Fri May 18, 2012
Gulf Restoration Network
Rally outside Senator Mary Landrieu's office marking 3 months since the BP oil spill
The Oil Industry’s Big Gamble
By Dan Favre, Louisiana – July 2010
Approaching the three-month mark of BP’s oil drilling disaster, the question remains – will the nation continue to let the oil industry gamble with our coast and Gulf?
According to Cynthia Sarthou, Gulf Restoration Network Executive Director, this is nothing new. “Hubris and willingness to cut corners, which appears to be the root cause of the disaster, was common among numerous oil companies.” Sarthou, who recently testified before the President’s Oil Spill Commission, added, “All of the companies have been gambling for a long time, and it just so happened that BP lost and we’re paying the price.”
Looking at the facts, it’s clear that BP is not a rogue actor when it comes to taking huge risks in the pursuit of enormous profits. Over the past 10 years, numerous oil companies have also committed safety violations, been forced to pay fines, and spilled oil off-shore.
It’s the lesser known companies that top the list for safety violations, like Apache Corporation (18), Forest Oil Corporation (11), and UNOCAL (bought by Chevron in 2005) (11), along with BP (11). Before the Deepwater Horizon, BP led the pack for spills over 50 barrels in the Gulf with 22, but Shell was right behind with 21 and Chevron had 17. Further, these violations occurred at a time when regulatory oversight was incredibly lax.
As a 16-year old environmental organization that is exclusively focused on the health of the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf Restoration Network was the first to flyover the BP disaster site, and it’s been monitoring what amounts to inadequate clean up and containment efforts ever since. We’ve also been working to hold oil and gas companies accountable for the destruction they have caused – firmly believing that if deepwater drilling is allowed to continue, safety and environmental regulations must be tightened and steps must be taken to ensure more effective enforcement.
We shouldn’t expect the industry to police itself though, as has been the “norm” under the now renamed Mineral Management Service (MMS). There is an inherent conflict of interest when the same agency that is tasked with collecting revenues from off-shore drilling is also in charge of regulating the industry. The casino is never going to tell you when to stop gambling.
Revenue collection and regulatory functions must be divided into two separate agencies – optimally ones that are housed in completely different federal departments. Moreover, the regulation of the industry must mandate that all off-shore drillers have a viable response plan for catastrophic blowouts and other failures.
Despite claims by BP that they could skim 100 thousand barrels of oil off the surface of the water daily, the actual response to this deep water disaster has been pathetic. It has relied on clean up technologies that failed in the Exxon Valdez catastrophe over 20 years ago.
On a trip into Barataria Bay last week, it was apparent that much of the “protective” boom had been pushed deep into the fragile wetlands by the winds and waves from Hurricane Alex. Dispersants being applied on the surface and at the source may be as toxic as the oil, and no one is sure of the affects from mixing them. This is not acceptable.
Any new laws drafted in response to BP’s oil drilling disaster must include mechanisms for investment in research, development, and testing of new technology to respond to any kind of a drilling catastrophe. And, of course, our nation must develop clean energy sources that ultimately move us away from our reliance on oil altogether.
Over the past 70 years the oil and gas industries have been responsible for wreaking havoc on Louisiana’s coastal wetlands. As a result, we are losing a football field worth of wetlands – our natural hurricane protection – every 45 minutes. In exploring for oil to dredging for pipelines, the oil and gas industry is responsible for 40 to 60% of that loss. Now is the time to make sure they pay their fair share for coastal restoration.
The risks associated with producing this dirty energy have been huge. The winnings have been to the enormous benefit of the industries. The problem is they’re gambling with what doesn’t belong to them.
We’ve got to expect more from the entire oil industry and our federal government. Most of all, we’ve got to let them know we won’t stand for another role of the dice.
You can help make sure the oil industry stops gambling with our Gulf . . . our seafood, beautiful wildlife, our natural storm protection, our livelihoods. Please visit www.bpdrillingdisaster.org to stay informed, take action, and donate to Gulf Restoration Network.
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