Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Researchers led by the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, announced they will receive nearly $8 million to study the effects of the BP oil spill disaster on seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. The five-year grant is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health and Science. In addition to UT, the project will involve researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Louisiana State University and the University of Arizona. Community agencies also will be enlisted to help with the study.

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Working with teams of doctors, scientists, and public health experts, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is currently planning and developing a large-scale study of the short-term and long-term physical and psychological tolls the BP oil spill has had upon the cleanup workers and the larger population of the Gulf Coast. The federal agency expects the study to encompass several thousands of people in the five states adversely affected by the massive oil spill: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

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BP announced yesterday that its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico has been permanently sealed, five months after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded killing 11 workers and causing the largest oil spill in history.

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The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) has ordered hundreds of lawsuits filed against BP in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to be heard in New Orleans federal court. The decision represents a boon to plaintiffs and a drawback to the oil giant, who asked the cases be heard in oil-friendly Texas.

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At a press conference held today in New Orleans, Ret. Coast Guard Admiral Ted Allen, who is the government’s spokesperson on the Gulf oil spill crisis, said BP may begin the process of replacing the leaky containment cap on its pipe as early as tomorrow. The plan is to remove the current cap, which will temporarily allow oil to gush into the Gulf waters unchecked, and replace it with a tighter cap. BP says the new cap will contain more oil itself, and also provide a better setup for the eventual completion of the relief wells and permanent stoppage of the leak. Relief wells are expected to be complete in mid-August.

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As Hurricane Alex, the first named storm of this hurricane season, bears down on the coast of Mexico and South Texas, efforts to clean up the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are on hold, and beaches are feeling the impact. Vessels that normally skim oil from the ocean surface around the leak site, lay boom, and light fires to burn off surface oil have been docked due to heavy seas. Meanwhile, storm surges are pushing the uncollected oil onto the shores along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Louisiana.

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After a remarkable four-hour meeting between the White House Administration and BP’s top executives, the oil giant has agreed to create a $20 billion fund to pay damage claims filed by thousands of fishermen and others economically harmed by the oil slick washing up on the shores of four Gulf states.

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BP isn’t the only oil company currently spilling crude oil into the Gulf from defective wells and broken riser pipes, satellite images reveal. An offshore rig named the Ocean Saratoga has been spewing oil into the water since at least April 30, according to federal documents.

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Members of Congress are working to repeal the Death on the High Seas Act of 1920 (commonly referred to as DOSHA), an antiquated law that sets limits on the damages that family members and other dependents can collect in the wake of a deadly offshore incident.

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The U.S. government has opened a widely anticipated criminal and civil investigation of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. The announcement steps up the pressure on the British oil company, which is the fourth largest corporation in the world.

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