On April 20, there was an explosion at BP’s offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico that caused a tremendous leak. The explosion and fire left 11 workers missing and presumed to be dead. The rig sank two days later about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. The leak is currently releasing 5,000 barrels of oil a day. The spill is to become the worst oil spill in history, being worse than the damage done by the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Efforts to manage the spill have been controlled burning, and an attempt was made to plug the leak Thursday but it was unsuccessful.
Officials found two leaks in the riser(the 5,000 foot long pipe that connected the rig to the wellhead). One leak is at the end of the riser and the other at a kink closer to the wellhead. Last Wednesday afternoon a new third leak was discovered even closer to the wellhead. The oil leaking out has started to hit the coastlines, posing serious threats to fishermen’s livelihoods, marine habitats, beaches, wildlife and human health. It has also disrupted fish and shrimp breeding grounds and vulnerable wetlands filled with wildlife.
President Obama’s administration has put pressure on the owner of BP’s blown-out well to do more to stop the leak and contain the oil. Obama also sent Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Naplitano to Louisiana to assess the situation. Currently Obama is now headed to the Gulf Coast today for a firsthand update. Crews currently have had little success stopping the flow, or removing oil from the sea’s surface. There have been warnings that the uncontrolled spill could create a horrific scenario if the Gulf Stream carries it to the Atlantic. Long spots of oil have already made its way into South Pass, a major channel through the salt marshes of Louisiana’s southeastern bootheel. South Pass is a breeding ground for the crab, oysters, shrimp, redfish and other seafood. This creates major problems for the fisherman and locals to the area.
The Coast Guard noted on Saturday that it’s nearly impossible to know how much oil has gushed out since the blast. Earlier it was said to be at least 1.6 million gallons, equivalent to about 2 and a half Olympic-sized swimming pools. This catastrophic leak has shown now the dangers and risks involved in off-shore drilling. Over its lifetime a single oil rig can dump more than 90,000 metric tons of drilling fluid and metal cuttings into the ocean. It can also pollute the air as much as 7,000 cars driving 50 miles a day. The steady stream of pollution from offshore rigs causes health and reproductive problems for fish and other wildlife exposed.
The Committee Against Oil Exploration has been formed and is working to inform the public about the dangers of off-shore drilling. President Obama has recently announced a plan to open Eastern coastal areas to offshore oil drilling. We need to learn from the disaster currently in Louisiana and put a stop to offshore drilling before we run the risk of devastating more wetlands and wildlife.
It is scary to think that there may be offshore oil rigs like this one off of the east coast. I agree with you in the idea that the government needs to reconsider opening the east coast to drilling. In my opinion, the risks aren't worth the rewards. Because of this mistake in the Gulf, thousands of people are going to lose their livelihoods. Is BP going to compensate those people? I think that they should. Fishing communities in the Gulf are now destroyed because of the mistakes BP made and the priceless environmental resources are going to be lost. I hope that BP gives aid to the people whose lives are going to be affected by this tragedy.
ReplyDeleteEven if BP must compensate for these losses, I doubt it will change their mind on the matter. They are a massive corporation where money isn't their first concern. If they didn't have money to clean up from their mistakes, they would be more careful. At the end of the day, these companies are willing to pay huge amounts from their pockets because the losses won't compare to the profits they will indure. I think that off-shore drilling needs to stop as well, but people are all for getting their own. If an economic incentive lied somewhere else, perhaps people would consider it. But as long as off-shore drilling is where the money is, I don't see BP relocating any time soon. As far as Administration, the government needs to see this as a reality check and realize that intervention is needed. Animals are dying, fisherman are losing mass amounts of income and at the end of this story the people that suffer most are innocent. Even if BP compensates for some of their error, the animals will never get their lives back. People that depend on these waters virtually have no control over them and I see that as a very sad situation.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the question to be asked here is, "Is it worth it?" There are a couple of things that would figure into determining an opinion on this question. I emphasize the use of the word "opinion" here. Environmentally, it's all bad. The drilling and pumping process itself is invasive and the consequences of any type of failure are catastrophic. That being said, we, as a country, are in a position where we have to consider national security, not just in the context of safety but, also, economically. Oil, whether we like it or not, happens to be what makes the world go around nowadays. As much as we may not want to believe it, the oil companies are not trying to make these things happen and, more often than not, are doing everything within their technological and scientific know-how to prevent these disasters. It's a case of Murphy's Law. In my opinion, it's not necessarily the drilling that's the problem but, rather, our reliance on oil itself. These things are essentially a part of the "ballgame," so to speak. Don't get me wrong here but we, as Americans, have to understand that there are billions of dollars be spent and thousands of us in the Middle East dying everyday in the interest of this commodity. This is also a matter of opinion but I believe there are ulterior motives to our engagement and it is not just confined to being a response to 9-11. That in itself is a catastrophe. As long as oil remains to be a necessity, risks such as offshore drilling are going to have to be taken. Of course, the "all's right in the world" answer to this problem would be the further development of green energy. That being said, in the meantime, the oil companies and the government need to have quicker, better response measures in place in case of failure.
ReplyDeleteI would have to argue that BP's primary motivation is money. And if you compare this situation to the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in Alaska, then BP will most likely have to pay a large sum of money for these damages. Exxon was given a total to pay by surveying the American public and determining the amount of non-use value lost by the damage from the oil spill, and I think a similar repercussion should take place for BP. If that fine is significant enough, maybe it will cause them to think twice about putting to use best available technology to prevent devastation like this.
ReplyDeleteOn that note, was there any determination as to how the explosion occurred? I should hope that oil drilling companies learn from this mistake in determining that their other rigs are safe.
On a different note, while following the development of this crisis for a while, and trying to check the incoming news every day, I am starting to notice a trend in the articles. The articles about a week after the explosion labeled it the "BP Oil Spill" - "BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Explosion." They attached BP's name to all of the news articles, making it clear who was responsible and where blame lay. Now, two weeks after the explosion, I am seeing that the articles are now labeling it "The Gulf Coast Oil Spill" - "Deepwater Horizon Drilling Rig Explosion" or most commonly "Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill." This changing of titling may seem inconsequential but to me it appears that they are deliberately trying to avoid branding BP with this. Instead labeling it with "Deepwater Horizon" the name of the oil rig, which does not have the same affect at all.
ReplyDeleteBy making it clear that BP was responsible is the best way to really change the way that these companies operate. By making BP synonymous with this tragedy will greatly affect their sales and best case put them out of business, and that is really the only thing that is going to scare the big oil businesses to change their methods and make sure that all procedures are to the letter of the law and back up plans are rock solid and unnecessary. "BP Oil Spill" needs to become as commonplace as "Exxon-Valdez"
I have recently read that BP may only be required to pay for all ecological costs and some of the economical losses (Up to 25 Million I think) unless they choose to pay. This may mean that fishermen and other people who rely on the Gulf to earn a living might be out of a job. To be honest I think that the polluter should pay 100% of all of the costs, and maybe even a fine on top of that. There is no reason why we should allow a company to be be completely accountable for all of their actions, especially when they have the means to reimburse us for all of it. I would also like to see some more action from the government to be prepared for another such event. It seems like the government response was extremely lacking in both manpower and equipment.
ReplyDeleteI guess we will just have to wait and see, but I know that I am no longer buying gas from BP.