The Vanishing Oil Act!

The Vanishing Oil Act!
Now you see it, now you don’t, it’s been two weeks since BP put the cap on the Deepwater Horizon well that spewed over 100 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The oil that befouled the Gulf of Mexico for 86 days is vanishing from the surface, leaving those recently employed in helping sustain an income lost by the spill, with nothing to little to clean. Makes one wonder if David Copperfield - Magician/Illusionist was summoned by BP or one of its constituents. BP claims it collected 37 million gallons of that oil and burned up to about 10 million more, while some ended up as tar on coastal beaches and marshes. Oil sheens across bays and marshes apparently are of no conscience because little to no mention is given by the media or from the media contacts at BP Oil. That means the vast majority of this spill remains unaccounted statistically and all involved from the government stand point are that they are immersed in awe, as to be the scientists about the underwater plumes of oil or what damage has already been done to fish, their eggs, shellfish eggs and larvae. As in all magic to illusion tricks there is a method to the madness one has just watched as this floating mass of Armageddon becomes a vanishing oil act. The key to where it is,” out of sight, out of mind” and is that not what BP wanted all along to get out of the lime light and just maybe we will forget as the unseen plume of oil moves from one part of the ecosystem to another.
Remember the decision, to use dispersant? Through the massive usage and volumes of dispersant (Corexit) sprayed onto the floating Black Death, it now has transformed into an underwater curtain of crude beneath the waves. Nearly 2 million gallons of dispersant was used by BP, with little to no knowledge as to its long term effects on the environments, much less to the array of unanswered questions that surround the dispersant rapid breakdown on the oil droplets and their chronic toxicity to marine life or humans involved. Short term a true vanishing act, long term I hesitate to write what might be! It reminds me of cleaning up my dorm room when away at university and a hot date was on her way over, “Quick, sweep it under the rug” and who’s the wiser?

Oil, when combined with dispersant in the water column is more toxic to marine species than either oil or dispersant alone.
At a Senate hearing on June 15, 2010, EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson stated, “In the use of dispersant we are faced with environmental trade offs.” In fact, the use of dispersant does not represent a science-based, quantifiable “trade off” but rather amounts to a large-scale experiment on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem that runs contrary to a precautionary approach, an experiment where the costs may ultimately outweigh the benefits.


I mean, how harmful could it be? It was tested, the risked were evaluated for surface use in a laboratory setting and it worked just fine on the oil but what about species concerns? OH! No testing for that though and yet it was used; that is pathetic, self serving and thinking of how to save a buck, not a planet. BP knew that Corexit will have a lethal effect on all animals but the risks outweigh the means, as we all saw happen when they lost a wellhead, by cutting corners. Corexit mixed with large areas of crude oil droplets produces polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Hm…maybe that’s where the headaches are coming from and I wonder what comes next. Trusting BP in coordinating this clean up action is like handing over a book of matches to an arsonist and asking him to help put out the spreading wildfire we have. The vanishing oil act is like a play. Part one is over, it is refreshment time and part two is about to start. Are we ready and to what are we going to do? Call your Congressman, call the White house but do not just read about it in the paper or watch it on TV and say “OH that is so sad.” Be part of the solution, be an American and say Yes I Can! Our slogan of “The Freedom to Fish” will mean nothing if all our oceans are dead because we let them tell us what to do. Remember, it is “We The People” and that’s a lot of fish.

“FISHON!”