Reports Of BP Disaster’s Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
Reports Of BP Disaster’s Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
In a contrarian take today, Time Magazine’s Michael Grunwald wrote a preemptive post-mortem impact of BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, saying that it “does not seem to be inflicting severe environmental damage. Grunwald believes that Rush Limbaugh “has a point” because the right-wing radio host spent weeks dismissing the disaster. New York Times reporters Justin Gillis and Campbell Robertson wrote that the “oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be dissolving far more rapidly than anyone expected.” The Associated Press’s John Carey believes “the oil slicks that once spread across thousands of miles of the Gulf of Mexico have largely disappeared.” The narrative of the disappearing disaster has been promoted by Politico’s Mike Allen and the Drudge Report.
Meanwhile, the oil blowout has been contained but not killed, oil continues to wash ashore, and the haphazard scientific effort to understand the 100-day disaster is hobbled by BP’s interference and governmental lassitude. It’s fair to point out, as Grunwald does, that the oil disaster’s impact on Louisiana’s shoreline is likely to be meaningless if the marshlands continue to disappear. Fringe rumors of global eco-collapse — never promoted by major environmental groups — continue to be as baseless as the nonsense spouted by conservative activists, media, and politicians on behalf of the oil industry.
However, the only honest take on the BP disaster right now is that this is a calamity, the true scope of which will take years to discover, with many impacts impossible to ever know. No one knows how badly this disaster will affect the dying marshlands of Louisiana. No one knows how badly the toxic oil plumes will affect the spawning grounds of the bluefin tuna, the feeding grounds of the threatened Gulf sturgeon, or the future of the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, whose corpses have been found at 15 times the historical rate this summer. No one knows what the long-term physical and mental health impacts will be on the tens of thousands of cleanup workers.
Moreover, it is undoubtedly premature to announce that the vast oil slick has largely disappeared from the ocean’s surface. Thick oil, vast slicks, and tar balls continue to wash ashore along Louisiana’s coastline. Satellite imagery from July 27 and 28 — as the stories of disappearing oil were being filed — show a vast region still discolored by slicks and sheen, little diminished from previous weeks:
 Composite of MODIS visible satellite imagery from July 27 and July 28. Analysis of spill extent by Brad Johnson, Center for American Progress Action Fund. |
Scientists have found signs of an oil-and-dispersant mix under the shells of tiny blue crab larvae in the Gulf of Mexico, the first clear indication that the unprecedented use of dispersants in the BP oil spill has broken up the oil into toxic droplets so tiny that they can easily enter the foodchain.
"A lot of our eggs and larvae are in the top 100 meters, so as this cloud of toxins spreads upward, we're making an assumption that its killing all of them," he said. "I absolutely hate the use of dispersants at depth. I think that was the most huge of mistake in the process of containment."Last week, a group of prominent marine researchers released a statement calling for the end of the use of dispersants in the Gulf, saying, "Corexit dispersants, in combination with crude oil, pose grave health risks to marine life and human health."
5 Responses to “Reports Of BP Disaster’s Death Are Greatly Exaggerated”
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They’re no doubt clinking champagne flutes in the White House tonight, congratulating themselves on their strategic vision. And I gotta admit, now that it’s over, Corexit was the smart move.
Yes, I do believe the use of Corexit will lead to the deaths of tens of thousands of people over the coming decades. But they will be slow deaths, cancer deaths, seemingly unconnected deaths so spread across time and region they will “prove” impossible to tie to one thing.
It had to be done, I suppose. The evidence had to buried, or in this case, submerged, no matter the cost in lifeforms. Still, the true lesson of the Macondo blowout cannot be hidden. Why are we drilling 50 miles offshore, through 5,000 feet of water and 18,000 feet of rock? Answer: Peak Oil.
You can ignore Peak Oil, but you can’t cover it up. It’s too big. This Gulf of Mexico thing? Nothing more than Peak Oil clipping one of its fingernails.
July 30th, 2010 at 2:15 amI wonder if our Congresscritters will now consider revoking BeePee’s licenses given the fact that their emergency plans submitted with the application to drill were fraudulent. They had no plan for dealing with a blowout; they identified wildlife species at risk that do not exist in the Gulf; their plans were understated and non-funded. If I failed to submit a proper building plan to my Town Engineer, I could be fined and even jailed if I attempted to build an addition to my house. Why does Big Oil get to lie their as$es off to those in charge, but suffer no legal consequences?
July 30th, 2010 at 9:02 amSuffer no legal consequences, that’s the way corporcrats play.
http://stateofthedivision.blogspot.com/2010/07/bps-safety-promise.html
Sago Mine owner Wilbur Ross got $5.7 billion in FDIC subsidies on two banks.
BP’s Lord John Browne (of Texas City refinery explosion fame) is remaking British government services while transforming the UK’s natural gas provisions.
July 30th, 2010 at 1:12 pmEvidence dispersed, despised CEO on way out. WilmerHale is ready to wrap this baby up. Spin off a division with the liability, get Ken Feinberg to push release of liability forms, then let two decades of court rulings take care of those who won’t cave.
Tony Podesta and Ken Duberstein will grease the Blue/Red political skids for a tidy closing.
July 30th, 2010 at 1:16 pmEnergy Secrtetary Chu said BP would save the planet.
July 30th, 2010 at 6:34 pm