It’s been over two years since the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe began, and finally the first BP official has been arrested. Kurt Mix, a former BP engineer, has been charged with intentionally destroying evidence—in this case hundreds of text messages sent to a supervisor that painted a different picture of the extent of the disaster than what BP was reporting to the public.

“The messages, some of which investigators recovered, showed that BP knew that the leak was more than three times larger than its official estimates and that its ‘Top Kill’ effort to plug the well at the end of May 2010 was failing.” While BP told reporters that 5,000 barrels of crude oil were being spilled every day, Mix was texting, “too much flowrate - over 15,000″ to his seniors.

Kurt Mix is charged with two counts of obstruction of justice and faces 20 years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine per charge.

Photo Credit: The Bay Ledger

To me, Mix’s arrest represents the mismanagement and irresponsibility surrounding America’s largest maritime oil spill in history. The gulf is still reeling from the disaster and yet, as of October 2011, the government has approved BP’s next drilling venture in the Gulf stating that, “BP has met all of the enhanced safety requirements that [The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement] have implemented and applied consistently over the past year.”

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), expressed concern in a statement last fall: “The fact that BP is getting a permit to drill without yet paying a single cent in fines is a disappointment, and does not serve as an effective lesson of deterrence for oil and gas companies.”

In two years, lawsuits have been filed and settled, fingers have been pointed and fines have been charged. But ultimately, it seems that, as for oil drilling, it’s back to business as usual. President Obama boasts of his drilling expansion: “Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years.” And Mitt Romney plans on plowing right past environmental protection regulations all together: “I can cut through the baloney of the task force and just tell him ‘Mr. President, open up drilling in the Gulf’…let’s also start opening up our natural gas resources instead of having it held up by the EPA.”

Will history repeat itself? We have learned and (re-learned) the hard way that offshore drilling is dirty, dangerous and deadly and yet politicians keep signing off on new projects that might seem like a good idea today but spell doom for tomorrow. 

Chevron, one of many companies grabbing at Brazil’s huge underwater oil reserves, is in trouble with the Brazilian government after a major spill off the coast of Rio de Janeiro last month. After 3,000 barrels of crude oil from a Chevron-operated well poured into the ocean in November, Brazilian police filed an $11 billion lawsuit against Chevron and rig owner Transocean (the same firm that owned Deepwater Horizon) on charges of negligence and environmental crimes. The National Petroleum Agency has also temporarily banned Chevron from further drilling in Brazil.

An aerial view of the Chevron spill on 11/18/11. Photo credit: Reuters

Federal prosecutors urge for charges to be brought against 17 Chevron and Transocean employees, including Chevron’s president in Brazil George Buck, for withholding information and committing environmental damage. The officer leading the investigation, Fabio Scliar, stated, “I am utterly convinced that the company’s institutional policy is reckless and irresponsible. Therefore, the executives are responsible.” Chevron has apologized but stressed that the allegations are “without merit.”

The outrage in Brazil might be compounded by the fact that the World Cup and Summer Olympics are coming there in 2014 and 2016 so there is pressure for the beaches to look picture perfect. Also, Chevron’s disgusting environmental track record doesn’t inspire confidence. AlterNet, an independent environmental news agency, ranked Chevron the number one worst energy company in the world partly due to their toxic dumping and human rights abuses in Ecuador.

Here are some of the latest news stories regarding water and the environment:

Water map shows billions at risk of ‘water insecurity‘: “About 80% of the world’s population lives in areas where the fresh water supply is not secure, according to a new global analysis.”

U.S. Sets Tougher Rules For Offshore Drilling:The Obama administration on Thursday announced new rules requiring that operators of offshore drilling rigs certify they have working blowout preventers and standards for cementing wells.

Walruses swarm beaches as ice melts: Thousands of walruses gathered recently on an island strip in Alaska, probably because of extreme ice melting, scientists say.

Ancient Italian Town Has Wind at Its Back: More than 800 Italian communities now make more energy than they use because of the recent addition of renewable energy plants. One of these small towns now makes money from electricity production and has no local taxes or fees for services like garbage removal.

Last week’s oil rig explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico is a stark reminder of the dangers of offshore drilling. The US Coast Guard is battling a 600-mile-wide spill which is only getting bigger. 42,000 gallons are spewing from the site of the explosion every day, so that’s 252,000 gallons since the event occurred on the 20th, and who knows how much longer it will take to fully contain the blast. The oil slick is within 30 miles of a fragile ecosystem on the Chandeleur Islands, a wildlife refuge for fish, shrimp, pelicans, and coral, and just 50 miles from the Louisiana shoreline. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard has sadly called off the search for the 11 oil platform workers who are now presumed dead. The cause of the incident is under investigation.

Oil industry executives from BP, the company which leased Deepwater Horizon, deeply regret the accident, the biggest American spill in 30 years, and are taking measures to contain the explosion. Just today, deep sea robots dove to the source in an effort to contain the spillage, but it will still take several months to completely contain the leak. Oil has been allowed to spew freely as bad weather has prevented boats from dealing with the blast for two consecutive days.

Ironically, the explosion came just weeks after President Obama came out in favor of more oil and natural gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Click here to read commentary and backlash from environmentalists regarding this decision.

Admittedly, offshore drilling has become a lot safer over the last two decades. The oil industry learned their lesson after the 1988 North Sea incident, the worst oil rig disaster in history, in which 167 people were killed after the Piper Alpha oil platform exploded. However, despite stricter precautionary measures and improved technologies, spillage is still a very real possibility and is in no way a thing of the past. Incidents like the Deepwater Horizon explosion put oil rig workers and the environment at extreme risk.

UPDATE 5/4:
Here is an interesting follow up article about BP’s public image before and after the Gulf of Mexico tragedy.