Groups’ Push for Transparency Results in Public Forum on Taylor Energy’s Decade-Long Oil Leak in Gulf of Mexico

January 11, 2016

Opportunity for the public to assess response and impacts on ecosystem

NEW YORK, NY and BATON ROUGE, LA — January 11, 2016 — Taylor Energy will be hosting a public forum on January 20th, 2016 to provide information on the ongoing oil leak from its wells in the Gulf of Mexico. The forum is the result of a September 2015 settlement agreement with Waterkeeper Alliance, Apalachicola Riverkeeper and Louisiana Environmental Action Network, represented by the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic and the National Environmental Law Center. The court settlement ended a three-year lawsuit by the groups that sought to lift the veil of secrecy on the leak’s extent and potential far-reaching impact on the Gulf’s ecosystem.

On January 4, 2016, Taylor Energy filed a complaint against the Federal Government demanding the release of the remaining funds in a trust created to stop the oil leak. “Taylor Energy’s complaint asserts that it is impossible for the company to plug the wells without causing serious damage to the environment,” said Marc Yaggi, Executive Director of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Based on their determination that it is impossible to stop the leak, Taylor Energy is suing for a return of the remaining $432 million left in a remediation trust. This public forum presents an opportunity for the public to assess Taylor Energy’s assertions that nothing can be done to stop the leak and ensure that nothing more can be done.”

The forum will provide the public with an opportunity to hear from Taylor Energy about what caused the spill, its impacts to the Gulf ecosystem, and what Taylor Energy has done to remedy the problem. There will also be opportunities for the public to ask questions. Registration is required to attend the meeting, and should be done on this website. The website also has the agenda for the forum.

In June 2012, the U.S. Coast Guard ordered Taylor Energy to design and plan a new pollution containment dome system suitable for the MC20 leak, but the Waterkeepers have seen no evidence of such a dome installed at the site.

Paul Orr, the Louisiana Environmental Action Network’s Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, stated: “This meeting brings much needed transparency to this environmental disaster. All concerned members of the public should come to learn about the full extent of the impacts of this spill, and we especially need people with specialized knowledge about oil drilling and remediation to come and press Taylor Energy to see if they really are doing all they can do to stop the leak and mitigate its impacts.”

As part of the settlement with the environmental groups, Taylor Energy waived confidentiality on a large number of documents, including studies assessing the impact of the oil leak and options for stopping it. The groups have made these documents available online ahead of the public forum. Dan Tonsmiere, the Apalachicola Riverkeeper, noted the importance of this information: “If scientists and engineers with knowledge about oil leaks are able to look at these documents and come to the forum, that would help the public know whether Taylor Energy’s assertions that this oil leak cannot be stopped are true. And if they are true, then the public should be fully aware that offshore oil drilling brings with it a risk of unstoppable oil spills.”