One-Year Anniversary of Gulf Capping...and Spills Continue Around the Globe

Just one year ago, on July 15, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill brought to us by BP and Transocean, was successfully capped after pouring 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.


Gulf Coast fishermen try to save an oil-drenched pelican.

One year later-more of the same.

 (Photo:Ho New/Reuters)

One year later impacts of the spill continue to affect the health of Gulf Coast residents, the safety of the region’s seafood and the economies of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

 $20 billion was set aside by BP for those whose lives and livelihoods were most impacted.  So far less than $5 billion has been handed out, and BP, citing the area’s “robust recovery,” says that should be sufficient.

Four big leaks have been reported in just the past two weeks:

An Exxon Mobil pipeline burst beneath the Yellowstone River, flooding the pristine waterway with more than 42,000 gallons of crude oil. While the line was reportedly shut down within seven minutes, the leak continued for more than an hour.

A pair of undersea leaks in the ConocoPhillips oilfield—Penglai 19-3, China’s largest—spilled up to 7,000 barrels of oil into Bohai Bay, spreading over more than 325 square miles. Slicks seven miles long and 500 yards wide were reported.

An explosion and oil spill at the Pengrowth Energy Facility near Swan Hills, Alberta, dumped 1,000 barrels of oil into nearby Judy Creek, which flows into the Freeman River, a tributary of the Athabasca River.

A New Hampshire company—Sprague Energy—leaked up to 100 barrels of oil into the Piscataqua River via a “small hole” in a delivery pipe. Company officials admitted a pinhole resulted in a “spraying” of fuel for up to two hours.

This is a tragic reminder of how little has changed since the Deepwater Horizon spill of April 20, 2010.

One Pelican at a Time:  A Story of the Gulf Oil Spill

Needed now more than ever before!