Houston BP and Transocean lacked clear guidelines for key tests to ensure that the ill-fated Macondo well was safely sealed before it ruptured and triggered the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, US safety investigators said.

The preliminary report from the US Chemical Safety Board, to be delivered at a public hearing in Houston on Tuesday, puts the spotlight back on missteps highlighted in prior investigations as BP faces potential civil and even criminal penalties over the incident.

DONKAMOKAM: Sensation prevailed in and around Boithalangso area in west Karbi Anglong when people found burned oil flowing along the Barapani River. Soon the news of oil spilling started spreading the entire area where Boithalangso Police necessitated to alert and warn not to throw any burning chemicals into the river.

Later the public along with administration inquired the main cause in ASEB office, situated at Amtereng but they too cannot ascertain the fact initially. Later in the afternoon, the GM of ASEB suspected that there is a stock of 16,000 litres of generator burned oil in the project site which might have spilled in water.

Brazil's National Petroleum Agency, or ANP, is unlikely to fine U.S. oil major Chevron Corp.

Scottish drinks company Whyte and MacKay has been fined £9,000 after a spill from its distillery in Invergordon polluted the Cromarty Firth at Saltburn Pier, said the Scottish Environment Protectio

Surat: Pristine beaches of Umargam and Nargol are raising a stink once again. Oil slick, which coagulated as black balls, has once again hit the coast, leaving fisher folk jittery.

The beaches affected in the past four days include Nargol, Tadgam, Maroli, Saronda, Umargam and Daman. “The slick has kept us away from the beach. This will be equally hazardous for us and the marine life,” said Jitu Tandel, a fisherman of Nargol village. The presence of oil particles has also pushed fish into deep waters. “Now we will have to go into deep sea to find fish, which is possible only for fishermen who have bigger vessels,” he said.

Drawing India into the South China Sea muddle, China has put up a Vietnamese petroleum block under exploration by an Indian oil firm for global bidding.

Ahmedabad: Pollution control vessel, a dedicated oil spill recovery vessel, second of its class in Asia-Pacific region, will be commissioned by Indian Coast Guard in Surat on July 20. The 94-metre-long vessel with displacement of 3,300 tonnes is a highly specialized ship fitted with top-of-shelf technologically advance pollution response equipment and is capable of recovering and neutralizing different kinds of oil spills in the sea.

The vessel boasts of an integrated platform management system, a perfect example of human machine interface. It interfaces the main machinery, sensors and equipment onboard the ship, which can be operated and monitored from a remote location. Automation is the keyword for this system.

Yeosu, South Korea: The massive oil spill in ’95 that caused destruction of sea life in the waters of Yeosu, is a thing of the past.

The alternative alignment (4A) for the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project without cutting across the Adams Bridge or Ram Setu is not economically and ecologically feasible, according to a report of the expert committee headed by R. K. Pachauri submitted by the Centre in the Supreme Court.

The committee was constituted to consider whether the project could be implemented through the alternative alignment (4A) that would cut through the spit of land just east of Dhanushkodi. Work on the present alignment (No.6), which cuts through the Ram Setu, was stayed by the Supreme Court in the wake of considerable opposition to the project.