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!

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Reprise

Many thought and hoped the oil spill of April, 2010 was past us, was history. Alas, it is not.

My publisher, Lynda Burch of Guardian Angel Publishing, emailed me from Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola Beach, Florida, where she and her husband spend some time each winter.  With her permission, the following is what Lynda saw and photographed very recently:

 Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola Beach, Florida

                        February, 2011

"It is definitely not over, and BP says they are pulling out- 1/2 the claims have been denied and what about what is still going to happen?

I can't let my guests or my grandchildren in those floating contaminants. Skin is the most absorbent organ a human body has. I didn't see any warning signs, anyone testing the water, anyone interested in cleaning it up.

The little silvery fish (2-3 inches, part of the food chain) were washed up on the shore dead. The gulls and pelicans were out there in it. The dolphins were also out about another 1000 yards.

Lots of people on the beach didn't even know what the black and brown slimy stuff floating on edge of the surf was. I did email the local TV station but probably should have called them instead. It was very disturbing for such a beautiful day."

Because it's out of the news, there seems to be no immediacy about the spill anymore.  If this travesty is not addressed continuously and with utmost vigor and vigilance, it will still be an unmitigated disaster.  From my research on the gulf devastation, I think a quote from Sir Winston Churchill during World War II is in order:  "Now this is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end.  It is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

It is Lynda's and my great hope that this kind of accident never occurs    again.  We adults, along with our children and grandchildren, need to     "take a stand on the sand" and see that it does not.  And if it does, God forbid, this time strong oversight should occur within the US government and any parties that caused it.

                                  

  

One Book at a Time May Help Save Our Planet

A Deepwater Horizon drilling rig was rocked by an  explosion and fire on April 20, 2010.  It sank into the Gulf of Mexico. Tragically, eleven crew members died. Multiple attempts to completely shut off the flow of oil failed. On September 19, 2010, BP announced that its well was permanently sealed.

The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as to the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries.  This kind of catastrophe should never occur again anywhere on our earth.

To this end, I've written a  children's picture book, One Pelican at a Time, to help put a face on this disaster.  One old, crooked beaked pelican helps Bella and Britt point the way to what even kids can do in such a tragedy.


Pelican will be released in the coming weeks.  This is the first children's book dealing with the Deepwater Horizon spill to be published in the US. 


Children want to know what they can do in such times.  One Pelican at a Time empowers kids to help in a real and meaningful way.  I hope they, and you, enjoy it.  And if it becomes a teaching moment tool, how wonderful is that?

Pelican Cleaning from Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

The Beautiful Brown Pelican