by Kiley Kroh and Michael Conathan
Two years ago an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico took the lives of 11 men and spewed nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. It took 9,700 vessels, 127 aircraft, 47,829 people, nearly 2 million gallons of toxic dispersants, and 89 days to stop the gush of oil. But the work to restore the ecosystem and Gulf economy has only just begun.
The regional oil and gas industry hasn’t skipped a beat despite
claims from Big Oil and drilling advocates in Congress that the
moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed in the wake of the spill
devastated the Gulf economy. The New Orleans Times-Picayun found that oil-fueled economies in the Houma area are humming along just fine. And according to a recent Reuters analysis,
Gulf drillers will be busier this year than at any point since the
spill, adding eight new deepwater rigs and bringing the total count to
29, just shy of pre-spill levels.
But even though BP’s slick new ads
show sparkling beaches and flourishing marshes, the perception that
everything is fine in the Gulf is far from the truth. Last week Garret
Graves, top coastal advisor to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, said the
state “ still has 200 miles of oiled coast,” including “very clear, retrievable oil in coastal areas,” and called the current conditions “unacceptable.”
While the Obama administration took steps to strengthen offshore
drilling safety and oversight, much remains to be done. Tourism in the
region has rebounded
this year but the Gulf Coast is still struggling with the lingering
effects of the spill and will likely continue to do so for decades to
come. Here are five reasons the Gulf deserves renewed attention:
Congress’s failure to act
Two years ago the United States spent 89 days battling the
single-biggest offshore oil spill in our nation’s history. But Congress
hasn’t enacted a single piece of legislation in response.
Fisheries
The Gulf of Mexico is one of the nation’s most productive fishing
grounds, providing one-third of all seafood consumed in the United
States prior to the spill. But in 2010, at peak response to the oil
spill, about 40 percent of Gulf waters were closed to all commercial and
recreational fishing—a huge blow to area fishermen, many of whom have
yet to rebound.
Beaches
Throughout the spill, BP cleanup crews worked furiously to ensure the
majority of oil remained off of area beaches and out of the public
eye. Yet the only oil we know was removed for certain was the amount
directly recovered from the wellhead—17 percent of the total oil
spilled.
Wetlands
Louisiana was home to 40 percent of the continental United States’ wetlands but experienced about 80 percent of all wetlands loss
from the 1950s through the middle of the last decade. Wetland loss
destroys habitats and removes natural flood protection and environmental
services from coastal communities.
The BP oil spill shocked the Gulf Coast’s already compromised
ecosystem, which will continue to degrade until comprehensive coastal
restoration is undertaken.
Deep-sea death and long-term implications
During the three-month spill, a staggering volume of oil spilled into
the Gulf far beneath the surface. We are only beginning to understand
the impact that will have on deep-sea health.
Conclusion
Researchers throughout the Gulf Coast emphasize one critical point:
It will be a long time before we know the full extent of the oil spill’s
damage.