Summit County Citizens Voice

Gulf residents rally for oil spill health care bill, new leak detected off Louisiana

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in flames after a deadly explosion in 2010.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY —For federal permitting agencies, it might be back to business as usual on oil drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico — but that’s not the case for Gulf Coast residents still feeling the aftermath of last year’s Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Many will rally today at the Capitol in Baton Rouge to call for passage of  the Oil Spill Health Bill (HB 389) sponsored by Representative Patrick Connick. The bill would step up monitoring for oil spill-related health impacts. More information here: Oil Spill Health Bill (HB 389).

At the same time, environmental groups monitoring the northern Gulf have detected a new oil spill in the past few days. SkyTruth reported on the new slick via Twitter:

Updated location, new map for oil slick near Venice, Louisiana – source still unknown http://ow.ly/5fbc7—
John Amos (@SkyTruth) June 10, 2011

The source of the oil was identified early Monday morning:

Operator of leaking platform in Breton Sound identified from Louisiana state database – http://ow.ly/5gqAG—
John Amos (@SkyTruth) June 13, 2011

The slick isn’t far from the Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The National Wildlife Federation is reporting on the latest spill here.

Considering all the lingering impacts of last year’s catastrophic oil spill, major environmental groups are taking a stand against issuing new permits for deep-water drilling.

In federal lawsuit, several groups say permits for drilling in water more than 7,000 feet deep defy common sense, according to a coalition of environmental groups who are challenging the federal government in court.

Here’s part of the press release from the Center for Biological diversity:

“After a cursory 30-day review, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement determined that there would be no significant impact from new exploratory deepwater drilling by Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. in about 7,200 feet of water. The worst-case scenario oil spill detailed in the plan is as much as 405,000 barrels (17 million gallons) of oil a day for up to 128 days, which could result in a spill of 45 million barrels (1.89 billion gallons) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

BOEMRE’s decision comes about a year after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, which spilled more than 4.9 million barrels (200 million gallons) of oil.

“Finding that drilling in waters far deeper than the Deepwater Horizon site has no significant impact when we know how damaging last year’s spill was defies common sense and echoes the irresponsible attitudes that preceded the disaster,” said Catherine Wannamaker, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center who represents the environmental groups in court. “The Deepwater Horizon oil spill that is still impacting the Gulf and many lives along the coast cannot and should not be swept under the rug for oil-company convenience and profit.”

According to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, special risks emerge when drilling ultra-deepwater wells at depths greater than 5,000 feet, including the risk of an uncontrolled blowout, as was the case with Deepwater Horizon. The approved Shell plan calls for drilling wells significantly deeper than the BP well.
“We now know that numerous human errors occurred to cause the largest oil disaster in our country’s history,” said David Pettit, senior attorney with NRDC. “But we also know there were a number of premeditated actions industry and government regulators should have taken to protect against a disaster of this magnitude. Those steps still are not fully realized and 40-year-old containment methods cannot save us from another spill were one to happen tomorrow.”

According to the lawsuit, the government’s review and its conclusion of no significant impact relied on the same faulty Gulf-wide environmental impact statement under which it previously permitted the BP Deepwater Horizon. Since then, the presidential commission found systemic problems within the oil industry, a recent report documented the failure of the blowout preventer on the Deepwater Horizon, and two Inspector General reports documented a broken regulatory system.

“BOEMRE has admitted the old environmental  analyses were rendered obsolete by the Deepwater Horizon disaster,” said Mike Senatore, vice president of conservation law at Defenders of Wildlife. “But even after acknowledging that they need to take a new look at the risks of deepwater drilling, the agency is moving forward with blinders on.”

“The approval of Shell’s drilling is a test case for how the government will oversee risky drilling in the Gulf. As this lawsuit shows, so far we’re unimpressed. The government says it’s doing a thorough review, but we simply don’t see how you can conclude that a potential spill of a billion gallons of oil is ‘insignificant,’ ” said Deirdre McDonnell, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.

More than a year after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, effects are still clearly present: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed fishermen reports of Gulf finfish like red snapper with open and unhealed sores, University of Georgia scientists documented a seafloor still covered in oil and dead creatures, and University of Central Florida research recently linked the oil spill to more than 150 dead dolphins that washed up on Gulf coasts since January 2011, including 65 newborn, infants, stillborn or those born prematurely.

Scientists are still examining the full impact of the spill, including impacts that may show up over time in the Gulf food chain and in future generations of aquatic life. Many communities and residents whose livelihoods and culture are tied to the Gulf through fisheries, seafood, and tourism are still recovering from the impact of the months-long BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Filed under: biodiversity, BP Gulf oil spill, endangered species, energy, Environment, oil drilling Tagged: | BP, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement, Center for Biological Diversity, Deepwater Horizon, Deepwater horizon oil spill, Environment, Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf of Mexico, Oil spill, SkyTruth, Summit County News