading spill-response and containment procedures.
The Gulf’s Economy
With sluggish unemployment, job growth, and business development across the U.S., nothing is more important to the Gulf region’s residents than stalling the negative economic ramifications of the oil spill, especially within the tourism and seafood industries.
To promote tourism within the affected states, BP has given more than $180 million to be used to promote the Gulf’s tourist spots, events, festivals, etc., all to bring more people to the region or keep people coming back who might otherwise have sought new locations for family vacations.
From Louisiana Gumbo to fresh Florida fish, Gulf seafood is an intricate part of the region’s culture as well as its economy. Proving again that safety is a priority, tens of millions of dollars have been devoted to setting up seafood testing programs, which detect whether seafood is infected with or impacted by oil or other contaminants. To ensure that Americans continue to buy from the Gulf, another $50+ million has been designated for seafood promotion.
The Environment
The exact environmental impact that has resulted from oil contaminants may never be fully understood. For that reason BP seems to recognize that very few would accept a fixed amount of expenditures set aside for studying, monitoring, and repairing the environment, when efforts to repair the region may continue long into the future. BP has already spent billions on cleanup, hundreds of millions on a Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, and untold millions on monitoring health effects and natural resource damage.
BP may never be able to take back the explosion on Deepwater Horizon, but one thing seems certain: BP is dead set on preventing another similar incident and is providing every resource at its disposable to make up for the damage caused to the environment and the economy.
Will it be enough to save the Gulf and BP’s reputation? Although BP’s per-share price is not back up to pre-Deepwater levels, they have nearly doubled since the fateful incident. The Gulf region’s tourism and other affected industries have mostly recovered as well, causing many analysts to consider BP’s response to the disastrous oil spill a success.
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2 Responses to Has BP Paid its Dues?
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One paragraph dedicated to a claims process that has been cited and litigated over by AG's in the Gulf states? Really? Incomes gone, minimal shrimp with mutations and no eyes… over 27,000 dead dolphin neonates washed up on shores? Sick people silenced by lack of adequate health care and a CDC/EPA/FDA all accepting money hand over fist from BP to keep it that way? Shame on you for allowing yourself to be part of the problem and NOT part of the solution. The horrors of the Gulf are being written, and the worst chapters are yet to come. 4.9 MILLION BARRELS of OIL and nearly 2 MILLION GALLONS of Corexit dispersant do not just up and disappear in less than 2 years. I suggest you take a trip to the Exxon Valdez site, now 20 years later, and look at the statistics. They have had 20 years to fix their inadequate procedures, improve their horrific safety records (BP being one of the worst) and yet in that same 20 year period, PROFITS and GREED were more important than SAFETY or SOLUTIONS. And as long as you write stories like this, 20 years from now we'll still be wondering why you didn't do your research and report the TRUTH.