Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

Barton plans Florida Keys fundraiser; Apologizes to BP

Coast guard database makes oil spill penalties nearly impossible to track

The U.S. government has investigated potentially thousands of BP leaks, spills and other incidents but the information is stored in a Coast Guard database that keeps key details such as investigative findings and penalties out of the public’s reach.

Center for Public Integrity: Coast Guard logs contradict White House Deepwater timeline

From our colleagues at the Center for Public Integrity:

CPI's Jim Morris talks about BP's OSHA violations

Our colleague Jim Morris, who runs Data Mine, our joint project with the Center for Public Integrity, talked about his story on BP's pattern of OSHA violations at its refineries on ABC yesterday. Jim appears at 10:10 in the clip; if the player below doesn't work it's available here.

BP had no plan for Deepwater Horizon disaster

British Petroleum did not have an emergency response plan for its Deepwater Horizon drill rig; such plans direct personnel to the proper procedures for responding to incidents like the current spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil spill: BP pipelines trigger safety violations

This week, we've been gathering resources for reporters looking to put the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill into context. While the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) doesn't have jurisdiction over the safety of the offshore wells themselves, they do enforce safety regulations for oil pipelines and can tell us if BP has violated any of these regulations of late.

Oil Spill: Wildlife data shows several species may be affected

As the millions of gallons of oil continues to spill into the Gulf of Mexico, the Department of Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Services has started an uphill battle with their rescue efforts. The agency has deployed a 200-person workforce in the area who are reviewing the natural habitats affected by the oil spill.

BP blamed in 8,000 spill reports, federal data shows

British Petroleum and its subsidiaries have been the subject of roughly 8,000 reported incidents of spills, emissions and leaks of oil, chemicals and gases into the environment, according to a government database. (download them here).

Oil spill resources: Local reporting

We're pulling together resources for covering and following the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Here's some coverage from local papers in the Gulf region--there's some fantastic local reporting going on. A sampling: