BP promises that we should see containment of the oil well within the month. I remain dubious. You know the old saying, “Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice and pay with it with an ecological disaster and cancer causing carcinogens splashed across the country’s beaches.” I was listening to an interview of some of the divers who have been in the water near the event horizon. They are diving in Haz Mat suits. Why? They do not really know just how much damage can be caused to them by swimming in crude oil. The same company that has issued this dictum to those divers are the same folks who are saying that this oil spill is not really that big a deal and will not have that much of an affect. Remember that this spill is “relatively tiny” in a “very big ocean.”
It isn’t really surprising that I remain skeptical. BP first tried to pass the buck. Lots of fingers were pointed, but the bottom line is that BP didn’t maintain their safety equipment. Secondly, it was a small well and there wasn’t that much oil. That has proven to be a complete and utter lie. You can say that this was all underestimated, but if you listen to BP and its supporters, it continues to be underestimated. BP and our own government have failed to utilize the help of European countries that have offered aid. They refused to use the hair mats that would have absorbed a goodly portion of the oil that floated on the Gulf’s surface and could have prevent some of it from reaching shore. When it became apparent that BP was not capable of salvaging much of the oil for their own use, they began to burn it off. If you have ever burned any oil product, then you know this was not a great choice. Not only is it inefficient, it produces air pollutants and kills off wildlife. Now they are employing dispersants. While the crude is terrible, at least it is on organic element. Man made chemical dispersants will do some good in making the damage of the spill seem less of an issue, but in reality, they are likely to do more harm than good in the long run. It is not good sense to pour chemicals on top of chemicals to get rid of chemicals. Especially when mats of human and animal hair will do the trick naturally.
As for the stopping of the leak, BP seemed more keen on keeping free of paying for the damage than they did of stopping the damage. I can appreciate that the company has a fiduciary responsibility to its share holders to try and make money. But when does this responsibility to its shareholders trump its responsibility to its customers, the planet, or even the population of the region? First they promised us that they could just turn it off. Oops, they spoke too quick. They tried all kinds of other alternatives, and bandied about even more-all to no avail. Finally they tried a big dome to cover the whole damn thing off. This only led to frustration, but at each stage BP said that they had done it. Currently, they are removing the old dome and trying to replace it with a new one. Once again, this should do the trick. Yeah right….
Tags: oil spill
