Leaking Oil

The Gulf of Sludge

     Although I try to ignore current events, particularly negative ones, I will mention one here for two reasons. First, it strikes me as an important story that has been underreported. If that is true, then the second reason for offering it is that I am doing so as a public service. If you are a Snow Bird who is thinking of buying property anywhere along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Texas to Tampa, you may want to look elsewhere. 

     Anyone thinking about swimming in the Gulf or buying property along its coast would be aware of the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010 and would assume that by now the coast is clear and the water is mostly back to normal. That is not the case. There was an earlier marine disaster in 2004 and the underreported story is that oil is still leaking from the site and at a rate much greater than realized. MUCH, MUCH GREATER. I need say no more. Just look at the sources.

Sources: 

"New Estimate for an Oil Leak: A Thousand Times Worse Than Rig Owner Says," Lisa Friedman, New York Times, June 25, 2019. 

'WASHINGTON — A new federal study has found that an oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico that began 14 years ago has been releasing as much as 4,500 gallons a day, not three or four gallons a day as the rig owner has claimed."

   The federal study is available, but to avoid link rot, I will just provide the title: "An Integrated Assessment of Oil and Gas Release Into the Marine Environment at the Former Taylor Energy MC20 Site," by Andrew L. Mason, J. Christopher Taylor and Ian R. MacDonald, June 2019.

I am not sure how this report got reported under the current administration which is pushing for offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.

There are more articles to be found, but it seems to me that there should be many more given the apparent magnitude of the leak. Perhaps when cold weather returns in the north and we Canadians start thinking about heading south, there will be more reports about the health of the Gulf. If not, I suggest you restrict your swimming to the motel pool.

Post Script:

   I apologize to all golfers who were lured to this post by the title - "Leaking Oil". It was chosen deliberately to attract more readers and I couldn't think of any way to link Archie or his mom Meghan to the subject at hand. For you non-golfers: "leaking oil" is now part of the golf broadcaster's vernacular and is used to describe a golfer who is falling apart on the last few holes. For you golfers here is a bonus if you have wondered about the usage of the word "wheelhouse" during golf matches: "What's a 'Wheelhouse' and Why is Something in Mine?" Chris Higgins, Mental Floss, Sept. 27, 2015.

   While I am considering current events here are two headlines that caught my eye. This one could be misconstrued: "Man, Found Fatally Stabbed Near Van On Fire, Just Wanted 'To Make People Smile'".

For more on such headlines see my post about Headlines. 

This one has to do with the concept of the unintended consequences of practically everything: "Fatal Accident With Metal Straw Highlights a Risk: The Disturbing Death of a Woman in Britain Renewed a Debate That Has Followed Bans on Plastic Straws Around the World," Neil Vigdor, New York Times, July 11, 2019.