The Gulf, Still at Risk

[ashling]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/opinion/the-gulf-still-at-risk.html

In the run-up to the fifth anniversary on Monday of one of the worst environmental disasters in American history, the 2010 BP oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the country has heard happy talk from the company most responsible for it. Using phrases like “returning to pre-spill” or “baseline” conditions, and by emphasizing a rebound in fishing and tourism, BP has been suggesting in its reports and advertising that recovery of the entire ecosystem is just around the corner.

It is not. While much of the oil has evaporated, been consumed by bacteria or widely dispersed, its poisons linger in marshes and wetlands, deep-sea corals are visibly damaged, and scientists have estimated that millions of gallons settled in roughly 1,200 square miles of the ocean floor, with untold consequences for the health of bottom-dwelling organisms.

An official federal-state natural resource assessment, mandated by the Oil Pollution Act, is still far from complete. In the meantime, it is impossible to say what the long-term effects will be on individual species like bluefin tuna, dolphins and pelicans. As the officials in charge of that study have said, “The environmental effects of this spill are likely to last for generations.”

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I get a little nauseous every time one of the BP "happy dance" adds come on the tube.

The "federal-state resources assessment" referred to in the piece is sure to become the BP assessment and a political football. It scares the hell out of me that we not only "let", but actually encourage the BPs of the world to poke holes in the deep gulf AND the Arctic. ... and then there is fracking, et al.

I just want to scream!
The

[RKP5637]

1. Same here! BP layers on the bullshit as thick as their oil spill! n/t

[Baclava]

2. Leaking gulf oil well is worse than reported

OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO — Down to just one full-time employee, Taylor Energy Company exists for only one reason: to fight an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico that has gone largely unnoticed, despite creating miles-long slicks for more than a decade.

The New Orleans-based company has downplayed the leak's environmental impact, likening it to scores of minor spills and natural seeps that the Gulf routinely absorbs.

But an Associated Press investigation has revealed evidence that the spill is far worse than what Taylor — or the government — has publicly reported. Presented with AP's findings, the Coast Guard provided a new leak estimate that is about 20 times greater than one recently touted by the company.

Outside experts say the spill could be even worse — possibly one of the largest ever in the Gulf, albeit still dwarfed by BP's massive 2010 gusher.

The roots of the leak lie in an underwater mudslide triggered by Hurricane Ivan's waves in September 2004. That toppled Taylor's platform and buried 28 wells under sediment about 10 miles off Louisiana's coast at a depth of roughly 475 feet. Without access to the buried wells, traditional "plug and abandon" efforts wouldn't work.

The Coast Guard said in 2008 the leak posed a "significant threat" to the environment, though there is no evidence oil from the site has reached shore. Ian MacDonald, a Florida State University biological oceanography professor and expert witness in a lawsuit against Taylor, said the sheen "presents a substantial threat to the environment" and is capable of harming birds, fish and other marine life. Even after spending tens of millions of dollars to contain and stop the leak, Taylor says nothing can be done to completely halt the chronic oil sheens.

http://www.nwfdailynews.com/local/investigation-leaking-gulf-oil-well-is-worse-than-reported-1.465489