Oil oblivion: The destruction of Deepwater Horizon, BP’s offshore rig, has caused one of the worst oil spills in history.
Giles Crosse looks at the situation.
At 12.15, June 17, an estimated 56,782,756 gallons of oil had already spilt into the Gulf of Mexico, according to Greenpeace.
This, of course, depends on how conservative you want to be with your estimates. BP worst case scenario figures would instantly double the Greenpeace approximations.
By now, virtually everyone on the planet will be aware of the extent of the disaster. Nearly two months after Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank, accusations, vilifications and excuses are everywhere.
On June 17 the BP boss was due to say ‘sorry’ to US politicians, but ironically the media focus has more recently pointed towards BP’s falling share prices and the potential of the company to weather the storm.
Remarkably, the fact that the leak continues appears to have become accepted fact, rather than the unacceptable reality it is. Precautionary principles have long been at the heart of environmental sustainability.
No matter how unforeseen the circumstances, the inability to stem the flow of oil points to the ill prepared, short term, profit seeking mentality that’s been behind the vast majority of environmental catastrophes the planet has seen.
And the vast majority of this is driven by one thing: money.
‘Greenpeace today welcomed President Obama’s sensible and encouraging first step in ensuring that the BP oil spill disaster can never happen again - but the “never” will only last for the next six months while his commission reaches a conclusion,’ said Greenpeace in a May 17 release.
‘The President went some way towards exposing the root cause of this disaster in highlighting the oil industry’s “cozy and sometimes corrupt relationship” with government agencies responsible.’
“As long as we continue to let oil companies like BP and Shell bully politicians, write our energy laws and bribe regulators, we will remain addicted to their dirty and dangerous fossil fuels. President Obama should cut the polluter lobbyists out of the debate so we can finally move toward a clean energy revolution that is good for the country, not just for corporations,” said John Hocevar, Greenpeace US oceans campaign director.
“The President’s six month suspensions of new drilling are a welcome reprieve for the communities and animals that rely on those pristine waters, but we need a permanent ban on all new offshore drilling, not just in the Arctic but in all US waters. A ban on all new oil drilling is the only way to avoid another spill disaster,” said Hocevar.
Greenpeace says that, ‘With only three per cent of global reserves the US consumes 25 per cent of the world’s oil. The US will never drill its way to energy independence or energy security.’
“Americans will be left behind the rest of the world if President Obama continues to allow big industry to determine this country’s energy policy. It is abundantly clear that industry cannot be trusted to protect us from oil spills, let alone protecting our energy future,” said Hocevar. “Until President Obama gets over the notion ‘we need the oil’, the nation will never get over our addiction to fossil fuels.”
What’s actually happening?
Data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to June 15 has ‘found that air quality levels for ozone and particulates are normal on the Gulf coastline for this time of year.’
‘Water samples collected June 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 2010, along the Gulf coast did not reveal elevated levels for chemicals that are usually found in oil.’
‘Sediment samples collected June 8 & 9, 2010 along the Gulf coast did not reveal elevated levels for chemicals that are usually found in oil.’
In terms of actually stopping the spill, ‘The Development Driller III continues to drill the first relief well to a depth of more than 15,000 feet, 11 days ahead of schedule, and is beginning to angle the well at 23 degrees.
‘The Development Driller II has drilled the second relief well to a depth of 9,774 feet.’ explained Deepwater Horizon Response, June 17, at 19.03 in the evening.
‘In recent days, favorable weather conditions have allowed responders to conduct successful controlled burn operations. As part of a coordinated response that combines tactics deployed above water, below water, offshore, and close to coastal areas, controlled burns efficiently remove oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.
‘In total, more than 210 burns have been conducted to remove a total of 5.2 million gallons of oil from the water to date.
‘BP continues to capture some oil and burn some gas at the surface using its containment dome technique, which is being executed under the federal government’s direction. After cutting off a portion of the riser, BP placed a containment device over it in order to capture oil at its source.’
According to the White House, on June 16, ‘The President announced that BP has agreed to set aside $20 billion to pay economic damage claims to people and businesses that have been affected by the oil spill.’
Tragic story
“The world has reached a definite double bind when it comes to the human needs for oil to power the world’s current activities in conflict with the environmental destruction of our planet as a home for human beings and other creatures,” said Karl Jaegar, Chairman of Trustees and Co Founder for Our Future Planet.
“When President Obama calls for a suspension of oil extraction from sea based oil rigs like the one gone berserk in the Gulf of Mexico, the workers on those rigs scream for their inability to work on such rigs when the fishing season is shut down.
“Here you have the dilemma in concise terms. We need to destroy our environment in order to pay workers who do it. It’s like saying our planet must keep having wars just to create jobs for soldiers.
“Here we see the clear illogic of our present planet’s attitudinal and behaviour patterns,” he concludes.
It’s also worth remembering virtually every developed household, hospital or school is stuffed full with goods made from oil, like your television and radio. Fundamental change will be required to combat this addiction.
The figures
Approximately 31,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
- More than 5,000* vessels are currently responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
- Approximately 2.39 million feet of containment boom and 3.48 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 468,000 feet of containment boom and 1.8 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
- Approximately 21.2 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
- Approximately 1.3 million gallons of total dispersant have been applied—885,000 on the surface and 414,000 subsea. More than 505,000 gallons are available.
- More than 210 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 5.2 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.
- 17 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines.
- Approximately 52.6 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently experiencing impacts from BP’s leaking oil—34.8 miles in Louisiana, 0.9 miles in Mississippi, 9.9 miles in Alabama, and 7 miles in Florida.
Source: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/666571/
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Resources:
How to Quickly Find Oil Using ASPECT Google Earth visible imagery
NOAA’s Oil Spill Response Hurricanes and the Oil Spill
The behaviour and effects of oil spills in Aquatic Environments:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Other Video:
