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(Reuters) - BP Plc (BP.L) has accused the U.S. government of withholding evidence that may show the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was smaller than federal officials claimed, a key issue in determining the oil company's liability. A reduction in the size of the spill would lower the maximum civil fine BP could be forced to pay under the U.S. Clean Water Act, a sum now estimated as high as $17.6 billion. The government is one of many plaintiffs suing BP over the April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 workers and triggered...

Alabama's Gulf Spill Post-Mortem: Up To $3.3 Billion And 49,000 Jobs Were Destroyed Gus Lubin Nov. 6, 2010, 8:19 AM A study out from the University of Alabama gives the first real look at economic impact of the BP oil spill. The score card: $1 billion to $3.3 billion for Alabama alone. Perhaps we can quadruple that number to account for Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, in which case the worst case would be over $13 billion -- pretty close to David Kotok's estimate back in May Here's the data:[snip]

In an eerie repeat of difficulties after Hurricane Katrina, the Small Business Administration is turning down more than two-thirds of Louisiana companies seeking Gulf oil spill relief loans, according to a top state official's complaint to the federal agency Thursday. SNIP Moret wrote that hundreds of the 21,000 claims filed with BP for losses due to the oil spill come from struggling small businesses, and most of them need the SBA loans to carry them through until they receive payment from BP. But, he noted in the letter, SBA has informed him that 70 percent of those applicants have been...

If you have been on Gulf Coast beaches / shoreline affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, please post here with details of what you saw, including time, date, exact location, pictures, etc. It's not that I don't trust the mainstream media, mind you. Heavens no. It just seems like there are likely enough FReepers in places such that we can get at least a little bit of a trusted big picture on this enormously important event.

As his administration comes under increasing criticism for its handling of the spreading environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, President Obama will hold a White House news conference Thursday, his first since February, in an attempt to retake command of the message. He'll do so as the crisis reaches yet another moment of high risk, both in the Gulf and in Washington. At the scene of the oil spill, the oil firm BP -- attempting the latest of inventive but thus far ineffective maneuvers to stop the gusher that has been spewing from the gulf floor for five weeks...

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness are coordinating with other federal, state and local agencies to clean up and reduce the environmental impact of the oil spills in Louisiana. Just two months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita spilled more than nine million gallons of oil, the oil recovery effort is now 95 percent complete according to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

Oil blobs found in Key West don't match Deepwater Horizon spillNearly two days after 20 tar balls were discovered floating in the waters off Key West prompting fears that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill may have already made its way to South Florida, Coast Guard officials have determined the tar balls are not linked to the spill. Samples of the tar balls, discovered Monday by members of the Florida Park Service who were doing a shoreline survey in Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, were sent to the Coast Guard's Marine Safety Lab in Connecticut to try...

Liberal unethical democrats are using a massive disaster like this to attack Palin over Drill Baby Drill which Palin is right and we still need to continue doing so. Calling disaster in the Gulf of Mexico 'Lake Palin' is a opportunity to smear not just her but tie the whole Petroleum Industry to her which is unfair and shows that they see her as a greatest threat to Obama in 2012. This is going to far and Palin had absolutely nothing to do with this. On all political websites and liberal blogs, liberals are taking the opportunity to attack Palin's...