Published on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 by YES! Magazine
What it’s like to respond to an environmental and democratic crisis—and where we go from here.
by Riki Ott
America awoke the morning of April 21 to learn that BP’s well, the Deepwater Horizon, had blown out in the Gulf of Mexico and was on fire. Eleven men were dead. BP began dumping dispersants (toxic chemicals that sink oil) into the Gulf and lies into the media.
I had left Alaska on February 10 for another round of national talks on the democracy crisis and how we can take back our government… from the corporations. My phone went berserk with media requests. Lisa Marie, my assistant and friend, asked when I was going down to the Gulf. “I’m not,” I said. She knew better.
For both of us, it was déjà vu. During the Exxon Valdez oil spill 21 years earlier in Alaska, Lisa Marie had worked with traumatized children and families. She worked for several years as a board member and volunteer for the Cordova Family Resource Center. With my doctorate in marine pollution, I became a spokesperson for the commercial fishing industry, testifying in the state legislature and Congress for stronger spill prevention measures and working to ban dispersants, and then starting the Copper River Watershed Project to help the community recover from long-term socioeconomic impacts. Lisa Marie knew I needed time to process my own memories that surged afresh with BP’s blowout, the inept government-industry response, and the lies.
It took me a week to come out of my foxhole. I thought about all the mistakes our community had made after the Exxon-Valdez spill, of all that we’d learned during our decades of fighting. All of the communities in the Gulf will make the same mistakes, I thought glumly… unless someone warns them. Suddenly I realized that someone was me.
On May 3, Lisa Marie and I flew to New Orleans. She had a return ticket; I did not. Before the flight, a black limousine took me to a studio in Denver for an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!; a black limousine picked us up in New Orleans for an interview with Anderson Cooper on AC 360. The pace didn’t slow down for five months.
From May through early October, I drove back and forth across the Gulf, giving community talks and workshops that evolved with the needs:
May
Shared Exxon Valdez stories and encouraged people to come up with a Plan B-how they could help themselves instead of waiting for BP or the federal government to make them whole as Exxon had promised, but failed, to do in Alaska.
In the town of Jean Lafitte, one Cajun fisherman stopped me mid-talk and begged, “Miss Riki, c-a-a-a-a-lm down!” A week later, my southern hosts had figured out how to “handle” me: “Miss Riki, she’s high-strung. You gotta sit ‘er down and feed ‘er!” That worked.
June
Ordinary folks across the Gulf are turning to covert operations, grabbing cameras to document and report oil sightings and dispersant use in coastal seas.
Encouraged people to take air and water quality samples to document the damage from the spill and the threat to human health (the federal agencies’ sampling programs found nothing to support the outbreak of respiratory illnesses and skin “rashes” that residents were experiencing). We amassed documentation of “disappeared” evidence.
A security guard in Florida hid behind bushes to take photos of BP-contracted Waste Management employees dumping wildlife carcasses in a dumpster. She sent the photos from her cell phone. “You can see the bush in the picture!” says Lisa Marie.
July
Encouraged people to take blood samples to link their illnesses with the high levels of oil and dispersants they were finding in their air and water. They tested outdoor swimming pools, rain, bayous, and beach sand.
August
Following massive use of oil dispersants in heavily populated coastal areas, dealt with extremely sick (and now dying) people. (The federal government and BP still deny this occurred, though federal investigators now have documentation. I believe the spraying was done to keep up appearances that the oil was “gone”-conveniently in time for mid-term elections.) Found medical doctors to properly diagnose and treat people as doctors in the Gulf were diagnosing anything but chemical illnesses. Encouraged those challenging re-opening of commercial fisheries, as they were still finding lots of evidence of oil and dispersants.
In Bayou La Batre, Alabama, two state officials tried to convince an audience of fishermen that it was okay to fish in coastal waters. Finally, one exasperated fellow boomed into the microphone, “I am a coon ass, not a dumb ass!”
September and October
Same as August.
In Louisiana, folks are calling the renamed Mineral Management Services, an agency captured by the oil industry it is charged with regulating, “Bummer”-for Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE). It fits. BP and the Coast Guard call the oil that still washes ashore “algae.” It’s not. The new joke in Louisiana is to go to BP stations and ask them to fill up and check the “algae.”
In mid-October, I resumed the national tour that was interrupted in April, finally finding my way home on December 6 after being gone for 290 days! Cordovans showered me with thank-yous, hugs, and “‘atta girls.” It felt great.
Now
Now I’m back in the Gulf. There’s a lot on my list, from continuing the work of banning dispersants to finding a university that will partner with community organizations to conduct a 20-year study on the health impacts of the spill on Gulf residents.
The story isn’t over. Indeed, this story has the potential to unite Americans in a serious commitment to transition off fossil fuels, starting with a permanent ban on deepwater offshore drilling. It’s also an opportunity to confront the dangerous expansion of corporate power-for the people I’ve met here, watching the government protect BP instead of them has been more instructive than anything I could tell them.
It’s not too late to make sure the outcome of this spill is not, as it was twenty years ago, a return to “oil business as usual.”
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License
Riki Ott, PhD is a Marine toxicologist and Exxon Valdez survivor. Her latest book, Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez (Chelsea Green, 2008) is on social trauma of this disaster. She is a national spokesperson with Move To Amend, a grassroots coalition working to abolish the legal doctrine that allows corporations to claim constitutional rights and undermine legitimate democracy.
2011 is the year to ban new offshore drilling and permanently protect Florida and all U.S. coastlines from the dangers of offshore drilling and potential oil spills. Take action today by making a 30 second phone call to your Representative!
Yesterday, Tuesday, January 11th, Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ) introduced the “No New Drilling Act of 2011” (H.R. 261). This is the bill Oceana and all our volunteers will focus on gaining co-sponsors onto and pushing through Congress in early 2011. Please make a call to your Representative today and ask a few friends to do the same, details below:
The bill is simple and the goal is, “to amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit the leasing of any area of the outer Continental Shelf for the exploration, development, or production of oil, gas, or any other mineral.”
(For more details on the bill: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-261)
The Outer Continental Shelf includes waters off the Pacific, Atlantic, Alaskan coasts and the entire Gulf of Mexico. A good map of the Outer Continental Shelf waters is located here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Continental_Shelf
To pass this bill means there will be no new offshore drilling and we won our campaign, but we have a lot of work to do before we celebrate. First we need Florida members of the House of Representatives to co-sponsor the bill; then we need the bill to pass the House, then pass the Senate, then finally get signed by the President.
We can get started on our campaign today by making calls into Florida Representative’s offices and urging them to co-sponsor and support H.R 261- the “No New Drilling Act of 2011” introduced by Representative Pallone. Let them know you’re a Floridian that wants to see offshore drilling banned in 2011!
Our initial targets to be co-sponsors of this bill are:
1. Representative Debbie Wasserman Shultz of Florida’s District 20 including: Wilton Manors, downtown Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Davie, Weston, Aventura, Sunny Isles, and portions of North Miami Beach. Check out the district map here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FL20_109.PNG to see if Representative Wasserman Shultz is within your district. If so you should give her a call today!
2. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida’s District 18 including: Miami Beach, the city of Miami, Coral Gables and throughout the Florida Keys. If Representative Ros-Lehtinen is in your district you can give her a call today!
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: 1-866-306-3433
If you have a different Representative than those listed in this e-mail you can call the Congressional Switchboard at (866) 306-3552 and ask to speak with your representative!
If you have any questions please contact Katie at kparrish@oceana.org or at 305-741-9416.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2011
1:31 PM
CONTACT: Greenpeace
Joe Smyth, Greenpeace Media, 831-566-5647 joe.smyth@greenpeace.org
WASHINGTON – January 11 – In response to the final report released today by the National Oil Spill Commission, Greenpeace USA Research Director Kert Davies released the following statement: “The Commission has leveled a crucial warning with this report, detailing for the history books that which is broken in the oil drilling industry and the bureaucracy which regulates it. The oil industry has not fixed fundamental “systemic” flaws identified by the report and remains unprepared to prevent such accidents and deal with the consequences. The government apparatus that should protect us from oil disasters remains underfunded and understaffed and not up to the task of protecting the nation’s environmental security.
“When, not if, a disaster like the BP blowout happens again, we will all be able to point to the Commission report for that which we failed to avert such a catastrophe. The American public should not be satisfied with ‘we told you so’ when that happens.
“The oil industry will resist the recommendations of the Commission at its own peril. The Administration will do right by taking swift action under existing authority to stop risky offshore oil drilling in the Alaskan Arctic and work with Congress to add to the slim government resources available to redouble regulation of existing drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and spill response apparatus nationwide.
“Beyond US borders, the Commission warns that multinational oil companies like BP and Shell and drilling contractors like Halliburton and Transocean operate in oceans worldwide, making this a global threat. Governments around the world should heed the recommendations made by the Commission and examine their own regulatory apparatus around offshore drilling, including any financial liability caps that are in place as is the case in the US. Eliminating the cap on financial liability will more accurately price risky deepwater drilling activity in the marketplace.
“The Commission recommendation for an industry-run safety organization like the nuclear industry set up after Three Mile Island fails to meet the scale of the problem with a commensurate response. The public deserves better. The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations has no public transparency and failed to avert the most significant ‘near miss’ partial meltdown of the Davis Besse reactor in Ohio in 2002.
“The Commission recommends participation of NOAA and the USGS in drilling lease review with the Interior Department. We hope this will bolster the consideration of environmental risk by bringing more natural scientists into the room.
“We back the recommendation to spend the majority of money from the BP disaster fines and penalties on environmental restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. That’s the least we can do for the Gulf, its creatures and people, and serves as a warning for those at fault the next time this happens of the true cost of drilling for oil.”
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Independent campaigning organization that uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to force solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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Special thanks to Common Dreams
The Gulf oil spill was second only to the planned New York Muslim community center near Ground Zero in Rasmussen’s rankings of the issues that Americans followed “very closely” this year.
In a compilation of Rasmussen’s polling results for news with economic implications, the Gulf oil spill consistently came near the top among American adults. For example, from June 24-25, 54 percent of Americans followed the oil spill closely, the highest percentage of any other economic news event of the year except the controversy over the so-called Ground Zero mosque.
Among likely voters, the Gulf oil spill ranked just behind “unemployment and job creation” as the issue that was watched “very closely.”
The Gulf oil spill dominated news coverage this year. A recent poll of news editors conducted by The Associated Press named the spill the top news story of the year.
see rankings and polling chart at:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/general_business/december_2010/closely_followed_economic_tracking
I don’t think anything said here is hyperbole or exaggerated. DV
A Special Report on the BP Gulf Oil Spill
By Dr. Tom Termotto
Global Research, December 26, 2010
Concerned citizens of Florida – 2010-12-01
It is with deep regret that we publish this report. We do not take this responsibility lightly, as the consequences of the following observations are of such great import and have such far-reaching ramifications for the entire planet. Truly, the fate of the oceans of the world hangs in the balance, as does the future of humankind.
The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) does not exist in isolation and is, in fact, connected to the Seven Seas. Hence, we publish these findings in order that the world community will come together to further contemplate this dire and demanding predicament. We also do so with the hope that an appropriate global response will be formulated, and acted upon, for the sake of future generations. It is the most basic responsibility for every civilization to leave their world in a better condition than that which they inherited from their forbears.
After conducting the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference for over seven months, we can now disseminate the following information with the authority and confidence of those who have thoroughly investigated a crime scene. There are many research articles, investigative reports and penetrating exposes archived at the following website. Particularly those posted from August through November provide a unique body of evidence, many with compelling photo-documentaries, which portray the true state of affairs at the Macondo Prospect in the GOM.
http://phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com/
The pictorial evidence tells the whole story.
Especially that the BP narrative is nothing but a corporate-created illusion – a web of fabrication spun in collaboration with the US Federal Government and Mainstream Media. Big Oil, as well as the Military-Industrial Complex, have aided and abetted this whole scheme and info blackout because the very future of the Oil & Gas Industry is at stake, as is the future of the US Empire which sprawls around the world and requires vast amounts of hydrocarbon fuel.
Should the truth seep out and into the mass consciousness – that the GOM is slowly but surely filling up with oil and gas – certainly many would rightly question the integrity, and sanity, of the whole venture, as well as the entire industry itself. And then perhaps the process would begin of transitioning the planet away from the hydrocarbon fuel paradigm altogether.
It’s not a pretty picture.
The various pictures, photos and diagrams that fill the many articles at the aforementioned website represent photo-evidence about the true state of affairs on the seafloor surrounding the Macondo Prospect in the Mississippi Canyon, which is located in the Central Planning Area of the northern Gulf of Mexico. The very dynamics of the dramatic changes and continuous evolution of the seafloor have been captured in ways that very few have ever seen. These snapshots have given us a window of understanding into the true state of the underlying geological formations around the various wells drilled in the Macondo Prospect.
Although our many deductions may be difficult for the layperson to apprehend at first, to the trained eye these are but obvious conclusions which are simply the result of cause and effect. In other words there is no dispute around the most serious geological changes which have occurred, and continue to occur, in the region around the Macondo wells. The original predicament (an 87 day gushing well) was extremely serious, as grasped by the entire world, and the existing situation is only going to get progressively worse.
So, just what does this current picture look like. Please click on the link below to view the relevant diagrams and read the commentary:
As the diagrams clearly indicate, the geology around the well bore has been blown. This occurred because of drilling contiguous to a salt dome(1), as well as because of the gas explosions which did much damage to the integrity of the well casing, cementing, well bore, well head, and foundation around the well head. Eighty-seven straight days of gushing hydrocarbon effluent under great pressure only served to further undermine the entire well system. Finally, when it was capped, putting the system back under pressure forced the upsurging hydrocarbons to find weaknesses throughout the greater system, which revealed all sorts of compromised, fractured and unsettled geology through which the hydrocarbons could travel all the way to the seafloor and into the GOM.
(1)”The rock beds in the vicinity of a salt dome are highly fractured and permeable due to stress and deformation which occur as the salt dome thrusted upwards.” (Per BK Lim, Geohazards Specialist)
We also have faults* to deal with in this scenario of which there are both deep and shallow. Depending on the current vital stats of the blown out well, especially its actual depth; the number, location and severity of the breaches throughout the well system; the pressure at the wellhead; as well as the type and status of geological formations/strata it has been drilled into, these faults will become prominently configured into the future stability of the whole region. Larger faults can open up much greater opportunities for the hydrocarbons to find their way to the seafloor via cracks and crevices, craters and chasms. In fact the numerous leaks and seeps throughout the seafloor surface, which are quite apparent from various ROV live-feeds, give testimony to sub-seafloor geological formations in great turmoil and undergoing unprecedented flux.
*”Once the oil gets into the shallow faulted zones, we have an uncontrollable situation. The place where most of the oil and gas is coming out is at the foot hills of the continental shelf as shown in figure 134-1 in the article “BP continues to dazzle us with their unlimited magic”. The discovery by WHOI of the 22 mile long river of oil originated from these leaks. So the leaks will be mainly along the faults where I have marked (shallow) in “What is going on at West Sirius” and deep strike-slip faults (red line) on fig 134-1.” (Per BK Lim, Geohazards Specialist)
Just how bad is this situation?
There are actually three different ongoing disasters – each more grave and challenging than the previous one – which must be considered when assessing the awesome destruction to the GOM by the Oil & Gas Industry.
I. A single gushing well at 7o – 100,000 barrels per day of hydrocarbon effluent for 87 days into the GOM at the Macondo Prospect along with two smaller rogue wells
II. Numerous leaks and seeps within five to ten square miles of the Macondo well with an aggregate outflow of an unknown amount of hydrocarbon effluent per day into the GOM
III. Countless gushers and spills, leaks and seeps, throughout the Gulf of Mexico, where drilling has been conducted for many decades, with an aggregate outflow that can not even be estimated, but is well in excess of any guesstimate which would ensure the slow and steady demise of the GOM.
It is the last scenario which we all face and to which there is no easy or obvious solution. The truth be told, there currently does not exist the technology or machinery or equipment to repair the damage that has been wrought by the process of deep undersea drilling, especially when it is performed in the wrong place. Therefore, wherever the oil and gas find points of entry into the GOM through the seafloor, these leaks and seeps will only continue to get worse. Here’s why:
Methane gas mixed with saltwater and mud makes for a very potent corrosive agent. Under high pressure it will find every point of egress through the rock and sediment formations all the way up to the seafloor where it will find any point of exit that is available. The longer and more forcefully that it flows throughout the fractured area, which is dependent on the volume, temperature and pressure at the source of the hydrocarbons, the more its corrosive effects will widen, broaden and enlarge the channels, cracks and crevices throughout the sub-seafloor geology, thereby creating a predicament that no science, technology or equipment can remedy.
Dire realities of the methane hydrate predicament
The Macondo Prospect in the GOM is just one of many throughout the oceans of the world where the seafloor has beds of methane hydrate locked in place by very high pressure and low temperatures. Likewise, there are myriad repositories and large “reservoirs” of methane clathrates in the sub-seafloor strata, and especially within the more superficial geological formations, which are being greatly impacted by all oil and gas drilling and extraction activities. It does not take much imagination to understand how the upsurging hydrocarbons (very hot oil and gas) are quickly converting the frozen hydrates to gas, thereby causing innumerable “micro-displacements”, the cumulative effect of which will translate to larger “macro-displacements” of rock, sediment and other geological formations.
When you factor in this constant vaporization of methane hydrates/clathrates both sub-seafloor as well as those scattered around the seafloor surface to the existing scenario, this devolving situation becomes that much more difficult to effectively remedy. With the resulting shifts and resettling and reconfiguration of the entire seafloor terrain and underlying strata occurring in the wake of these dynamics, we are left with a situation that is not going to get better through the use of even more invasive technology and intrusive machinery.
Question: How many times can you grout a seafloor crack that was caused by an underlying superficial fault after drilling into an old mud volcano?
Answer: “In the attempt to seal the oil from oozing through the faults, BP resorted to high pressure grouting. Basically it is like cementing the cracks in the rock by injecting grout (cement mixture) at high pressure. The way they do this is by drilling an injection hole into the shallow rocks and pumping in the grout. The grout in “slurry” state will permeate into the cracks, cure and seal up the cracks. However it is not working because of the presence of gas and oil. It is like super-glue. You need to clean the surfaces before you apply the glue; otherwise it won’t stick and will come off eventually after a few days or weeks. That is why we can see a few blown out craters – shown in my article – Is the last rite for the Macondo Well for real?” (Per BK Lim, Geohazards Specialist)
Likewise, how do you fill a newly emerging gash in the seafloor which is caused by a deep fault due to low level seismic activity, or worse, a full blown earthquake?!
Seismic activity in the GOM and the uptick in earthquakes in the Mississippi River Basin and surrounding region
The oil and gas platforms that were in operation throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico in 2006 (per Wikipedia).
We now come to the most serious issue regarding the relentless drilling for oil and gas throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The map above clearly illustrates the density of drilling throughout the northern GOM as of 2006. Likewise, the map below demonstrates the extraordinary and increasing intensity of these very same operations off the coast of Louisiana alone.
Green lines represent active pipes (25,000 miles in all). Yellow dots represent oil rigs.
The map that follows, however, tells a story which demands the attention of every resident of the GOM coastline. The video link below the map shows the development timeline of the successively deeper wells being drilled during the last decade. Of course, with greater depths come much greater risks, as the technology and machinery have not been proportionately upgraded to accommodate the extraordinary demands and unforeseen contingencies of such a speculative and dangerous enterprise*.
*Oil and gas drilling in seawater depths of over 4000 feet, and through 15,000 to 25,000 feet of the earth’s crust and mantle, is considered extremely dangerous to those from whom reason and common sense have not yet fled.
Click on the map to enlarge.
It’s critical to understand the location and current activity of the various faults which exist throughout the GOM and how they connect to the New Madrid Fault Line, as well as other major faults at much greater distance. There does appear to be a emerging uptick in earthquake activity in the greater Louisiana area, as well as contiguous regions in the GOM as demonstrated by unprecedented, albeit low level earthquakes. Correlations between these earthquakes/seismic activity and major operations at the Macondo Prospect have been alluded to in our previous postings.
Earthquake Activity in Gulf of Mexico Prompts 2003 Study for MMS
Gulf of Mexico Subsea Structures May Be in Seismic Danger Zone – Part 2
Now then, the question remains just how vulnerable has the GOM been made to a truly catastrophic event, ending up with an overwhelming displacement of water producing tidal waves, in the aftermath of an undersea earthquake.
There is no question that the ceaseless fracturing of the seafloor and fissuring of the sub-seafloor geological strata by the Oil & Gas Industry has set up a quite conducive environment for HUGE unintended consequences. We leave it up to the experts to conduct the necessary risk assessments, which will most assuredly let loose a sea of red flags about what Big Oil has done, and is currently doing, in the Gulf of Mexico. Furthermore, we are deeply concerned that, if a permanent moratorium on all new oil and gas drilling and extraction in the GOM is not put into place poste haste, the coastal communities will remain in a very precarious situation.
Worsening GOM predicament is reflective of the status quo around the globe
Now consider the following scenario: that this very same predicament, which we have all witnessed in the Gulf of Mexico, is happening wherever oil and gas drilling is conducted in the various water bodies throughout the planet. Therefore we can multiply the Macondo Prospect disaster a hundred times and still not come close to the impacts that these ongoing gushers and spills, leaks and seeps are having the world over.
Perhaps the BP Gulf Oil Spill was the defining moment in modern history when all the nations of the world community were called by Mother Earth herself to begin transitioning the planet away from the Hydrocarbon Fuel Paradigm. After all, we may never get another chance!
Tom Termotto is National Coordinator of the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference
OilSpillSolution@comcast.net
SKYPE: Gulf_Advocate
http://oilspillsolutionsnow.org/
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