Rick Raw: Gulf Oil Spill–Catastrophic Blow to Gulf Coast’s Sensitive Ecosystems
Disaster will Effect the Gulf’s Ecology and Economy far into the Future

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net

The ongoing oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig will be a catastrophic blow to the sensitive ecosystems on the Gulf Coast for many years into the future, especially the wetlands where shrimp spawn and lay their eggs and crawfish dwell.

The magnitude of this disaster is only now beginning to sink-in to the millions of Gulf Coast residents, many of whom depend on the seafood industry in the region. Vast areas of the Gulf Coast fishing grounds have been shut down as a precaution to assure safety for the consumer.

It will take many years to restore the wetlands delicate ecosystem balance as the dark gooey crude seeps into the wet grass and marsh. It’s an unconscionable disaster that could have been prevented by the Deepwater Horizon operators, who had become complacent in doing preventive maintenance on the failsafe mechanism.

More significantly, if the oil plume gets sucked into the Gulf Stream loop, which would take it in a loop around the Florida keys and up into the Atlantic ocean, it could affect the Keys and the East coast of Florida.

This eventuality will kill Florida’s East Coast tourist trade. No one wants to look out of their hotel room and see oil washing up on pristine beaches. Ah yes, "I love the smell of petrolium in the morning."

Just before the Gulf oil spill, President Obama was promoting big oil drilling off the Florida Coast. Of course, that came back to bite him on the ass. These massive oil drilling platforms are designed to have safeguards, but when you factor in crew complacency, then anything can happen.

Today, 45,728 square miles are now off limits to fishing. NOAA is working with the Food and Drug Administration to "realign its assets to implement a broad-scale seafood sampling plan." Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said he had seen oil coming ashore on the Louisiana coast when he toured the region by helicopter last Tuesday.

Hell, New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are not yet over the Katrina disaster. Now, they’ve been hit with a giant oil spill that will wreck the wetlands and kill birds, shrimp, crawfish and other animal life in the region. It’s the double whammy that has performed the coup de grace on the Gulf Coast’s ecology and economy. They can’t take another hit.

"We saw heavy oil coming into the wetlands," Jindal went on to say. Presently, the main oil plume is about 50 miles from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Millions of gallons of oil have been spewing from the ruptured underwater pipe into the Gulf of Mexico.

The lawsuits are already being filed against BP by restaurants and seafood wholesalers in Louisiana and Florida over the Deepwater Horizon spill. The law firm overseeing the lawsuits says that the businesses are covered by the Oil Pollution Act and is asking the court to clear the way for appropriate claims.

All well and good, but lawsuits will take time to work their way through the courts. Meanwhile, the businesses will have to file bankruptcy to survive. At this rate, seafood will be a luxury menu item. One shrimp will cost $10.00 bucks.

After this disastrous oil spill, we should speed up the use of energy alternatives such as, wind and solar power as well as building more nuclear power stations. Sure, nuclear energy also has risks (remember Three Mile Island) but with new safeguards in place, nuclear power is clean and no threat to the environment. We definitely do not want more oil rig platforms off the coast of Florida or any other state. It’s just too risky.

Unquestionably, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will eclipse hurricane Katrina or any other recent disaster in scope and the many years it will take to clean it up. The volume of oil makes the Valdez oil spill look like a puddle by comparison. And, it took years to clean that up.

But that spill didn’t ruin any wetlands, like this massive spill. The wetlands ecology may never recover unless they rip out the grasses, clean up the oil, and replant the wetlands ecosystem which could take twenty years to regenerate the delicate eco-balance.

We have the resources to stop offshore oil drilling. So, let’s do it, before our beaches will be smeared with smelly oil.