RISK-DISASTER-AND-INSURANCE

About the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), a bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior, is the Federal agency that manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf (OCS). It also collects, accounts for and disburses an average of $13.7 billion per year in revenues from Federal offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and American Indian lands. The program is national in scope and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Bureau is comprised of two major programs: Offshore Energy and Minerals Management and Minerals Revenue Management. The Offshore program, which manages the mineral resources on the OCS, is comprised of three regions: Alaska, Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific. The Minerals Revenue Management program is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but operationally based in Denver, Colorado.

Offshore Risk Assessment was the first book to deal with quantified risk assessment (QRA) as applied specifically to offshore installations and operations. Risk assessment techniques have been used for some years in the offshore oil and gas industry, and their use is set to expand increasingly as the industry moves into new areas and faces new challenges in older regions. This updated and expanded second edition has been informed by a major R&D programme on offshore risk assessment in Norway (2002-2006). It starts with a thorough discussion of risk analysis methodology with subsequent chapters devoted to analytical approaches to escalation, escape, evacuation and rescue analysis of safety and emergency systems. Separate chapters analyze the main hazards of offshore structures: fire, explosion, collision and falling objects. Risk mitigation and control are discussed, as well as a thorough discussion of how the results from quantitative risk assessment studies should be presented.Not only does Offshore Risk Assessment describe the state of the art of QRA, it also identifies weaknesses and areas that need development. A comprehensive reference for academics and students of marine/offshore risk assessment and management, the book should also be owned by professionals in the industry, contractors, suppliers, consultants and regulatory authorities.

Well Testing is recognised by many operating oil and gas companies to be the most hazardous operation they routinely undertake. Therefore, it is of great importance that such operations are extremely well planned and executed. This handbook covers all the major "Operational Aspects of Oil and Gas Well Testing" and uses a structured approach to guide the reader through the steps required to safely and effectively plan a well test operation under just about any circumstances world wide. Safety procedures and well testing recommended practices are rigorously addressed in this book, as are the responsibilities of those persons involved in well testing operations. Perforating equipment, drill stem test equipment and bottom hole pressure gauges are discussed in detail in the book. There is also a very valuable section on sub sea equipment, an area often not well understood even by experienced engineers who may have been primarily involved with land or jackup rigs. A major part of the book is the detailed coverage of the equipment and instrumentation that makes up a surface well testing package. It also covers operational and testing related problems such as, hydrates, wax and sand, and offers the reader some possible solutions. There are useful chapters on sampling, onsite chemistry, coil tubing and nitrogen operations and basic stimulation as they relate to well testing. Finally there is an extensive section of appendices covering useful engineering calculations and there is a complete example of a detailed well testing programme

As with his 1994 book, Advanced Blowout and Well Control, Grace offers a book that presents tested practices and procedures for well control, all based on solid engineering principles and his own more than 25 years of hands-on field experience. Specific situations are reviewed along with detailed procedures to analyze alternatives and tackle problems. The use of fluid dynamics in well control, which the author pioneered, is given careful treatment, along with many other topics such as relief well operations, underground blowouts, slim hole drilling problems, and special services such as fire fighting, capping, and snubbing. In addition, case histories are presented, analyzed, and discussed. Provides new techniques for blowout containment, never before published, first used in the Gulf War. Provides the most up-to-date techniques and tools for blowout and well control. New case histories include the Kuwait fires that were set by Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War.

This is by far one of the best presentations of the technology of oilwell blowout control. The first chapters present the classic subjects such as the Driller's method and the Weight and Wait method. Later chapters cover more of the current techniques for well control. Each chapter is strucutred to first go through the steps of a method and immediately following with a detail discussion of each step and the consequences of errors in actions and assumptions. All the required calculation methods are provided and presented in refreshing clarity. The last chapter of the book provides a really interesting history of the Kuwait well control efforts. The entire contents of the book assume the reader does have some knowledge of the nomenclature of the BOP stack and the control system. However, the terminology is not overwhelming. The best chapter in the book is the case study toward the end of the book. The author puts everything together that is covered in the previous chapters to resonate ideas and concepts. The one thing that will probably make this a classic is the "turn of events" in this chapter. It reads just like a mystery novel and this writer will not spoil the ending.

As with his 1994 book, Advanced Blowout and Well Control, Grace offers a book that presents tested practices and procedures for well control, all based on solid engineering principles and his own more than 25 years of hands-on field experience. Specific situations are reviewed along with detailed procedures to analyze alternatives and tackle problems. The use of fluid dynamics in well control, which the author pioneered, is given careful treatment, along with many other topics such as relief well operations, underground blowouts, slim hole drilling problems, and special services such as fire fighting, capping, and snubbing. In addition, case histories are presented, analyzed, and discussed. Provides new techniques for blowout containment, never before published, first used in the Gulf War. Provides the most up-to-date techniques and tools for blowout and well control. New case histories include the Kuwait fires that were set by Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War.

This book, based on the SINTEF Offshore Blowout Database, thoroughly examines U.S. Gulf of Mexico and Norwegian and UK North Sea blowouts that occurred from 1980 to 1994. This book reveals the operations that were in progress at the onset of the blowouts and helps you learn from the mistakes of others.

BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich speaks about drilling safety during his opening remarks recently at the Forum on Offshore Drilling in Santa Barbara, California. Director Bromwich is hosting eight forums in the Gulf Coast states, California and Alaska, to collect information and input from experts in the fields of deepwater drilling safety reforms, well containment, and oil spill response. Members of the public who wish to comment on the same topic areas may list their thoughts online.

Were mining and manufacturing companies, as they claimed, the victims of imperfect science and inadequate state regulation? Since the 1930s growing evidence of the health risks was often suppressed by companies and the South African government. Is enough being done to clean up the environmental damage caused by the mines? Large areas of the northern Cape have been made permanently hazardous by asbestos mining. Windborne fibre continues to spread that hazard in an ever widening circle of risk. During 2001 the South African government allocated R100 million to clean up un-reclaimed mines, but far more will be necessary to make the landscape itself safe. Should British companies be held responsible for the behaviour of their South African subsidiaries? The prosperity of the asbestos industry in South Africa depended on apartheid. Company profits and the dividends paid to British shareholders were fuelled by the lowly paid and hazardous work of women and juveniles in South African mines. JOCK MCCULLOCH is a Lecturer in the Faculty of the Constructed Environment, RMIT University, Australia North America: Indiana University Press; South Africa: Juta

On January 3, 1977, Howell Township, New Jersey closed its schools while scientists tested for dangerous levels of asbestos. After reports of unexplained ailments in some children, the parents of 4,500 elementary school children had threatened to boycott classes until the Board of Education removed asbestos-containing materials. Similar cases occurred across the country. In February, 1977, the New York Times reported that the child whose illness had been attributed to asbestos actually had mononucleosis. Was the reaction of parents and officials unwarranted? Did scientific evidence exist indicating that asbestos in schools caused children to become ill? Was all the relevant information - including the impact of their decisions on public policy in the future - considered? Environmental Public Health Policy for Asbestos in Schools addresses these questions by focusing on the development, institutionalization, and consequences of federal environmental policy for asbestos in schools. This unique and timely book explores the history of asbestos in schools and buildings and how this issue shaped the development of public health policy. Insight into past policy, including how, why, and who caused action to be taken, will enlighten and guide the scientific and regulatory communities in the future. The story of asbestos is a cautionary tale. Other toxic agents, such as lead, nitrogen dioxide and radon, could follow the same model as asbestos, raising similar questions. Written in a straightforward style, Environmental Public Health Policy for Asbestos in Schools explains technical concepts in language easily understood by non-experts. Understanding the factors and judgments involved in this issue gives insight into how the government - and society - perceives, assesses, and develops public health policy. « Menos

Although asbestos was once considered a miracle mineral, today even the word itself has ominous implications for all strata of our society. Incorporated in the past into over 3000 different industrial and consumer products, as well as in building materials and military equipment, opportunities for exposure continue to be ever present in our environment. Of all of us who are potentially exposed, blue collar workers are at greatest risk. Countless thousands of workers and servicemen in a wide variety of trades were disabled or have died consequent to the health effects of asbestos, and many more can be expected to be affected in years to come. Litigation continues, and financial awards in the billions have bankrupt many Fortune 500 companies and numerous smaller companies. While one might implicate our forefathers in this widespread, relentless medical catastrophe, it has been only in recent decades that science has appreciated the complexities of the problem and the long latencies before the asbestos-associated diseases appear clinically. After all these years, prevention remains the hallmark of disease control, as modern treatments remain, to a large extent, futile.

The ecological risks of engineered crops Jane Rissler, Margaret G. Mellon 3 Resenhas MIT Press, 1996 - 168 páginas What will it mean to have a steady stream of animal and microbial genes entering the gene pools of plants in wild ecosystems? Private companies and the federal government are pouring significant resources into biotechnology, and the major application of genetic engineering to agriculture is transgenic crops. This carefully reasoned science and policy assessment shows that the commercialization and release of transgenic crops on millions of acres of farmland can pose serious-and costly-environmental risks. The authors propose a practical, feasible method of conducting precommercialization evaluations that will balance the needs of ecological safety with those of agriculture and business, and that will assist governments seeking to identify and protect against two of the most significant risks. Rissler and Mellon first define transgenic plants and review research currently under way in the field of crop biotechnology. They then identify and categorize the environmental risks presented by commercial uses of transgenic crops. These include the potential of transgenic crops to become weeds or to produce weeds with transgene properties such as herbicide resistance that may require costly control programs. Plants engineered to contain virus particles may facilitate the creation of new viruses that can affect economically important crops. Looking at global seed trade, the authors discuss the relationship between commercial approval in the United States and environmental risks abroad. Of particular concern is the flow of novel genes into the centers of crop biodiversity, primarily in the developing world, that could threaten the genetic base of the world's future food supply. The authors conclude by reviewing the current status of U.S. regulations governing transgenic crops. They discuss the difficulties that this new terrain presents to regulators, a

"In today's globalized and competitive business environment, companies increasingly look to restructuring, mergers acquisitions and downsizing to survive, grow and maximize profits. However, when they are not managed in a socially responsible manner, restructurings may exert the negative impact on employees, shareholders, communities, and society as a whole." "The book empirically explores the phenomena of corporate social responsibility (CSR), restructuring, and relationships with firm's performance in China. It gives an insight into how Chinese firms respond to expectations of stakeholders by making social goals a part of their overall business operations. It also gives a fresh view of the new concept of socially responsible restructuring. For those seeking to promote socially responsible practices in restructuring, the book provides a unique and stimulating analysis and touchstone."--BOOK JACKET

Natural Disaster Risk Management and Financing Disaster Losses in Developing Countries Reinhard Mechler 0 Resenhas Verlag Versicherungswirtsch

Socializing Risk: The New Energy Economics May 27, 2010frankackermanLeave a commentGo to comments from Frank Ackerman Despite talk of a moratorium, the Interior Department's Minerals and Management Service is still granting waivers from environmental review for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, including wells in very deep water. Until last month, most of us never thought about the risk that one of those huge offshore rigs would explode in flames and then sink, causing oil to gush out uncontrollably and befoul the oceans. The odds seemed low, and still do: Aren't there lots of drilling rigs in use, year after year? Twenty years ago, your elected representatives thought that you'd be happy to have them adopt a very low cap on industry's liability for oil spill damages.  Nuclear power was never quite free of fears; it was too clearly a spin-off of nuclear weapons to ignore the risk of a very big bang. Yet as its advocates point out, we have had hundreds of reactor-years of experience, with only a few accidents. (And someday when Nevada's politicians aren't looking, maybe we can slip all of our nuclear waste into a cave in the desert.) Again, the risks are so low that you'd be happy to learn about a law limiting industry's liability for accidents, wouldn't you?  Environmentalists have long warned that the world could run out of energy and resources, from the "limits to growth" theories of the 1970s to the more recently popular notion of "peak oil." The response from economists has been that prices for energy and raw materials are still moderate, and declined over the course of the 20th century; if we are running out of something, why doesn't its price skyrocket? The problem is that what we're running out of is low-risk conventional energy supplies. Because our economy conceals and socializes energy risks, prices remain deceptively low for an increasingly risky energy supply. The market wasn't supposed to work this way. In the

O processo de desenvolvimento industrial que incorporou o conhecimento técnico-científico gerou, sem dúvidas, vários avanços à humanidade; no entanto também acabou por produzir toda uma série de riscos, dentre eles os ambientais, que hoje, afetam diretamente, o próprio homem. A contaminação do solo e das águas subterrâneas vem ampliar a gama destes riscos, em particular nos grandes centros urbanos, onde a indústria se fez presente. A desconcentração industrial expõe mais claramente esta problemática ambiental, na medida em que, frente à demanda existente, muitos terrenos ocupados anteriormente pela atividade fabril, passam a receber novos usos. O propósito deste trabalho será discutir a relação existente entre o desenvolvimento da sociedade industrial e a construção da sociedade contemporânea, também conhecida como sociedade do risco; e a partir daí demonstrar a existência de uma territorialidade do risco em São Paulo proveniente da contaminação do solo e das águas subterrâneas. Será discutido ainda, as políticas públicas ambientais, em particular àquelas voltadas para a gestão das áreas contaminadas em São Paulo

Diante das modernizações ocorridas no território brasileiro nas últimas décadas e o repensar das funções do Estado em face ao aprofundamento das desigualdades sócio-espaciais especialmente após os anos 80, as empresas passam a assumir um novo papel como mitigadoras destes problemas por meio da chamada responsabilidade social. Este discurso configura toda uma psicosfera inédita promovida pelas fundações e institutos empresariais que se multiplicam neste período, juntamente com as certificações e normas privadas voltadas para a promoção do novo papel social das empresas. Procuramos, primeiramente, fazer uma periodização que buscasse os fundamentos das ações sociais das empresas e os valores que ditaram a relação entre estas e os lugares onde se encontram. No período atual, ao pesquisar como estas ações ocorrem territorialmente, estabelecemos três organizações básicas: ações concentradas, pontuais e dispersas. Cada tipo de organização pressupõe uma combinação específica de verticalidades e horizontalidades que conduzem a relações diferenciadas entre a dinâmica do lugar e as ações empresariais. Deste modo, buscamos desmistificar a estratégia empresarial através da sua concretização no uso do território.

This timely Reader brings together, for the first time, key writings on the relation between law and geography in an effort to clarify the connections between these two increasingly complex concepts

Since the 1980s, reform, the open-door policy, and rapid economic growth have encouraged Chinese cities to become fast-growing and highly dynamic urban areas. They are subject to both innovations and international connectivity as well as to rising socioeconomic and ecological vulnerability. In this paper we sketch the main transformation processes of a traditional Chinese village in the megacity Guangzhou, South China, processes that are linked to the construction of a new railway station in its close proximity. Our research addresses the issue of how the inhabitants of this village view the restructuring of their living environment. What kind of demands or opportunities do they perceive? Do they feel stress with regard to 'harm/loss', 'threat', or 'challenge' and how do they cope with the changing structures and processes? People living in the same environment appraise exposure to certain risks differently, which explains varying coping modes. In this context the question is considered as to whether coping necessarily results in 'visible' outcomes (eg building houses to rent out and thus benefiting from in-migration) or whether it encompasses 'invisible' person-related processes. The primary aim of this paper is to enrich the geographical debate on vulnerability by taking a psychological perspective and presenting and applying the transactional stress model of Lazarus. This conceptual framework from cognitive psychology and schematises person and environment antecedents of stress and coping as well as appraisal and coping as mediating processes between the person and the environment. To facilitate understanding, the transactional stress model is exemplified on the basis of selected research data collected in the transforming village. With reference to different stress appraisals, examples of varying coping modes and coping efficiency are discussed.

The sister cities of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua form one of the largest manufacturing complexes in the world, and provide a unique context in which to examine transnational patterns of environmental injustice. In this paper, we explore residential patterns of environmental injustice related to the location of industrial facilities (ie maquiladoras and facilities regulated by the Toxics Release Inventory) in the El Paso - Juárez metropolis, taking a comparative approach. Our results indicate a striking injustice in the raw level of industrial hazard confronted by residents on the Mexican side of the border compared with those on the US side-a direct result of location within the global economy. In terms of multivariate spatial regression results, patterns of exposure to residential hazards diverged between the two cities. In Mexico, generally marginal neighborhoods (based on low social class and higher proportions of migrants to the city) were located farther away from industry, whereas they were located closer in the US. We explain these findings on the basis of sociospatial differences in urbanization, social marginality, and industrial development between El Paso and Juárez, which reflect the two cities' juxtaposition vis-à-vis global political - economic dynamics. Future research is needed to test relationships between social marginality and industrial hazards in transnational and Southern contexts to determine if similar or divergent patterns exist.