Globalaffairs

Issue 20/April-June 2010
By Roseanna Elizabeth Cox

When you think about the ocean, you shouldn’t have images of bloated fish bobbing around on the surface, surrounded by greasy swirls of oil, tar balls washing up on shore lines or sea birds trapped in oil slicks, waiting to die.

Since late April 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig caught fire and exploded, the Mexican Gulf has changed, and not for the better. The corporation responsible for this, BP had estimated only 5,000 barrels of oil were pumping into the gulf a day. It was revealed, however, that the figures are significantly higher. Around 12,000-19,000 barrels a day are pumping out, according to a panel of government scientists known as the Flow Rate Technical Group. [1] If these figures are correct, then over 444,000 barrels (18.65 million gallons/70.59 million litres) have been released into the ocean, whereas the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster had only pumped out over 257,000 barrels of oil. Within the waters near the oil flow, the levels of Oxygen have already fallen by 30 percent, meaning it becomes a so-called “dead zone” as marine species simply can’t live there anymore.

The “top kill” effort BP implemented, which involved shooting high-pressure mud into the well, displayed the same under achieving results as their first response - a lot of optimism that ultimately ended in failure. On top of everything, BP have been spraying chemicals into the ocean to try and disperse the oil, and like every other method they’ve tried, this also hasn’t worked out according to their plan. The chemicals being used could be more harmful in the long run to the ocean and marine life (and our own bodies if fish ingested the chemicals and were caught and sold to restaurants) than the oil. This is why the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A) has ordered BP to stop, and find safer alternatives. [2] Whether BP will comply or not, is another matter.

Carol Browner, a White House environmental advisor has admitted that the BP oil spill is “the worst environmental disaster” the United States has ever suffered, [2] and as of the 1st of June, more than 100 miles of Louisiana coastline has been affected by this disaster. The oil first appeared in marshes near the Mississippi River’s mouth, and then it spread to the islands, lakes and bayous just west of the river. Louisiana scientists, who ventured out into Barataria Bay, went specifically to seek out signs of oil, yet what they encountered left them shaken. Robert J. Barham who is head of Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, recounted how he had seen dozens of oily pelicans trying in vain to rid their wings of oil. “They think this is water sticking to their wings, but it’s not, and they can’t get it off,” Barham said. “It’s heart-wrenching, when you grow up in Louisiana and you are in love with this part of the world. . . . It just is a blow in the pit of your stomach.” [3] Oil that is produced in nature is a well equipped killer. It smothers blades of marsh grass, cutting them off from air and sunlight; it suffocates smaller organisms which form coral reefs, it sticks to bird’s feathers, preventing them from flying and, in trying to remove the oil; the birds swallow it and ultimately die. Turtles, dolphins and crabs have also been reportedly washing up on shorelines coated in oil.

Apart from the environmental impact, the economic consequences could wind up being devastating not only for the Gulf of Mexico, but for the entire world. According to David Karl, a marine scientist from the University of Hawaii, “No matter where you put oil in the ocean, there is a connection.” Karl has said. “All the waters circulate everywhere.” [4] In other words, cleaning up this mess could end up taking decades!

While majority of the U.S.A is subjected to increased and often outrageous seafood prices, fishing in the gulf has been halted, and around 27,000 fishermen and seafood plants are living in limbo, uncertain whether they’ll be able to go back to work. People are in constant fear that they will have their homes foreclosed on, as their income has dwindled and all but stopped. [5] Tourism has also suffered along the Gulf, especially as this environmental disaster has hit during their busy season, and with tourists cancelling their vacation plans, hospitality sectors have been forced into dropping their prices to dirt-cheap rates in the hopes of attract any travellers. Unfortunately for them, the drop in tourism is expected to last for as long as the oil continues to pour out into the gulf. [6]

Another aspect to worry about is hurricanes and what even one could do to the current environmental disaster. The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) has prepared a document, with two main points: The assumption that a hurricane will come from the west of the oil spill, means the oil could be driven into the coast lines, and that a hurricane on the east would do the opposite, and drive it away from the coast. “However, the details of the evolution of the storm, the track, the wind speed, the size, the forward motion and the intensity are all unknowns at this point and may alter this general statement.”[7] In other words, no one can really be certain what would happen if one came along.

Surprisingly, the worst case scenario of the oil spill hasn’t even been mention … and with the sheer volume of oil pumping out, it would be more accurate to call this a volcano of oil, not just an oil spill. So if this volcano of oil carries on at it’s current rate, the crude will get dragged into the Loop Current, and not only spread to the Florida Keys, destroying yet another coastline and popular tourist destination, but it could enter the into the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is well know as the ocean’s superhighway, as it carries warm water up the eastern seaboard, meaning Florida’s east coast, the coral reefs in the Keys, northern Cuba, the Carolinas and even Virginia would be at risk. [8] If this happened, Florida’s mango groves would become virtually obsolete once covered with oil, destroying the nurseries of coral reef fish and other marine wildlife. Some tourists have already cancelled any plans for the sunny Florida shorelines, in anticipation of this.

If this flow of oil continues, all ocean life could be affected. Seafood prices around the world could rise virtually overnight, as they have in most of the U.S states. Our ocean, once thriving with life, would slowly be depleted as the oil circulated the globe, with desperate fisherman forced to watch their livelihoods destroyed and washing up on shorelines around the world. [9]

All in all this “minor” disaster as BP first put it, could ultimately result in marine destruction on a global scale. Which I suppose resolves the question of what’s more important: The environment or the economy? As Mother Nature is pointing out to us, “the economy cannot exist without protecting the environment first.” [10]

Roseanna Elizabeth Cox
Ramsaymedia

References:
1] Director Marcia McNutt: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64Q4F720100527
2] Carol Browner: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/bp-oil-spill-white-house-worst-american-history/story?id=10735137 3] Robert J. Barham : http://www.bigislandweekly.com/articles/2010/05/26/read/news/news02.txt
4] Marine scientist David Karl: http://www.bigislandweekly.com/articles/2010/05/26/read/news/news02.txt
5] Kirsten Korosec: http://industry.bnet.com/energy/10004661/the-gulf-oil-spill-worst-case-scenario/
6] Bernadette Poppopy: http://get-lawyers.com/personal/oil-spill-economic-impact-seafood-prices-rise-jobs-lost-tourism-down-3.html
7] Anthony Watts: http://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/05/30/what-happens-if-a-hurricane-hits-the-gulf-oil-slick/
8] Kirsten Korosec: http://industry.bnet.com/energy/10004661/the-gulf-oil-spill-worst-case-scenario/
9] Rick Jervis and Alan Levin: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-05-27-oil-spill-news_N.htm?csp=obinsite
10] Mike Adams: http://www.naturalnews.com/028863_British_Petroleum_Gulf_of_Mexico.html

The views and opinions of contributors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of Global Affairs

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