No Answers to Gulf Oil Spill

Everyone has been worried for months now ever since BP's offshore oil rig, Deepwater Horizon, blew up, killing 11 workers and starting the largest environmental disaster this nation has ever experienced.



Three months later the nightmare still isn't over. In conversations with regular people in the Gulf Coast area, one can hear speculation that the rain and water system is contaminated with oil and the chemical dispersant Corexit EC9527A, and even fears that the first hurricane will bring fire raining from the sky.

After hearing the concerns of the people most fiercely protesting BP, who pointed me toward the safety data sheet for Corexit EC9527A, (see Lifetime Gulf Coast Residents Express Their Outrage) the horror stories of chemical-laden fiery rain were becoming more believable. Even more believable is the possibility that the days of enjoying fresh Gulf seafood may be permanently gone.

“It feels like they just don't care. It's not their beaches or their seafood being contaminated. Oil isn't gushing into the ocean off the coast of Britain,” said Eric Rockwell, lifetime resident of the Gulf Coast.

The growing frustration seems to be well-warranted. We live in an era in which science makes what once seemed miraculous commonplace. It seems that plugging a hole in the ocean would be a miniscule task to the scientists of modern America. “People look to scientists to provide the new technology and answers to problems. What's frustrating to people and scientists, in this situation, is that we don't know. This has never happened before, and we can't rush through the research.” said Dr. Douglas Haywick, professor of geology at the University of South Alabama.

Haywick recently submitted a proposal to BP to monitor volatile organic compounds (VOCs), like oil and Corexit EC9725A, in the atmosphere as a result of the spill. He compares the use of the oil dispersants to a person attempting to put out a grease fire by dumping gasoline on it.

“I don't really understand why they ever started using it. I wonder if BP engineers might regret that now,” Haywick said.He says that there is minimal likelihood of the water from your sink being contaminated, at least in the short-term, but again stresses that the real danger is that no one really knows if it will stay that way.

Dr. Haywick's uncertainty about the situation is echoed by University of South Alabama professor of biology Dr. Jack O'Brien.

Dr. O'Brien says that it's going to be interesting to see the effects of the oil spill, and especially of the toxic chemical dispersants being dumped into the Gulf of Mexico, a mostly enclosed body of water. Filter feeders, like oysters, will be the most affected as they consume the oil and toxic chemicals mixed with the water. Bottom feeders, such as some edible fish, may also be eating droplets of oil and dispersant. No one knows whether these chemicals will be excreted by the fish or pass up the food chain.

His major concern at this point is the danger posed by hurricanes. The river system in Mobile flows outward into the ocean, the pressure pushes back the massive pool of oil and protecting the bay. A major hurricane will reverse the flow of water and oil will contaminate the bay and damage ecosystems. He says protective boon is the best tool that we have to protect our shores and marshes, but they don't work in bad weather. He also suspects the large sand piles will be blown and washed away by a hurricane.

Dr. O'Brien does say that the seafood advisory can be trusted. The FDA and other agencies inspect all seafood extensively. He clearly said that there is no reason to be concerned that people may get ill from seafood being sold in stores.

To the people of the Gulf Coast it feels like our small piece of the ocean has been picked as the staging area for a grand science experiment. Our fresh seafood and even we ourselves are the lab rats in a study never supposed to happen. The experts who have spent years studying the Gulf Coast's fragile environment don't know what the effects of this disaster will be or if our world will ever be the same.

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