Oil Spill Could Equal Damage from Exxon Valdez
Updated 8:29 p.m. ET
Environmental experts say the damage caused by the oil spill unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico may equal or even eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill off the southern coast of Alaska, the worst oil spill in U.S. history and one of the worst environmental disasters in decades.
Federal officials said Thursday that oil is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico five times faster than previously thought, after a deep-water rig exploded and sank there -- and the massive slick is expected hit ecologically fragile shores at any time.
It remains unclear how much oil will flow into the Gulf before the flow can be cut off. The teams of state, federal and company officials charged with the cleanup have tried unsuccessfully to activate an underwater cutoff valve and now say they plan to dig a relief well half a mile away - a process that could take weeks or months. (BP, the company that leased the sunken rig, is currently leading the cleanup effort but has asked the military for assistance.)
According to the latest estimates, oil is flowing into the Gulf at the rate of 5,000 barrels - or 210,000 gallons - a day. At that rate, it would take nearly two months to equal the 11 million gallons unleashed by the Valdez, a 1,000-foot tanker that breached after crashing into a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound.
Oil Expected to Hit Shore Thursday
Pentagon's "Full-Blown Effort" to Halt Spill
White House: Oil Spill Could Impact Offshore Drilling Plans
Oil Leak May be 5 Times Worse than Initial Claim
But experts say that even if the current spill doesn't match the Valdez in terms of pure numbers, it could be more damaging because the marshlands of the Mississippi delta are home to numerous species of threatened and endangered birds and other animals.
"Late spring is the peak time for neo-tropical songbirds moving from the Yucatan Peninsula to make their first landfall in Louisiana. As many as 25 million birds a day transit the region during the period of northern migration," the Los Angeles Times 10 Animals Most At Risk from Gulf Oil Spill "It's quite possible this will end up being worse than the Valdez in terms of environmental impact since it seems like BP will be unable to cap the spill for months. In terms of total quantity of oil released, it seems this will probably fall short of Exxon Valdez. But because of the habitat, the environmental impact will be worse," John Hocevar, oceans campaign director for Greenpeace USA,told MSNBC Thursday.
Louisiana State Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham had said Thursday that oil could reach the Pass a Loutre wildlife area Friday night, Breton Sound on Saturday and the Chandeleur Islands on Sunday. In fact, as of around 8 p.m. Thursday oil was expected to reach Pass a Loutre within hours.
Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency and the state has allowed a temporary shrimping season so that shrimpers can bring in their catches before a greater swath of gulf waters become contaminated.
David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the Associated Press that efforts to manage the spill "are just mind-boggling."
The sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig has re-ignited the debate over offshore drilling, reports CBS News correspondent Don Teague. In the Gulf alone, there are more than 3,500 oil and gas platforms with about 35,000 offshore workers. They produce more than 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, almost 30 percent of total domestic production.
Environmental groups say the disaster proves offshore drilling isn't worth the risk, Teague reports.
In a reversal of his stance on the topic, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Thursday after flying over the oil slick in the Gulf that he would no longer seek offshore drilling for his state.
Crist said the disaster proved that oil rigs are "the opposite of safe."
More on the rig explosion:
Government Vows Aggressive Action on Oil Spill
White House: Oil Spill Could Impact Offshore Drilling Plans
BP Exec: Size of Leak Won't Change our Response
Crews Start Burning Gulf Oil Slick
Fighting Oil with Fire
Oil Rig Cook Haunted by Nightmares Since Blast
Oil Spill Growing off Coast after Rig Explosion
Oil Spill Continues; Will Robot Fix Leak?
Man-Made Disaster in the Gulf
New Oil-Rig Safety Rules Eyed Before Blast
Louisiana Oil Rig Explosion
Map shows approximate locations where the oil spill has spread and where it is expected to spread Thursday
Copyright 2010 CBS. All rights reserved. Environmental experts say the damage caused by the oil spill unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico may equal or even eclipse the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill off the southern coast of Alaska, the worst oil spill in U.S. history and one of the worst environmental disasters in decades.
Federal officials said Thursday that oil is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico five times faster than previously thought, after a deep-water rig exploded and sank there -- and the massive slick is expected hit ecologically fragile shores at any time.
It remains unclear how much oil will flow into the Gulf before the flow can be cut off. The teams of state, federal and company officials charged with the cleanup have tried unsuccessfully to activate an underwater cutoff valve and now say they plan to dig a relief well half a mile away - a process that could take weeks or months. (BP, the company that leased the sunken rig, is currently leading the cleanup effort but has asked the military for assistance.)
According to the latest estimates, oil is flowing into the Gulf at the rate of 5,000 barrels - or 210,000 gallons - a day. At that rate, it would take nearly two months to equal the 11 million gallons unleashed by the Valdez, a 1,000-foot tanker that breached after crashing into a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound.
Oil Expected to Hit Shore Thursday
Pentagon's "Full-Blown Effort" to Halt Spill
White House: Oil Spill Could Impact Offshore Drilling Plans
Oil Leak May be 5 Times Worse than Initial Claim
But experts say that even if the current spill doesn't match the Valdez in terms of pure numbers, it could be more damaging because the marshlands of the Mississippi delta are home to numerous species of threatened and endangered birds and other animals.
"Late spring is the peak time for neo-tropical songbirds moving from the Yucatan Peninsula to make their first landfall in Louisiana. As many as 25 million birds a day transit the region during the period of northern migration," the Los Angeles Times 10 Animals Most At Risk from Gulf Oil Spill "It's quite possible this will end up being worse than the Valdez in terms of environmental impact since it seems like BP will be unable to cap the spill for months. In terms of total quantity of oil released, it seems this will probably fall short of Exxon Valdez. But because of the habitat, the environmental impact will be worse," John Hocevar, oceans campaign director for Greenpeace USA,
Louisiana State Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham had said Thursday that oil could reach the Pass a Loutre wildlife area Friday night, Breton Sound on Saturday and the Chandeleur Islands on Sunday. In fact, as of around 8 p.m. Thursday oil was expected to reach Pass a Loutre within hours.
Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has declared a state of emergency and the state has allowed a temporary shrimping season so that shrimpers can bring in their catches before a greater swath of gulf waters become contaminated.
David Kennedy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told the Associated Press that efforts to manage the spill "are just mind-boggling."
The sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig has re-ignited the debate over offshore drilling, reports CBS News correspondent Don Teague. In the Gulf alone, there are more than 3,500 oil and gas platforms with about 35,000 offshore workers. They produce more than 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, almost 30 percent of total domestic production.
Environmental groups say the disaster proves offshore drilling isn't worth the risk, Teague reports.
In a reversal of his stance on the topic, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Thursday after flying over the oil slick in the Gulf that he would no longer seek offshore drilling for his state.
Crist said the disaster proved that oil rigs are "the opposite of safe."
More on the rig explosion:
Government Vows Aggressive Action on Oil Spill
White House: Oil Spill Could Impact Offshore Drilling Plans
BP Exec: Size of Leak Won't Change our Response
Crews Start Burning Gulf Oil Slick
Fighting Oil with Fire
Oil Rig Cook Haunted by Nightmares Since Blast
Oil Spill Growing off Coast after Rig Explosion
Oil Spill Continues; Will Robot Fix Leak?
Man-Made Disaster in the Gulf
New Oil-Rig Safety Rules Eyed Before Blast
Louisiana Oil Rig Explosion
Map shows approximate locations where the oil spill has spread and where it is expected to spread Thursday
(CBS)
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The workers who are cleaning up the oil in the Gulf need to be aware of the chemicals that will be used for the cleaning. Oil companies do not care about human health issues that arise from their toxic chemicals. I am one of the 11,000+ cleanup workers from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, who is suffering from health issues from that toxic cleanup, without compensation from Exxon.
There is an on going lawsuit with VECO's insurance company, the company Exxon contracted for hiring employees. Please read my article below for more information.
The Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Leaves Exxon?s Collateral Damaged
My name is Merle Savage; a female general foreman during the EVOS beach cleanup in 1989, which turned into 20 years of extensive health deterioration for me and many other workers. Dr. Riki Ott visited me in 2007 to explain about the toxic spraying on the beaches. She also informed me that Exxon's medical records and the reports that surfaced in litigation brought by sick workers in 1994, had been sealed from the public, making it impossible to hold Exxon responsible for their actions. http://www.rikiott.com
Dr. Riki Ott has devoted her life to taking control from corporations and giving it back to We The People. If corporations continue to control our legal system, then We The People become victims. http://www.MovetoAmend.org
Dr. Riki Ott has written two books; Sound Truth & Corporate Myth$ and Not One Drop. Dr. Ott has investigated and studied the oil spill spraying, and quotes numerous reports in her books, on the toxic chemicals that were used during the 1989 Prince William Sound oily beach cleanup. Black Wave the Film is based on Not One Drop, with interviews of EVOS victims; my interview was featured in the section; Like a War Zone.
http://www.blackwavethefilm.com
Exxon developed the toxic spraying; OSHA, the Coast Guard, and the state of Alaska authorized the procedure; VECO and other Exxon contractors implemented it. Beach crews breathed in crude oil that splashed off the rocks and into the air -- the toxic exposure turned into chronic breathing conditions and central nervous system problems, along with other massive health issues. Some of the illnesses include neurological impairment, chronic respiratory disease, leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, liver damage, and blood disease.
Please view the 7 minute video that validates my accusations.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5632208859935499100
My web site is devoted to searching for EVOS cleanup workers who were exposed to the toxic spraying, and are suffering from the same illnesses that I have. Our summer employment turned into a death sentence for many -- and a life of unending medical conditions for the rest of us.
http://www.silenceinthesound.com/stories.shtml
http://www.silenceinthesound.com/gallery.shtml
Merle Savage
Msavage12@cox.net
702-296-4211
...or raise your hand if you want to go back to riding horses. That seems to be what the far left environmentalist loons want.
I call the oil spill Palin's Necklace. You betcha!
The feds should have been involved from the start...in my opinion.
Why is it if even we regulate our nuclear reactors we can't do the same for oil production? What if one of our nuclear reactor was to start leaking? One radiation leak in Chernobyl and the "almost" leak in Three Mile Island just about halted the world's nuclear programs, it forced us to seriously rethink our safety standards and how we produce nuclear energy.
But yet oil spill after spill occurs and governments do nothing. Maybe because it's animals dying in the oceans and not humans so we therefore don't really care all that much. It's just a few million seabirds, whatever...
We let the exxon's and bp's of the world get away with murder and nothing more than a slap on the wrist. Exxon was forced to pay $500 million dollars for damage the ecosystem caused by the Valdez. Exxon was making $30 million a day in 2008, so it took them 16 days of profits to pay off the punitive damages issued by the courts. 16 DAYS!!!!!! For what WAS the worst oil spill in US history. What a joke...
I guess at the end of the day, as long as we can still fill up our cars for cheap then that's all that really matters.
But seriously..Now we've got every whackjob environmentalist pointing at the oil slick and screaming "I told you so".
Point taken. Of course the only viable, scalable alternative to fossil fuel is nuclear, which Obama man himself just greenlighted and we all know how CLEAN and SAFE a reactor meltdown can be.
Let's contrast:
Exxon Valdez slick..big mess..We had some dead ducks and the cost of salmon went up for a while. What does the coast and shoreline look like up there today?
How about Chernobyl reactor meltdown? How many generations of Russians there have been and will remain impacted by the radiation? And that's "just" the human toll, not even evaluating the environment..
Slick will be expensive and ugly to clean up. At least it's not radioactive.
Nuclear power: buy now, pay later.