From the very beginning, BP has been less than forthright about the damages and potential damages from the oil spewing out of the hole in the earth’s crust some 5000 feet below sea level and 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana.
From the very beginning, they have been arbitrarily underestimating the quantity of oil leaking from the exploded rig.
From the very beginning, they have been plotting to sweep the majority of the mess under the saltwater carpet. But how do you do that? With very careful, very clever planning, and a little help from some friends at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Early on, BP began spraying and injecting solvents into offshore waters. They claimed that dispersing the oil would be a good idea, better for the wetlands. Even then, their plot was in place. They knew that the truth was that the solvents would make the oil exponentially more toxic, (as would adding the solvent itself) but that didn’t matter. Dispersal solvents would see to it that a large portion of that oil never floated to the top or showed up at the shoreline. Why would they do that? Simple enough: If it doesn’t rise to the surface or wash up onto the shores, BP doesn’t have to pay to clean it up.
Last week, some commented that the oil spill looked smaller, and expressed that this was a good thing. Indeed, BP seized the opportunity to claim that the gas coming out of the pipe was the cause for that. Surely it’s a good thing that the oil spill is getting smaller, right? Uhm, no. Unless BP is skimming off hundreds of thousands of gallons and hiding them away in an offshore tanker somewhere, it’s a bad thing – a very bad thing. That oil has to be going SOMEwhere. And so it is — under the surface of the ocean! The solvents have seen to it that the oil doesn’t rise to the surface. Instead, long “plumes,” rivers of oil hiding between about 4000 feet down and just below the surface. How much oil? Just one of them is over 10 miles long and about a mile wide. How thick is anyone’s guess.
What has already come to shore? Corexit dispersing solvents were reported days ago. Then a couple days ago, it showed up in clumps beneath the surface at the shoreline. But still, something was amiss. Where did the rest go? We noticed that it never seemed to make it to shore, that it seemed to be acting as though it were affected by a rip tide, being pulled out to sea instead of heading towards shore. Our worst nightmares and BP’s fondest hopes and dreams were coming true.
How did this happen? Take a trip back in time to when Exxon was developing the Corexit line of solvents. One of their companies, Exxon Bio., was the one that performed the toxicology reports in the first place. This leaves their numbers suspect. Corexit is on the list of things approved for use in case of an emergency, for coastal cleanup. The Notebook even tells exactly how to use the stuff, and what safety precautions to take. One must spray it in droplets (not atomized) onto the surface of the spill, via airplane or boat. NOWHERE in that set of instructions does it suggest that it be used UNDER the surface, let alone at 156 atmospheres of pressure in near-freezing temperatures. To be sure it would be less toxic in cooler temperatures (as everything becomes more inert under such conditions.) But nobody knows what those solvents will do at that depth and temperature, nor do we have any way of predicting with certainty that it will EVER come to shore from 50 miles away.
BP isn’t taking any chances. They’re get those solvents out there to ensure that most of the oil isn’t ever seen. Not even the 5000 barrels a day that they’ve lied it down to. Over 400,000 gallons of toxic solvent sprayed upon and injected into the ocean, and the EPA has ordered another 800,000 gallons of the noxious stuff. Spill, baby, spill!
Why would the EPA let them use this deadly spray, let alone let them use it in ways that it was never approved for? The Clean Water Act specifically prohibits them from granting a permit to put such chemicals into US waters unless they know what it’s going to do (or could reasonably ascertain the result) and the EPA couldn’t possibly know well enough to predict. BP was even claiming they have no idea what the repercussions might be. (Then again, that could easily have been part of their ruse to later claim ignorance.) Yet Lisa Jackson, the head of the EPA and a chemist, told them they could use anything on the approved list. She never even questioned why they used something less effective and more toxic than other approved dispersing agents on the list. When asked, Lisa Jackson was unable to justify why she did so, let alone why she ordered another 800,000 gallons of the same thing!
Now the streams of oil are spreading all over the Gulf, and it’s not 5000 barrels a day either. It’s a LOT more than that… not to mention the additional toxicity of the hundred of thousands of gallons of Corexit being added to the mess. But it’s okay, because out of sight is out of mind, right?
Not so fast, BP. We’re not quite that blind or stupid. Scientists found the oil you tried to bury with solvents. And they found those solvents, too. Corexit came to the grassy shores of Louisiana days ahead of the oil. As this is being written, satellite images are showing the world just how big the spill is, how your 5000 barrels a day is really about 20 times that much. Even your purchased news stories are being found out. And still, BP promises to pay.
Oh, you’ll pay, alright… we all will.
Research, Editorial, and Opinion Submitted to the Protect The Ocean Blog by John Taylor