Vinton Blog

The gusher unleashed in the Gulf of Mexico continues to spew crude oil. There are no reliable estimates of how much oil is pouring into the gulf. But it comes to many millions of gallons since the catastrophic blowout. Eleven men were killed in the explosions that sank one of the most sophisticated drilling rigs […]

Dr. Jeff Masters,  a noted meteorologist, stated that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill has pushed steadily westward along the Louisiana coast, and is expected to reach central Louisiana near Atchafalaya Bay by Thursday, according to the latest trajectory forecasts from NOAA. Winds over the Gulf of Mexico this week will blow from the southeast at 15 – 20 […]

Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded and sank killing 11 and creating a growing oil spill, today filed a request in Houston federal court to limit its liability in the lawsuits filed against it to about $27 million. U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison was assigned the case. The Limitation of Liability Act […]

The president of Daybrook Fisheries, Gregory Holt, has called the growing oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico a “nightmare.”  The major fish processor exports fish oil and fish meal around the world and employs hundreds of people in southern Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish. Three weeks into the 6-month fishing season, the giant oil slick is already having a […]

The Louisiana Chemical Association has enlisted its members, along with Gov. Jindal, the Chamber of Commerce, the state’s congressional delegation and others to sanction Tulane University, whose environmental law clinic is targeted in SB 549. Association President Dan Borné said Tulane “flies cover for a unit that attacks state agencies and kills jobs.” Adam Babich, director […]

Congressional hearings today elicited evidence that a key safety device known as the blowout preventer used in the BP oil rig in the Gulf had a hydraulic leak and other problems that likely prevented it from working as designed. They also said BP PLC and other documents also indicated confusion over whether poor pipe integrity was […]

Columnist Jim Gill of the New Orleans Times-Picayune writes, a Senate committee will consider a bill filed on behalf of oil and chemical companies that “want the freedom to poison our air and water without further interference from the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic.” And, “The sight of powerful industries running to the Legislature seeking protection from a bunch […]

Committees in both the House and the Senate have recently drafted legislation that aims to bring significant changes to auto safety in the U.S. The bill introduced last week by the Senate Commerce Committee is similar to one introduced two weeks ago by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The bills seek to overhaul safety […]

Crews are working today to lower a 100-ton, 40-foot steel box over the main leak in a well 5,000 feet below the Gulf of Mexico that has been gushing oil since the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig 50 miles offshore. The oil rig explosion killed 11 oil rig workers and blew open the well. […]

A new generation of smokeless, flavored tobacco products that look like breath mints or breath-freshening strips may be life-threatening for children who mistake them for candy, according to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Nicotine is a poison, and now we’re seeing smokeless tobacco […]