This is a report from SeizeBP.org. Seize BP Campaign activist John Daly submitted this report from New Orleans, La., on May 15.
The many failed attempts at stopping the gusher of oil that began after the April 20 explosion on the BP oil rig in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast are only part of the developing crisis.
BP and government officials have severely underestimated the amount of oil pouring into the Gulf. Initially, reports estimated 275,000 gallons of oil a day. Numerous scientific sources put the real figure at between 2.4 million and 3.5 million gallons per day.
Fragile ecosystems at risk
Much of the concern has been the washing up of tar balls (hardened oil) on the shoreline that have been found in multiple areas, including the Chandeleur Islands, at the mouth of the river nearest to the accident site, and to the west on Grand Isle and Timbalier Bay.
Thousands of tar balls were reported May 15 on the beach near Port Fouchon. It is expected that far greater oil contamination is headed toward the center of the Lousiana fishing industry, which accounts for 40 percent of seafood in the United States, including shrimp, oysters and a variety of fish.
On May 14, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries called for the reopening of fishing in marshes on the east bank of the Mississippi River, with the exceptions of areas contaminated by tar balls. However, the effects of the oil contamination are largely unknown due to the unprecedented size of the disaster and because much of the oil appears to be under the surface of the water.
This means that the consequences of the contamination on fragile ecosystems on land and in deeper waters will unfold in months and years to come.
The top two millimeters of marsh mud along the Gulf wetland coast are central to a host of ecological cycles. For example, microscopic algae and other tiny organisms in this layer are the base food for the entire ecosystem. If this thin layer of soil were to be destroyed by oil, it would disrupt the entire food chain, cutting off the food source for organisms that feed small fish, shrimp, crabs, oysters and more. These water animals in turn feed birds and alligators and are, of course, a food source for humans.
Unprecented environmental threat
Prosanta Chakrabarty, an assistant professor at Louisiana State University and curator of fishes at the university’s Museum of Natural Science, said, “The worst impact of the spill may be what is going on below the surface, where we may never know the true impact.” (New Orleans Times-Picayune, May 14)
This underwater oil could settle on coral forrests that are home to shrimp, snapper and many other species—all areas too deep to monitor or clean.
Ronald Kendall, a professor at Texas Tech University, told the Times-Picayune: “To me, it’s a disaster already. It doesn’t have to go up on the beach. … It’s a massive eco-toxicological experiment under way.”.
Adding to the disaster are the effects of the toxic dispersants released May 14 into the Gulf with the permission of federal authorities. More than 500,000 gallons of dispersants have been released 5,000 feet beneath the sea. Deep-sea injections have never been used before.
The purpose of the dispersants is to break up the oil and keep it from reaching the surface. This method may facilitate smaller pockets of oil moving into currents that could allow it to spread, poisoning other parts of the Gulf and potentially allowing it to be caught in smaller currents reaching deeper into the Gulf. Again, deep-sea habitats are very fragile and little is known about how such contamination could impact them.
There are spouts of naturally seeping oil deep in the sea, and in these environments there are organisms that use the hydrocarbons as a food source, such as mussels that have oil processing bacteria in their digestive systems. However, the huge quantity of oil discharging from the BP disaster are incomparable to any oil seepage found in nature.
‘Tough on oil companies’ rhetoric complete falsehood
The Obama adminstration severely downplays the relationship between government officials and the petroleum giants, which he says has been “cozy.” He has stated that he will be more critical of this relationship, yet the federal government has approved 27 new drilling operations since the April 20 explosion.
As a result of the immense political power of big oil companies, a $75 million cap was placed on liability for damages other than oil removal and cleanup following the Exxon Valdez incident. Attempts to raise the cap as high as $20 billion have been blocked. BP is claiming it will pay for any “legitimate” claim of economic damage above the current cap.
Working people in the region and much of the country are dependent on the Gulf for their livelihoods. Petroleum giants and laws created in their interests should not dictate compensation. The damages may well run in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Why should there be any cap on liabilities?The facts and the unknowns about the disaster combine into one necessary call—the seizure of BP’s assets for on-going environmental and economic compensation and clean up in the Gulf.
