Thursday, May 20, 2010

Oil Spill Not on Sanibel (yet) but Still Raising Questions of Who's to Blame, Who will Pay?






Like the tricolored heron pictured here, who "shades" the water with his wings to better see the fish below the surface, we all need to take a better, deeper, more historical look at the Gulf spill.

Though it has not reached Sanibel Island, and perhaps, with luck, will not reach Sanibel Island, its impact is felt up and down the west coast of Florida.
But as the onion unravels about the spill, the more unsettling the truth becomes.

A couple of weeks ago, BP claimed it was not their accident, but that they would take responsibility for it.

Well, I'm not sure just whose accident that were saying it was, but the information out there certainly points to their finger prints.

On a Sixty Minutes interview of Mike Williams, a Transocean engineer on the Deep Water Horizon who barely survived the explosion, fire and swim to safety, Mr. Williams was very credible and very clear that BP was very culpable.

First there was the issue of the obviously too quick approach to the drilling at the behest of BP who was losing money because the drilling was taking too long.

Second, there was the issue of the broken annulor, a piece of apparatus that was supposed to be a safety valve of sorts. BP knew full well that the annulor was broken.

Third, there was the process of the expeditious closing of the well, which was determined by BP and which was the final straw in creating the explosion.

If these observations and accusations by Mike Williams are proven accurate, there is no way that BP can take the stand it was not their accident.

And, to be fair, they have stated publicly that they will make good for the damage done to the environment and to the industries, largely fishing and tourism, that are suffering and will continue to suffer from the spill.

Giving the company the benefit of the doubt, accepting that they will do as they have offered, the question still remains as who is really going to pay?

Clearly, it's the earth, once again sullied by man's continual quest to spent less time in making more money.

The question of whether it is wise to allow off shore drilling has been answered with Deep Water Horizon. But is any one listening?

4 comments:

Dad said...

I am going to a Resort in Sanibel. Has the Gulf Spill impacted the area at all? I would hate to get there and then discover that beaches are closed or activities are limited because of tar balls. Any thoughts?

Samba said...

Hi Dad. You did not say when you are coming to Sanibel, but at this moment there is no oil on Sanibel and scientific predictions are saying the spill is not going to hit Sanibel. You should check the Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce website for updates and videos of the beaches:
http://www.sanibel-captiva.org/
Have a great time on the Island!

Dad said...

I'll be there the middle of July. Thanks for the information. All of the links provided me with good insight.

Thanks again..

Samba said...

You are welcome. It's practically the middle of July now, so you are safe. The latest predictions are saying Sanibel has less than a 1 percent chance of being visited by the oil ever. Hope so!