Deep Sea Nightmare
The on-going disaster with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has no end in sight, with measure after measure intended to plug the well, which is currently spewing oil at the rate of over 2,700 gallons per minute, failing. The new ‘top kill’ method is failing, as did the plan by BP to cap and funnel away the oil in a big box a few weeks ago. So as this spill eclipses the Exxon Valdez disaster and becomes the US’s worst oil spill ever, and continues to devastate the gulf shoreline, with the precious marshes and wetlands along the Louisiana coastline and Mississippi delta, as well as the rich Gulf fisheries, what are the lessons here?
Certainly, my perspective is going to be more as it relates to Jamaica and small island developing states, with some general science interspersed throughout. Like the Katrina disaster, this latest incident threatens to loom over President Obama the way Katrina loomed over his predecessor. However, as a percentage of GDP or any other economic measure, both Katrina and this oil spill didn’t/wouldn’t devastate the entire country’s economy as it would if it hit a small island, whose smaller size and more vulnerable population, in terms of economy, resources, etc, would be set back many years. So clearly, with the continued surging demand for oil and gas driving companies to push out further and further in the search for the commodity, we, as small countries, have to be careful when allowing these types of activities off our coast.
While BP and the other oil and gas companies did engineer and design fail-safe mechanisms for their rigs and wells (the current disaster was the result of a rig fire and a cascade of other problems before and afterwards), clearly these were not enough. And they were left scrambling to figure out what to do afterwards, with plan after plan failing, all prefaced with the claim that none of them have ever been attempted at such depths before. In which case, why did they even go drilling in such depths without having the necessary contingencies?
And marine and international laws are funny as well. If this occured somewhere else, where the spill plus plume began to foul up international fisheries and beaches in multiple countries, can you imagine the mess, in more ways than one?
The Gleaner reserves the right not to publish comments that may be deemed libelous, derogatory or indecent.
To respond to The Gleaner please use the feedback form.
18 Responses to “Deep Sea Nightmare”
Leave a Reply
Older Posts
- The shrinking widening world
- Style, no substance; Substance, no style; no Style no Substance
- Response after the Response
- World Cup Reality Check
- Energy Challenges
- Top Jamaican Scientists
- The Annual 12-Month Hazards Season
- A blog about blogs
- Playing to our Strengths
- Deep Sea Nightmare
Other Blogs
Agriculture
Gavel
Have your say
Iconsumer
Motor sports
Social Impact
Sports
Social Bookmarks
Bookmark this:
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| «-» | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 | |||||
- Gleaner Company Websites
- Jamaica Gleaner
- The Star
- Go Jamaica
- Go Local
- Sports Jamaica
- Sports Caribe
- Hospitality Jamaica
- Youth Link
- Voice UK
- Gleaner Company Websites
- Business Directory
- Gleaner Classifieds
- Kingston Restaurant Week
- Financial Gleaner
- Discover Jamaica
- Discover Caribe
- Returning Residents
- Go Jamaica hosting
- Contact Info
- RSS Feed
- Contact Us
True points made, but realise that the most vital precautions were not taken/required by Government because of Cheney/Bush administration
giving carte blanche to Oil Consortium execs to
not utilize Procedures which are absolutely required safeguards in EU/British waters.
Chock one up to cronyism.
And yes, this WILL have National/International
repurcusions for decades. DO NOT be fooled by
dem offer$$$$!!!!!
This make Dudas look like less than a hiccup.
This disaster is certainly something to watch. The planet has never seen this before. The christian gospel states that the earth will be distroyed by fire. Let us look up now, this might just be fueling time. Lets watch.
yep,the oil companys got the experience, and the technology, they can even drill in hell for oil.
I can only imagine what the sentiments of the oil rich countries are- “you all wanted oil, well there’s your oil now!”
Awesome post! Your writing is so fresh compared to most other writers. Thanks for writing when you do, I will be sure to return!
You’re a Really Professional Blogger, You either have got quality knowledge of what your discussing or you did some great research. Thanks for this excellent post.
Hi, found google to your this blog and it appeard funny but after refresh site displayed fine. Just thought id let you know and keep up the good work.
I have Tweeted this post, I will keep a eye on your other posts. Ohh what do you all think about the about the brazil flood?
Great blog you have here. So many websites like this cover subjects that aren’t found in magazines. I don’t know how we got by 12 years ago with just magazines and newspapers.
This whole oil spill with BP is ridiculous. The total amount of leaking into the Gulf of Mexico skyrocketed by thousands of drums Wednesday right after an undersea robot ostensibly struck the containment cap that has been capturing crude from BP’s Macondo well. I question how much destruction this whole disaster is going to cost the ocean when it’s all said and done
Epic site I’m so glad I stumbled here through my friend’s blog, Going to need to add this one to the blogroll.
found it on google. nice. ill come back to visit.
My English is not good, but to see the article you write a good feel of your
I have Tweeted this post, I will keep a eye on your other posts. Ohh what do you all think about the about the North Korea sinking that ship?
I had couple of small problems viewing the site in Safari on the Mac, but apart from that loved the site!
I was’nt sure I would like this site since it was about Innovative Science » Deep Sea Nightmare : A Jamaica Gleaner Blog but I was wrong and thought it was cool and found it on Yahoo . Thanks and I’ll be back as you update.
The answer to your question is greed. And, in fact BP is more interested in recouping ” $$$” than capping the spill. At least that seems to what was transpiring. The environmental consequences are catastrophic. The Exxon Valdez Spill in Prince Williams Sound in Alaska some two decades ago pales in comparison. The environmental consequences of this Valdez spill is still felt today. Contrary to what EXXON would want you to believe, with their bio-remediation initiatives coupled with their PR of bathing oil laden aquatics as well as terrestrial organisms, today there are vast areas of devastation abound in this environment. The magnitude of BP spill today is 50 times the Alaskan spill and its bio-degradation is growing exponentially by the minute. I recently attended a Panel Discussion at The Huizenga School of Business at Nova Southeastern University. And the panel, with its diverse experts seems quite in agreement that quantification of this deluge cannot be evaluated on a monetary basis, the environmental consequences are inestimable.
success.