Last week the Deepwater Horizon semi-submerisble oil rig exploded and subsequently sank on April 22, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana. The image above was taken by NASA, clearly depicting the oil slick. Just yesterday the NOAA declared the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill of 2010 a Spill of National [...]
Last week the Deepwater Horizon semi-submerisble oil rig exploded and subsequently sank on April 22, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana. The image above was taken by NASA, clearly depicting the oil slick. Just yesterday the NOAA declared the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill of 2010 a Spill of National Significance (SONS): ”A spill that, due to its severity, size, location, actual or potential impact on the public health and welfare or the environment, or the necessary response effort, is so complex that it requires extraordinary coordination of federal, state, local, and responsible party resources to contain and clean up the discharge.”
Unlike the recent GBR tanker that leaked oil relatively near the surface, this Transocean built oil rig is leaking 5,000ft deep. Original estimates placed the leak at 1,000 barrel per day, but this has since been revised to 5,000 barrels or 210,000 gallons per day. The NOAA has stated it is unclear how much of the 710,000 gallons of #2 fuel that was onboard, burned before the rig sank.
So far 100,000 gallons of chemical dispersements have been applied with more planned. Yesterday burning the oil was tried, removing 100 barrels in 45 minutes. This is the first time this has been done on such a scale in the open ocean. Many people in Louisiana are hopeful this is successful–it is estimated the oil will hit their shoreline in one weeks time, killing a massive amount of sealife. Unfortunately because the leak is so deep, the oil slicks are are much more difficult to burn and can create an incombustible sludge with a mayonnaise like consistency.
Exxon Valdez of 2010? I hope not, but sadly this is shaping up to be a major marine life epidemic–with the potential to be worse than the Alaskan travesty. Just last month President Obama proposed an offshore drilling plan in hopes of securing some Republican support for a climate change bill. In light of the Gulf of Mexico 2010 spill, Whitehouse Spokesman Robert Gibbs has said,”Could that (the spill) possibly change his viewpoint? Well, of course.”
