As
the BP propaganda machine shifts into high gear, two new studies confirm the
catastrophic damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster. Earlier
this month, the Interior Department and the National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration claimed that of 4.9 million barrels released from
the out-of-control well, roughly 75 percent had been cleaned up or had broken
down. The new studies flatly refute these claims and make clear the criminal
level of collusion between BP executives and the White House.
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First,
a team of marine researchers from the University of Georgia challenged the
government’s accounting of the oil cleanup, saying that as much as 79 percent
of the oil remained in the Gulf, where it still threatens fisheries and marine
life.
Later
in the week, scientists from the University of South Florida reported the
existence of giant undersea plumes of microscopic oil droplets extending dozens
of miles from the BP wellhead. Moreover, the study found that these droplets
are likely to be more toxic to marine microorganisms than previously believed,
and already appeared to be having a toxic effect on bacteria and phytoplankton,
a photosynthetic microorganism that serves as a vital food for fish and other
marine life.
Taken
together, the studies suggest that more
oil and chemical dispersants are in the Gulf than previously thought, and that
the damage to the environment is actually worse than was feared. Meanwhile, the
studies arrive less than a week after the Obama administration’s scientists
effectively gave the “all-clear” signal, immediately recalling Bush’s “mission
accomplished” debacle.
The release of the government study seemed timed to coincide
with a broadening of BP’s own propaganda campaign. Spending millions of dollars
on print and television ads, BP hired a Madison avenue PR firm to launch a new
advertising campaign centered around the slogans: “We will get it done. We
will make this right.”
Given its behavior from the beginning, only a fool would
fall for more lies from BP. Far from being an unavoidable accident, the
disaster is the direct result of BP’s reckless drive to maximize profits
regardless of the consequences for workers or the environment.
The Deepwater Horizon spill is now the worst ecological
disaster in U.S. history. The amount of oil that has spewed into the Gulf,
poisoning one of the most important ecological and economic regions of the
country, is still unknown.
Eleven people died in the initial explosion. Key industries—including
gulf fishing and shrimping—have been all but wiped out indefinitely. Tens of
thousands of jobs dependent on fishing and tourism have been lost. The entire
eco-system has been devastated, and the long-term consequences are
incalculable.
But BP’s sophisticated propaganda will not clean one droplet
of oil from the filthy waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Only seizing BP’s assets
will.
BP’s assets must be used to pay for the lost wages of
workers, rebuild the economies of affected areas, completely and extensively
clean the Gulf of Mexico and the affected shorelines, and restore the health
and vibrancy of wildlife in the sea and on the shores.
