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Tag: environmental crisis

  • Istanbul staring at water crisis

    Istanbul staring at water crisis

    Turkey’s largest and most well known city of Istanbul is confronted with a serious threat of drought with water reserve now being sufficient for only 100 days due to lack of rain and snow, a senior water expert has revealed.

    “Having only 100 days of water reserve means that very tight measures should be taken,”Xinhua quoted Tugba Maden, a water expert in the Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies, as telling over phone.

    With a population of 14 million, Istanbul tries to obtain the city’s needs of water from 10 dams built in the Marmara and the Black Sea regions. Water levels in these dams have been decreased to the lowest point in six years with 35 percent in total. Three dams have already run short of water.

    Istanbul’s dams have capacity of holding 868 million cubic metres of water. Currently the water reserve is around 300 million cubic metres. Most seriously, the Melen streamlet has reduced its water reserve to 35 per cent of the total, sending the alarm signals.

    Melen streamlet, located in the Black Sea province of Sakarya, provides Istanbul with 676,000 cubic metres of water a day via Omerli dam.

    If the condition deteriorates, the authorities should begin transporting water to Istanbul from different water basins, said Maden.

    Turkey’s Forestry and Water Minister Veysel Eroglu tried to calm down the public, saying: “It is true that drought threats Istanbul in 2014. But we are taking all the necessary preconditions.”

    “We will build a new dam in Melen, which will bring a release to Istanbul people.”

    The minister also announced that two other giant dams would be built in Agva, 100 km from Istanbul at the Black Sea coast.

    The concerns related with the water shortage is not only limited with Istanbul. Experts foresee serious threat of drought in overall Turkey in general.

    via Istanbul staring at water crisis | Business Standard.

  • BP sued by Halliburton over Gulf oil disaster

    BP sued by Halliburton over Gulf oil disaster

    Halliburton vs BP
    About five million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico

    US energy services giant Halliburton is suing BP for defamation and negligent misrepresentation over the disastrous 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Halliburton claims BP gave inaccurate information to the US company before it did work lining the well with cement.

    An official inquiry found that faulty cementing contributed to the disaster, which killed 11 oil rig workers.

    BP said it was aware of the lawsuit and, should it come to court, they would “vigorously contest the claims”.

    The amount of damages Halliburton is seeking has not been disclosed.

    ‘Diverting attention’

    Halliburton said in a statement that it has “filed claims against BP in Texas state court for negligent misrepresentation, business disparagement and defamation” related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

    “Halliburton has learned that BP provided Halliburton inaccurate information about the actual location of hydrocarbon zones in the well.

    “The actual location of the hydrocarbon zones is critical information required prior to performing cementing services and is necessary to achieve desired cement placement,” Halliburton said.

    “Halliburton remains confident that all the work it performed… was completed in accordance with BP’s specifications for its well construction plan and instructions, and that Halliburton is fully indemnified under the contract,” the company said.

    But BP said: “We believe this lawsuit is the latest attempt by Halliburton to divert attention from its role in the Deepwater Horizon tragedy and its failure to meet its responsibilities, and to deflect all blame to BP.

    “Investigations published so far have concluded that multiple parties contributed to the incident, including Halliburton.

    “We have accepted responsibility for our role in the disaster, and are paying costs and compensation. In contrast Halliburton has refused to take any responsibility or accountability at all.”

    Some 4.9 million barrels of oil had gushed out of the runaway underwater well before the leak was capped, causing severe environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico.

    www.bbc.co.uk, 2 September 2011