Yesterday I arrived in New Orleans to join NRDC’s on-the-ground team and see firsthand the impacts of the massive and still-uncontrolled, still flowing oil spill from Deepwater Horizon. Quickly we head up and over the wetlands in a helicopter, and the impression I got throughout the flight, from takeoff to landing, is that the coast of Louisiana is the work horse for the oil and gas industry.
The wetlands were emerald colored, snow-white egrets flew against the lush green and a bald eagle flew by as we skimmed across the Delta heading for the open water. Wildlife abounded: one island was covered with brown pelicans, a nesting area for thousands.
Yet evidence of the industry marred the natural landscape everywhere: jack boats, well heads, helicopter pads, and service boats heading further out. We saw channels dredged for pipelines and oil tanks sitting on higher ground.
And down below, we watched the latest industrial scars in the water, seeing variations in the color and texture and mixing of oily tendrils flowing with the currents further and further to the west. We were tracking a NOAA map of where some of the oil had floated west of the accident site, nearly 100 miles west.
This oil had traveled far and was still moving, mixing into the water column, dispersing into the air, on a journey with unpredictable consequences to coastal and marine life and those whose livelihoods depend on it.
Our flyover revealed the scale of the spill and the immense area now at risk. The damage here is likely to be severe, and the full extent remains unknown. What we do know is that within this expanse we’re looking down upon – many people's livelihoods are at-risk. It’s for this reason that everyone here is worried. That much is clear the moment you touch down in the region.
And we know many species here are in danger. NRDC's marine and wildlife experts have described the threatened species in their blogs: the birds, turtles and marine mammals, the fish including the bluefin tuna that spawn here. Noted fisheries biologist Daniel Pauly has a new audio slideshow at OnEarth reminding us that the phytoplankton and zooplankton--the food chain itself--is also at risk from the oil.
After our flight, we headed over to the Coast Guard Command Center to meet with Admiral Mary Landry and representatives from NOAA, MMS and BP. Although we didn't meet with the EPA, Administrator Jackson is on the ground this week, as citizens share their concerns about the impact of dispersants, air quality issues, and what health risks go along with massive amounts of petroleum being released into the environment.
This oil spill is massive, and so is the response effort. It is designed to do three things.
1. Secure the source. As everyone watching the news knows, this is an ongoing effort--and not yet successful. Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, described to us the containment efforts, ranging from the vessel they tried to place over the weekend to the smaller "top hat" with a pipe attached that they are attempting to place now, to a "junk shot" where they try to stop the flow by plugging the well, to the relief well that will take up to 90 days to complete. All these efforts will happen concurrently.
2. Contain the oil. What was clear from these conversations is that everyone involved in the cleanup effort is doing a lot of on-the-ground learning. The scale, depth, and distance of this spill make it unique. Placing 1 million feet of booms, burning the oil, using dispersants, and skimming are all efforts to reduce the damage. The guiding principal is to protect resources at greatest risk. One action may benefit one resource while harming another. Dispersants may be the best hope to prevent oil from reaching shore and coating critical wetlands habitat and wildlife species. But what could be happening in the water column itself is another matter, one little understood. NOAA provides its scientific expertise and judgment to the Coast Guard, MMS and BP as each action is taken. It's a balancing act--that much was clear.
3. Foster recovery. A separate division at NOAA is already beginning to plan that effort.
In between our flight and the conversations with officials, I have been placing calls to Washington, working to ensure that clean energy and climate legislation is just that--a new energy pathway that ensures we will not again experience anything like the Deepwater Horizon blow out.
Photos taken by NRDC, click for captions and more photos
Daphne Wysham: Crime Pays for BP
Between 2001 and 2009, BP paid $530 million in safety fines, or one-third of 1 percent of the company's profits. Those financial penalties are so minor that BP routinely scrimps on safety.
Philip Radford: Will Obama Make History Out of Oil Spill Crisis?
The President can continue to blame BP and deflect questions about his drilling policies -- or he can free us of one of the main drivers of recessions, environmental disasters and terror strikes.
David Ropeik: Oil Spills and the Human Response to Catastrophe
The problem is that, like books about any catastrophe, the books about this spill will focus our attention on a single high-profile event, and distract us from far greater risks.
accidents that continue year after year. Increase fines to offenders till it hurts, then you will see
improvement.
Who do they think they are fooling?
I've discovered one company, Recovery I, Inc., that uses technology made from corn cobs.
"The idea for this process was driven by the ecological disaster of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill, in Prince William Sound in Alaska. It was discovered while attempting to find a safe way to remove the oil from any body of water, in a way that would have virtually no harmful effects on the eco-system. The technique allows the oil to be removed, and then recaptured, for its reuse. Up to 98% of what is collected on the cobs can be returned and though this result may already be enough, the cobs, once done with their work, can be used one final time, as an effective, natural, cost effective source for fuel, with or without the oil being removed."
www.reoveryiinc.net
IMHO, very plausible.
President Barack Obama was put on the defensive after having recently called for expanded offshore oil and natural gas drilling to reduce national dependence on foreign oil. The president was not ready to back away from those plans, at least not immediately, despite demands from environmentalists and many in his own Democrat Party to do just that.
Republicans, who are normally quick to criticize the president's handling of most any crisis, barely raised a peep. Perhaps Republicans thought it better not to remind Americans that it was their party chanting "drill baby drill" at the national convention in 2008.
The ability or inability to contain the disaster could determine the long-term implications for the politics and prospects of offshore drilling. Anyway. What in blazes was the president thinking of
when he joined the drill baby drill gang?
Not a single one of these Rat B@stards could man up and take responsibility for this disaster that has ruined the entire southern coast of the US...How much longer are WE the people going to allow these CORPORATIONS to destroy our life support system?.......DESTROY THESE CORPORATIONS....Starting NOW !!....No second chances....no 75 mile limit BS,,,,
If this was the policy from the beginning....Safety measures and plans ABC and D would be in place.....the only plan they had was called GREED
.......One coast down ......Two to Go.....Are you willing to take that risk? Make them pay...with a CORPORATE DEATH PENALTY!!!....RETROACTIVE!!
I'm reminded of a friend who grew up in East L.A. He'd talk about the celebrity who'd come to the "hood" with all the photographers. Serve some food at the shelter. make sure lots of pictures were taken while he/she made a big speech. Then quickly left.
Beinecke, if you want to know what's going on your going to have to get out of that helicopter. Your going to have to get out of your hotel room and the bar and your going to have to quit meeting only with all the government officials.
Here's a radical idea for you, come down and help us clean some fouled birds. Come down and help us spread some booms. Talk to us, the folks who live here.
These efforts in a spill this size are overwhelmed.
Fly-over video I saw shows these efforts to be akin to trying to stop a waterfall with a 8 oz. cup