Companies that developed new ways to contain offshore oil spills after the Deepwater Horizon disaster are taking the technology global, hoping to burnish their reputations and reduce the risks of a perilous but profitable business.

Patrina Lott, a former employee of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility call center in Jacksonville, was indicted Wednesday on eight counts of wire fraud, arising out of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a news release from the U.S.Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida. The GCCF reviewed and processed claims for damages related to the oil spill. The Jacksonville woman is accused of using her position to falsely reissue, via wire transfers, of previously

A New Orleans court sets a date of January 14 for the trial over civil damages arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

BP Plc. (NYSE: BP) won preliminary approval of its proposed $7.8 billion settlement of claims relating to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP has received preliminary approval from a court in New Orleans for its estimated $7.8bn settlement with private sector plaintiffs over damages arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the

Following the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP decided not to leave the Gulf of Mexico and opted instead to increase investment as part of its renewed commitment to the region, a company executive said.

The blowout triggered an explosion that killed 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, launched the nation's worst oil spill and set off a flurry of political rhetoric and outrage that since has diminished. The Center for Offshore Safety, created by API, the industry's top trade group, is focusing on helping oil companies and their contractors develop and strengthen federally mandated

The National Water Quality Monitoring Council's Eighth National Monitoring Conference features the latest information about the nation's water quality from governmental and tribal organizations, academia, environmental groups, and the private sector, including new USGS research. The conference will be held in Portland, Ore., April 30 th -May 4th, 2012. If you are a member of the media and interested in attending any of these USGS presentations or speaking with the presenter, please contact Kara Capelli: kcapelli@usgs.gov , (571) 420-9408. New Research in the Pacific Northwest: Contaminants in the Columbia River near Columbia City: Endocrine disrupting chemicals, PAH's, DDT and other contaminants are widespread in the lower Columbia River and in largescale suckers. New USGS research found a study site near Columbia City, Ore. tended to have the highest concentrations of contaminants. This presentation by Elena Nilsen, titled "Emerging and Legacy Contaminants in POCIS, SPMDs, Sediments, and the Largescale...

U.S. Department of Justice officials on Tuesday arrested Kurt Mix, a former engineer at BP Plc (NYSE: BP), on charges of intentionally destroying evidence requested by federal criminal authorities during their investigation of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement that Mix, a 50-year-old resident of Katy, Texas, had deleted records relating to the amount of oil flowing from the Macondo well after the explosion. He was charged with two counts of obstruction