Gulf of Mexico Foundation

Last updated

The Gulf of Mexico Foundation is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1990 by citizens concerned with the health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico. As of the 15th of May 2018 the IRS revoked the tax exempt status for the organization with EIN 52-1692642 named Golf of Mexico Foundation Inc in Corpus Christi with the revocation being posted on the 13th of August 2018. [1]

Contents

Programs

Based in Corpus Christi, Texas, the Foundation operates several programs to protect the fragile Gulf of Mexico. These include a Habitat and Conservation Team, teacher workshops on the wetlands, GMF science and Spanish clubs for high school students, and a Gulf of Mexico Summit conducted in conjunction with Mexican organizations.

Management

The Foundation is led by Quenton Dokken, director, a marine biologist. Its board of directors is led by president Paul Kelly, a former senior executive at Rowan Companies. Other board members are executives from Shell Oil Company, ConocoPhillips, Transocean oil drilling firm, and legal, environmental and marketing firms. At least half of the 19 board of directors have ties to the offshore oil drilling industry. [2]

Funding

The Foundation has a reported $2 million annual budget, and one-quarter of its funding comes from corporations, including oil and gas companies. While the remaining, three-quarters comes from state and federal government grants. The foundation website provides the most prominent credit to oil and gas companies. [2]

Controversy

Media and consumer advocacy groups question the Foundation's close and questionable ties to the oil and gas industry.

After the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico starting in April 2010, Quenton Dokken, the organization's director was interviewed by The New York Times about the severity of the then ongoing oil spill. He was optimistic, saying:

The sky is not falling. We've certainly stepped in a hole and we're going to have to work ourselves out of it, but it isn't the end of the Gulf of Mexico. [3]

While the story did not mention the Foundation's ties to the oil industry, two days later, The New York Times added an editor's note that said the foundation "... receives some money from the oil industry, and other business interests in the gulf, and includes industry executives on its board." [4] [5]

The paper's blog also questioned Dokken's objectiveness, reporting, "But as an executive (Dokken) whose fortunes are tied to partnerships between his group and the oil and gas companies that fund it -- including BP, ConocoPhillips, Marathon, etc. -- he's hardly an objective observer of corporate malfeasance." [6]

Statement by Dr. Quenton Dokken: The Gulf of Mexico Foundation, as has countless non-profits around the world, has benefited from a working relationship with the oil/gas industry. Dokken's comments, i.e. "the sky is not falling" was made in response to the media's sensational headlines about the spill being the doom of the Gulf of Mexico as a living resource. History suggested otherwise. In 1942, 21 tankers were sunk in the same area of the Macondo spill and a similar number off southern Florida by German U-Boats. In 1979, the IXTOC blowout occurred in the Southern Gulf gushing oil for 10 months and multiple lesser spills occur frequently, and yet, the Gulf of Mexico has remained productive. Dokken's point was that the scientist needed to complete their studies and analysis before announcing "the death of the Gulf of Mexico" to the world. As Dokken suggested, assuming the Macondo blowout would be controlled in a reasonable amount of the time, history suggested the Gulf of Mexico would recover and remain productive. As of 2021, this has proven to be the case. Dokken never spoke to the malfeasance of the companies involved. It was obvious from the moment the blowout occurred it was not an act of God and the operators were culpable. The "controversy" was created by private interest expecting to benefit financially from the spill, and many did, and media trying to capture readership with sensational headlines, the original click bait.

When speaking with the New York Times writer, Dokken acknowledged the Foundation's relationship with the oil and gas industry, going so far as to send the most recent audits and annual financial reports to the reporter so that he could verify this funding relationship.

Related Research Articles

The Atlantis oil field is the third largest oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. The field was discovered in 1998 and is located at the Green Canyon blocks 699, 700, 742, 743, and 744 in United States federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico about 130 miles (210 km) from the coast of Louisiana. The oil field lies in water depths ranging from 4,400 to 7,100 feet. The subsea structure of Atlantis has long been the target of safety critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blowout (well drilling)</span> Uncontrolled release of crude oil and/or natural gas from a well

A blowout is the uncontrolled release of crude oil and/or natural gas from an oil well or gas well after pressure control systems have failed. Modern wells have blowout preventers intended to prevent such an occurrence. An accidental spark during a blowout can lead to a catastrophic oil or gas fire.

<i>Deepwater Horizon</i> Former offshore oil drilling rig

Deepwater Horizon was an ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, semi-submersible offshore drilling rig owned by Transocean and operated by BP. On 20 April 2010, while drilling at the Macondo Prospect, a blowout caused an explosion on the rig that killed 11 crewmen and ignited a fireball visible from 40 miles (64 km) away. The fire was inextinguishable and, two days later, on 22 April, the Horizon sank, leaving the well gushing at the seabed and causing the largest marine oil spill in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States offshore drilling debate</span> Ongoing debate in the United States

The United States offshore drilling debate is an ongoing debate in the United States about whether, the extent to which, in which areas, and under what conditions, further offshore drilling should be allowed in U.S.-administered waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiber Oil Field</span> Oil field in the Gulf of Mexico

The Tiber Oil Field is a deepwater offshore oil field located in the Keathley Canyon block 102 of the United States sector of the Gulf of Mexico. The deepwater field was discovered in September 2009 and it is operated by BP. Described as a "giant" find, it is estimated to contain 4 to 6 billion barrels of oil in place. Although BP states it is too early to be sure of the size – a "huge" field is usually considered to contain 250 million barrels. It required the drilling of a 10,685 m (35,056 ft) deep well under 1,260 m (4,130 ft) of water, making it one of the deepest wells ever drilled at the time of discovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Offshore oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico (United States)</span> Major petroleum-producing area

Offshore oil and gas in the Gulf of Mexico is a major source of oil and natural gas in the United States. The western and central Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, is one of the major petroleum-producing areas of the United States. Oil production from US federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico reached an all-time annual high of 1.65 million barrels per day in 2017. Oil production is expected to continue the upward trend in 2018 and 2019, based on ten new oil fields which are planned to start production in those years. According to the Energy Information Administration, "Gulf of Mexico federal offshore oil production accounts for 15% of total U.S. crude oil production and federal offshore natural gas production in the Gulf accounts for 5% of total U.S. dry production."

<i>Deepwater Horizon</i> oil spill Oil spill that began in April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was an industrial disaster that began on 20 April 2010 off of the coast of the United States in the Gulf of Mexico on the BP-operated Macondo Prospect, considered to be the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and estimated to be 8 to 31 percent larger in volume than the previous largest, the Ixtoc I oil spill, also in the Gulf of Mexico. The United States federal government estimated the total discharge at 4.9 MMbbl. After several failed efforts to contain the flow, the well was declared sealed on 19 September 2010. Reports in early 2012 indicated that the well site was still leaking. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is regarded as one of the largest environmental disasters in world history.

The Macondo Prospect is an oil and gas prospect in the United States Exclusive Economic Zone of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. The prospect was the site of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in April 2010 that led to a major oil spill in the region from the first exploration well, named itself MC252-1, which had been designed to investigate the existence of the prospect.

<i>Deepwater Horizon</i> explosion 2010 oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion was an April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent fire on the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit, which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about 40 miles (64 km) southeast off the Louisiana coast. The explosion and subsequent fire resulted in the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and the deaths of 11 workers; 17 others were injured. The same blowout that caused the explosion also caused an oil well fire and a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the largest environmental disaster in United States history.

The following is a timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It was a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest offshore spill in U.S. history. It was a result of the well blowout that began with the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion on April 20, 2010.

On May 30, 2010 a 6-month moratorium on all deepwater offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf was declared by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. The limitation was in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill which occurred in the Gulf of Mexico.

Following is a timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for June 2010.

Following is a timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for July 2010.

Following is a Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for May 2010.

Efforts to stem the Deepwater Horizon oil spill were ongoing from the time that the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, 2010 until the well was sealed by a cap on July 15, 2010. Various species of dolphins and other mammals, birds, and the endangered sea turtles have been killed either directly or indirectly by the oil spill. The Deepwater Horizon spill has surpassed in volume the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill as the largest ever to originate in U.S.-controlled waters; it is comparable to the 1979 Ixtoc I oil spill in total volume released.

Donald F. Boesch is a professor of marine science and, from 1990 to 2017, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. From 2006-2017, he concurrently served as Vice Chancellor for Environmental Sustainability for the University System of Maryland. In 2010, he was appointed by President Barack Obama as a member of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling to investigate the root causes of the blowout at the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico.

Arctic Challenger

Arctic Challenger is a barge which has been converted by Superior Energy Services for use in the Arctic drilling operations of Shell Oil Company. This barge is designed to function as a "novel engineering solution" which they refer to as an Arctic Containment System to respond should a blowout event occur at drilling sites in the Beaufort or Chukchi Seas. According to testimony provided to Senator Mark Begich on 11 October 2012, Coast Guard Rear Admiral Thomas Ostebo said the certification for the Shell spill barge Arctic Challenger to operate in Alaska was given on the 10th of October at the Bellingham, Washington shipyard where it was constructed. Ostebo is commander of the Coast Guard's 17th district, which covers Alaska.

The Deepwater Horizon investigation included several investigations and commissions, among others reports by National Incident Commander Thad Allen, United States Coast Guard, National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, National Academy of Engineering, National Research Council, Government Accountability Office, National Oil Spill Commission, and Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was discovered on the afternoon of 22 April 2010 when a large oil slick began to spread at the former rig site. According to the Flow Rate Technical Group, the leak amounted to about 4.9 million barrels of oil, exceeding the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill as the largest ever to originate in U.S.-controlled waters and the 1979 Ixtoc I oil spill as the largest spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has challenged this calculation saying that it is overestimated as it includes over 810,000 barrels of oil which was collected before it could enter the Gulf waters.

Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) provides well containment equipment and technology in the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico for use after blowouts. It is based in Houston, Texas. MWCC members are major companies in the petroleum industry that drill wells in the Gulf of Mexico including: BP, Shell Oil, ExxonMobil, Chevron Corporation and ConocoPhillips.

References

  1. ↑ "Gulf of Mexico Foundation Inc". IRS. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 Wang, Marian (May 4, 2010). "Nonprofit conservation group has ties to oil interests". ProPublica .
  3. ↑ Broder, John M.; Zeller, Tom Jr. (2010-05-04). "Gulf Oil Spill Is Bad, but How Bad?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  4. ↑ Broder, John M.; Zeller, Tom Jr. (2010-05-04). "Gulf Oil Spill Is Bad, but How Bad?". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-09-30.
  5. ↑ Newsweek blog, Today in questionable sourcing the New York Times, May 4, 2010, http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2010/05/04/today-in-questionable-sourcing-ny-times-misfires-on-oil-spill-assessment.aspx Archived 2010-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Nytpicker, The. "Huh? Using Anonymous And Dubious Sources, NYT Wonders Whether Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Is Really That Bad" . Retrieved 2022-09-30.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.