Photo: A view of the oil slick from space by NASA on May 24, 2010.
The Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill is the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history. It is an oil gusher from the sea floor of the Gulf of Mexico that started April 20, 2010 about 40 miles southeast of the Louisiana coast in the Macondo Prospect oil field.
The explosion killed 11 platform workers and injured 17 others. Ninety-eight workers survived.
The gusher originates 5,000 feet below the ocean surface. British Petroleum estimates over 5,000 barrels to 100,000 barrels of crude oil is being infused into the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally an unknown amount of natural gas is in the mixture.
The oil slick covers 2,500 square miles. Immense underwater plumes of oil, not visible, lie below the water’s surface.
From 12,000 to 19,000 barrels of oil continue to flow into the gulf per day. As of May 27 it is estimated between 440,000 and 700,000 barrels as of that date have poured into the gulf.
It is predicted the oil will be picked up by the Gulf Stream and carried around Florida and up the eastern coastline of the United States.
How long will the oil spill last?
Nobody knows. Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia has said it could take the ecosystem years, possibly decades, to recover from the infusion of oil and gas. CNN reports that BP is not expected to contain the spill until August, if then.
The fishing industry along the gulf has been closed down. Losses from tourism have been estimated at $3 billion. Five corporations connected to the spill have lost $21 billion in market capitalization since the explosion.
BP argued against new, stricter safety rules proposed last September by Minerals Management Service saying additional regulation of the oil industry was unnecessary; that the voluntary system of safety procedures was adequate, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Hurricanes
The hurricane season officially started June 2 causing the worry that “a hurricane might turn the millions of gallons of floating crude into a crashing back surf,” according to the Associated Press. It is feared that the combination of damaging winds and large waves will push the oil deeper into the Louisiana estuaries and wetlands leaving miles of debris-littered coastline. The furthering damage to the coast line will weaken as future tropical storms and hurricanes arrive in the years ahead.
Regulate, Baby, Regulate
Over the years the federal government has been deregulating corporate industry. You’ve heard the arguments about big government’s intrusion into private enterprise.
BP argued against new, stricter safety rules proposed last September by Minerals Management Service saying additional regulation of the oil industry was unnecessary; that the voluntary system of safety procedures was adequate, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Around 80 “oil spills” have occurred across the globe since 1937, according to Wikipedia. The most recent occurred in the Singapore Strait resulting from a collision of two marine vessels.
We Must Get Off Oil
T. Boone Pickens says the United States today imports 65% of the oil we use. That is up from 24% in 1970. “Every day 85 million barrels of oil are produced around the world. And 21 million of those are used here in the United States.” That’s 25% of the world’s oil demand. Used by just 4% of the world’s population. America imports 12 million barrels a day, and Saudi Arabia only produces 9 million a day.
Pickens adds, “In additional to putting our security in the hands of potentially unfriendly and unstable foreign nations, we spent $475 billion on foreign oil in 2008 alone. That’s money taken out of our economy and sent to foreign nations, and it will continue to drain the life from our economy for as long as we fail to stop the bleeding.”
Related posts:
