While activist’s attentions have been appropriately drawn in recent months to OWS camps, XL pipeline protests and now to Durbin, the mess in the Gulf created by the 2010 BP explosion/spill continues to seep.
Photo: Lee Celano/Reuters
For hundreds of thousands along the coast, whether fisherman or shopkeeper, rigger or housewife, impacts of the spill are still daily concerns.
Still pumping. Despite the fallout from the Deepwater Horizon blowup, demand for oil in the U.S. continues to rise, while foreign stocks become ever trickier to access (Libya, Saudi Arabia).
One result is that after a yearlong abstention, new leases are being sold (one upcoming sale scheduled for December 14 in New Orleans covers 21 million acres in water depths up to 11,000 feet) and new drilling permits granted (nearly 300 in the Gulf of Mexico in the past 12 months).
Among the companies given the go-ahead to drill is BP, which has been approved to sink an exploratory well about 250 miles off the coast, 6,000 feet below the surface, or 1,000 feet deeper than its Macondo well that blew in April 2010.
An added concern, reported by Sky Truth, is that despite the government’s promise to dismantle unused oil platforms and plug nonoperational wells, “there are currently 24,486 known permanently abandoned wells in the Gulf of Mexico and 3,593 ‘temporarily’ abandoned wells, as of October 2011.” Each has the potential to leak.
Still paying out. With shrimpers and crabbers reporting small catches and a shrunken market, Gulf oil claims czar Kenneth Feinberg announced this week that settlement to some Gulf Coast fishermen would not just continue but grow.
To date, just $6 billion of the $20 billion compensation fund established by BP to make reparations has been paid out; Feinberg’s decision will pay quadruple the claims made by shrimpers and crabbers for their 2010 losses. Without putting it in so many words, the allotment was made because no one can still say with certainty what the future of fishing will be in the Gulf thanks to the environmental degradation caused by the BP spill.
Yet Feinberg continues to argue that the slowdown is all about the marketplace, not biology. “We see no evidence in the Gulf that there is long-term biological impact,” he said in a statement announcing the increased payouts.
Meanwhile, many commercial fishermen have opted to not take any money from BP, which allows them to sue the company for potentially bigger payouts. In response, BP has gone to federal court to put a firm deadline on payouts and has been encouraging Feinberg to limit, not expand, the money he gives away.
“Shoreline cleanup is complete!”That’s at least according to BP and the Coast Guard, which last week announced it was time to move past cleanup and on to “restoration.”
Reporting that “90 percent” of the shoreline has been cleaned, the announcement officially removes BP from responsibility for any future cleanup unless it can be “proven” any new oil found originated in the 2010 spill. Even the oil company admits that would be hard to prove as the oil degrades and spreads throughout the ecosystem.
Many Gulf fishermen, who report both a lack of fish—particularly shrimp, crab and oysters—as well as deformities among those they do catch, are not convinced the cleanup is over. Those 4.9 billion barrels of oil had to go somewhere, and many believe much of it is still out there.
Those 4.9 billion barrels of oil had to go somewhere, and many believe much of it is still out there.
It’s not just the fisheries that continue to suffer. The shorelines of many of the bird-breeding islands off the Gulf coast, in Louisiana and Mississippi, are still like oil sponges—each footstep reveals an oily substance just below the sand—and tar balls continue to roll up in the surf.
Human health still at risk. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have jointly announced a long-term project aimed at monitoring the impacts of the spill on coastline residents.
Dubbed the Gulf Long-Term Follow-Up (GuLF), the idea is a “more than ten-year study” that will hopefully involve as many as 55,000 participants. Its focus is on the health implications of the handling and exposure to oil, dispersants and other chemicals in the cleanup operation.
While former cleanup workers continue to complain about rashes, respiratory problems, sores, headaches, nausea and more, the challenge now is to identify and sign up willing participants. The promised $50 gift card offered by the government may not be enough of an incentive to be poked, prodded, interviewed and visited in your home.
The study, similar to one done on cleanup workers at the site of the World Trade Center post 9/11, is imperative but it’s just one piece of what should be a sizable human health follow-up in the aftermath of one of the country’s greatest ecologic disasters.
(For the rest of my dispatches go to TakePart.com)
One year ago last Friday (July 15) the gusher in the Gulf of Mexico—brought to us by the team of BP and Transocean— was successfully capped after hemorrhaging 4.9 million barrels of crude oil.
Photo by P.J. Hahn
One year ago today (July 15) the gusher in the Gulf of Mexico—brought to us by the team of BP and Transocean— was successfully capped after hemorrhaging 4.9 million barrels of crude oil.
One year later impacts of the spill continue to affect the health of Gulf Coast residents, the safety of the region’s seafood and the economies of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Arguments continue over exactly who should be compensated from the $20 billion pot BP set aside for those whose lives and livelihoods were most impacted; so far less than $5 billion has been handed out, and BP, citing the area’s “robust recovery,” says that should be sufficient.
Meanwhile, around the globe, as our demand for oil continues to grow—now over 91 million barrels a day—oil leaks are hardly a thing of the past, nor relegated to the Gulf of Mexico.
Four big leaks and one very dangerous leak-in-the-making have been reported in just the past two weeks:
An Exxon Mobil pipeline burst beneath the Yellowstone River, flooding the pristine waterway with more than 42,000 gallons of crude oil. While the line was reportedly shut down within seven minutes, the leak managed to continue for more than an hour. With the river descending at five to seven miles an hour, the oil spread fast and far, making it tricky for the 350 emergency personnel armed with absorbent boom and pads to successfully capture it. With flashbacks to the Gulf spill—a slow response by the oil company, underestimations of how much oil was spilled, and a clean-up effort led by an oil company—it’s a reminder of how little has changed in our preparation for such spills since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April 2010.
On the other side of the planet, a pair of undersea leaks in the ConocoPhillips oilfield—Penglai 19-3, China’s largest—spilled up to 7,000 barrels of oil into Bohai Bay, spreading over more than 325 square miles. Slicks seven miles long and 500 yards wide were reported. This being China, the spills were not reported to the public or media for nearly a month; the initial fine was estimated to be about $30,000. But China’s top ocean watchdog, the State Oceanic Administration, predicts compensation could be far higher. At the request of the SOA, the faulty platform has been temporarily shut down.
An explosion and oil spill at the Pengrowth Energy Facility near Swan Hills, Alberta, dumped 1,000 barrels of oil into nearby Judy Creek, which flows into the Freeman River, a tributary of the Athabasca River. The company has given few details of how or why the mile-long, eight-inch round pipe carrying oil from a wellhead to a larger pipeline blew up. Earlier this year the company reported a fire and spill at an adjacent gas processing plant.
Back in the USA, a New Hampshire company—Sprague Energy—leaked up to 100 barrels of oil into the Piscataqua River via a “small hole” in a delivery pipe. Company officials admitted a pinhole resulted in a “spraying” of fuel for up to two hours. While much of the spill appeared to be contained within the company’s docking area, some of the river’s shellfish beds were closed out of caution. The fast-running river parallels the border of Maine and New Hampshire before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
A potential spill with historic roots was reported by NOAA, off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, where hundreds of World War II shipwrecks lie deteriorating on the ocean floor. NOAA is documenting more than 30,000 ships sunk along the coastline and its biggest concerns are for the battleships sunk by Nazi submarines in 1942. Nearly 400 ships, many with full fuel tanks, were sunk within 60 miles of the coast. So far the agency has put 233 ships on its “worst-threat” list, including an unarmed tanker—the W.L. Steed— which was carrying 66,000 barrels of crude oil. The concern is that as the tanks rust and leak, the holds filled with crude oil, fuel oil, diesel fuel and explosives, could have “devastating” impacts on nearby coastal communities. Once identified it’s hoped the tanks could be emptied, paid for by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which is funded by the oil industry.
One year later impacts of the spill continue to affect the health of Gulf Coast residents, the safety of the region’s seafood and the economies of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Arguments continue over exactly who should be compensated from the $20 billion pot BP set aside for those whose lives and livelihoods were most impacted; so far less than $5 billion has been handed out, and BP, citing the area’s “robust recovery,” says that should be sufficient.
Meanwhile, around the globe, as our demand for oil continues to grow—now over 91 million barrels a day—oil leaks are hardly a thing of the past, nor relegated to the Gulf of Mexico.
Four big leaks and one very dangerous leak-in-the-making have been reported in just the past two weeks:
An Exxon Mobil pipeline burst beneath the Yellowstone River, flooding the pristine waterway with more than 42,000 gallons of crude oil. While the line was reportedly shut down within seven minutes, the leak managed to continue for more than an hour. With the river descending at five to seven miles an hour, the oil spread fast and far, making it tricky for the 350 emergency personnel armed with absorbent boom and pads to successfully capture it. With flashbacks to the Gulf spill—a slow response by the oil company, underestimations of how much oil was spilled, and a clean-up effort led by an oil company—it’s a reminder of how little has changed in our preparation for such spills since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April 2010.
On the other side of the planet, a pair of undersea leaks in the ConocoPhillips oilfield—Penglai 19-3, China’s largest—spilled up to 7,000 barrels of oil into Bohai Bay, spreading over more than 325 square miles. Slicks seven miles long and 500 yards wide were reported. This being China, the spills were not reported to the public or media for nearly a month; the initial fine was estimated to be about $30,000. But China’s top ocean watchdog, the State Oceanic Administration, predicts compensation could be far higher. At the request of the SOA, the faulty platform has been temporarily shut down.
An explosion and oil spill at the Pengrowth Energy Facility near Swan Hills, Alberta, dumped 1,000 barrels of oil into nearby Judy Creek, which flows into the Freeman River, a tributary of the Athabasca River. The company has given few details of how or why the mile-long, eight-inch round pipe carrying oil from a wellhead to a larger pipeline blew up. Earlier this year the company reported a fire and spill at an adjacent gas processing plant.
Back in the USA, a New Hampshire company—Sprague Energy—leaked up to 100 barrels of oil into the Piscataqua River via a “small hole” in a delivery pipe. Company officials admitted a pinhole resulted in a “spraying” of fuel for up to two hours. While much of the spill appeared to be contained within the company’s docking area, some of the river’s shellfish beds were closed out of caution. The fast-running river parallels the border of Maine and New Hampshire before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
A potential spill with historic roots was reported by NOAA, off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, where hundreds of World War II shipwrecks lie deteriorating on the ocean floor. NOAA is documenting more than 30,000 ships sunk along the coastline and its biggest concerns are for the battleships sunk by Nazi submarines in 1942. Nearly 400 ships, many with full fuel tanks, were sunk within 60 miles of the coast. So far the agency has put 233 ships on its “worst-threat” list, including an unarmed tanker—the W.L. Steed— which was carrying 66,000 barrels of crude oil. The concern is that as the tanks rust and leak, the holds filled with crude oil, fuel oil, diesel fuel and explosives, could have “devastating” impacts on nearby coastal communities. Once identified it’s hoped the tanks could be emptied, paid for by the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which is funded by the oil industry.
(For the rest of my dispatches go to takepart.com)
FOR NEW VIDEO FROM THE GULF, GO TO TAKEPART.COM
It’s impossible to ignore images of oil-soaked pelicans, dead dolphins, and sea turtles washed up onshore. But for all the stomach-churning induced by a man-made disaster, the human toll of an oil spill is sometimes overlooked.
Nausea, coughing, rectal bleeding, and even skin lesions are starting to show up with regularity among Gulf residents and out-of-towners who worked to clean up the spill. Countless others, both directly and indirectly, have been victims of the disaster.
Dr. Michael Robichaux of Raceland, Louisiana—a former state senator and physician—didn’t believe there were links among the patients he began seeing six months ago related to the oil spill. Today he’s changed his mind and calls the impacts of the spill “one of the greatest human health issues in the United States.” He cites examples of the World Trade Center and the Exxon Valdez spill as other accidents where long-term impact on human health took years to truly decipher.
Dr. Mike’s biggest acolytes are long-time Louisiana environmentalist Marylee Orr, director of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, and Wilma Subra, chemist, Macarthur grant “genius” and community educator. The women have been focused round-the-clock on how the spill is hurting the Gulf’s most valuable resource: its people.
“Many of these people are in the worst shape imaginable: They are sick, which in many cases contributed to them losing their jobs. Now they have no insurance … and no one believes it was the spill that caused their ailments,” says Marylee. “There’s no multi-billion dollar fund set up to take care of them. All we’re trying to do is make sure these people – and those who will be sick in the future – aren’t forgotten.”
FOR NEW VIDEO FROM THE GULF, GO TO TAKEPART.COM
FOR NEW VIDEO FROM THE GULF, GO TO TAKEPART.COM
Paul and Michael Orr’s mother started the Louisiana Environmental Action Network out of fear that the local environment was too polluted to safely raise her young boys. Both men, born into the movement, now work at the 23-year-old organization.
Today, joined by younger brother Michael, the pair are raising awareness to the environmental ills and incredible natural beauty of their home state.
In the year since the spill, they have returned again and again to the barrier islands that guard Louisiana’s coastline to collect water samples, monitor at-risk bird populations, and illustrate how the ecosystem continues to evolve.
The worldwide attention paid to the Gulf coast as a result of the spill gives the brothers hope that things can change. They also worry that on the day after the spill’s one-year anniversary, that much-needed attention will disappear.
FOR NEW VIDEO FROM THE GULF, GO TO TAKEPART.COM
Given the one-year anniversary of the Gulf Spill — the rig exploded on April 20 and sank on April 22 — it makes sense that our Louisiana film, “SoLa,” is getting some media attention. Watch an interview with the PBS Newshourand tonight (April 21) tune in to Biglive.com at 9 EST for a live chat and screening of “SoLa” at snagfilms.com.
FOR NEW VIDEO FROM THE GULF, GO TO TAKEPART.COM
It will take years before we know for certain the true impact of mixing 5 million gallons of sweet Louisiana crude oil and another 1 million gallons of toxic dispersants into the complicated ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico.
Fisherman and politician George Barisch can’t wait for years.
In order to keep his life and family going, Barisch got back to fishing as soon as he possibly could. When I saw him last week he’d just pulled his boat out of Gulf waters, loaded with more than five thousand pounds of shrimp and redfish. One advantage of much of the Gulf having been off-limits to fishing for the good part of a year is that fish stocks are thriving.
Despite the haul, there are questions, which George understands better than anyone. How is the market going to recover when much of the country is still hesitant to buy Gulf seafood? And is seafood from the Gulf safe to eat?
George answers that question by grilling up a few dozen shrimp in his suburban kitchen (his Gulf-side home was wiped out by Katrina), sprinkled lightly with garlic and lemon. He’s convinced that the fish are untainted, even though he’s got dozens of friends and supporters in the environmental movement who have sworn off Gulf seafood while testing continues.
FOR NEW VIDEO FROM THE GULF, GO TO TAKEPART.COM
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