Lawyers for a former BP Plc. engineer charged for allegedly deleting messages regarding the estimated size of April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico said an unspecified third party has proof for his innocence.

The lawyers representing Kurt Mix said the proof is protected under the legal concept of ‘attorney-client privilege’. The attorneys said Mix has not obstructed justice by removing evidence.

The attorneys for the 50-year-old Katy man are seeking the evidence to be disclosed. Mix, the first and only person arrested so far on BP oil spill-related criminal charges, has pleaded not guilty to the allegations against him.

The Palmetto city is about to join many others who are suing BP over the devastating April 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Palmetto is an attractive little town, surrounded by lovely sights of the Manatee River. Though the city lawmakers promote the region as a historic and gorgeous city, it is not at all a major tourist place in Manatee County.

But numerous snowbirds stay in Palmetto, and many of them didn’t return because of the worst offshore oil spill in the U.S. history.

City Attorney Mark Barnebey said it will take time to see what the impacts are.

“The main areas we have been possibly affected are sales tax and property taxes. We are still evaluating it,” Barnebey said.

Right now, it is not clear how much the city is seeking. According to city leaders, everyone in the city will be benefited if they get something.

The lawsuit will be filed within a few days.

Some photos published Monday display startling view of the injuries suffered by Gulf of Mexico marine life after the April 2010 BP oil spill.

The images were provided to Greenpeace, the world’s largest self-governing direct-action environmental organization, by the federal government. There are images of sperm whales traveling through oil slick and sea turtles wrapped in brown slush.

The April 2010 disaster had spewed around 5 million barrels of crude into the Gulf shores until it was ultimately capped after 3 months.

John Hocevar, the ocean campaigns director of Greenpeace, said the images portraits a different picture of the Deepwater Horizon spill. The images include garbage bags containing deceased sea turtles.

According to Greenpeace, it received the images after a request submitted in 2010. The environmental organization got the photos through the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

Scientists reported successful testing of first self-propelled micro submarines, which can pick up oil droplets from tainted water and move them to collection facilities. According to the report published in ACS Nano, these small machines can play a vital role in clean up process after oil spills, such as the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill.

Joseph Wang and his colleagues say they have developed various versions of micro submarines. This includes devices which are able to transport drugs to diseased body parts through the bloodstream. The device is far smaller than the size of a human hair. Nobody had imagined these devices can help oil spill cleanup.

The study was conducted using funds given by the National Science Foundation, Spanish MICINN etc.

British oil giant BP is planning to restore every natural resource in all states across the Gulf Coast, excluding Texas State, which were impacted by the April 2010 oil spill. The spill was caused by a disastrous explosion in the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig operated by BP.

According to some reports, the estimated cost for the projects is approximately $60 million.

Don Pitts, one of the directors of the EARR (Environmental Assessment, Response, and Restoration program) with the TPWD (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department), said the oil company is not neglecting Texas. He said BP is evaluating a number of proposals to enhance the seashore in Texas.

A former engineer of BP Plc has been cited for obstruction of justice. This is said to be the very first criminal charge relating to the April 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the Department of Justice, 50-year-old Kurt Mix wiped out the evidence that the federal investigators had been seeking.

According to a filing in Louisiana federal court, Mix was arrested for deleting text messages mentioning the quantity of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s blown-out oil well following a devastating explosion of a rig, killing 11 workers.

Eric Holder, the U.S. attorney general, said the investigation into the Deepwater Horizon accident is continuing.

“Whoever violates the regulations relating to the Deepwater Horizon accident will be held accountable by the Task Force,” Holder said.

Officials from BP plc. have not commented on the matter.

Shrimp processors are asking U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to delay the preliminary approval of the settlement agreement between BP Plc. and private claimants over April 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf, claiming that is unjust to the shrimp industry.

The agreement calls for the British oil company to pay $2.3 billion in seafood claims. However, according to the American Shrimp Processors Association, the formula is more liberal than the formula, which would be applicable for claims of shrimp processors and some other industries that are not qualified for the seafood program.

The association says the agreement has to be revised so that every key segment of the shrimp industry would get fair treatment.

Judge Carl Barbier will consider the preliminary approval of the proposed settlement at a Wednesday hearing. The settlement will resolve property, financial and medical claims by 125,000 plaintiffs.

According the British oil giant, the estimated cost for resolving those claims is $7.8 billion.

Catholic Charities of NW FL (Northwest Florida) is setting up offices in the County of Santa Rosa to help deal out $300,000 in emergency help to the county residents suffering from April 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill even now.

At present, the charity serves Santa Rosa people from its offices in Pensacola. Now it can meet clients at its Milton office, according to Elizabeth Fayard, the marketing and development director for Catholic Charities.

“We had no offices in Santa Rosa to for clients to easily get to. They had to get transportation to get to our Pensacola outreach center, which could be very hard at times,” Fayard said. She said the new office will give them a chance to serve people near their home.

A U.S. District Judge in New Orleans has extended a deadline for oil giant BP and a group of lawyers representing the plaintiffs to file particulars of a proposed settlement agreement intended to resolve numerous claims over the April 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

It had been expected that the British oil company and the plaintiffs’ attorneys will submit the formal terms of the deal to Judge Carl Barbier by Monday evening for his preliminary approval. But the deadline was extended by Barbier on Monday. According to him, the parties require more time to complete and present the supporting documentation.

As per BP’s estimates, it will have to pay around $7.8 billion for resolving the claims filed by private plaintiffs, though the proposed deal is not capped.

The proposed settlement doesn’t cover the claims of federal government and the states affected by the oil spill disaster.

Now the terms of the settlement should be submitted by Wednesday morning.

A federal attorney told a Houston judge that Transocean ltd., the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that blasted in April 2010 and caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, is thwarting a federal agency’s attempts to make recommendations on safety for preventing similar accidents in the future by dishonoring five subpoenas issued by the agency.

The matter in issue is whether the offshore drilling company should abide by United States Chemical Safety Board’s subpoenas. The Chemical Safety Board is a federal board which looks into chemical accidents in the industries.

Transocean says the board doesn’t have the right to investigate an incident which occurred in Gulf waters on the OCF (Outer Continental Shelf).

According to the Don Holmstrom, the chief investigator of the board, Transocean Ltd. is one of the 15 companies that do not abide by the subpoenas.