Five months later after the explosion, after numerous struggles, the government proudly declared that the well was stopped on September 19^th after various tests demonstrated that the cement pumped into the well had created a successful seal. While today the leackage is finally contained, the ocean is far from being oil free as “nearly five million barrels of oil had gushed from BP’s well, according to estimates by government scientists, an amount that outstrips the estimated 3.3 million barrels spilled into the Bay of Campeche by the Mexican rig Ixtoc in 1979” (Source: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/oil_spills/gulf_of_mexico_2010/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=bp%20oil%20spill&st=cse). Indeed the oil has been spreading faster than ever and by June it had managed to gild over the cost of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. As it reached the shores, desperate and surprised tourists began to pack their bags as worried fishermen stared at the ocean with a cold shiver. As biologists rescue brown pelicans, the economy of the local towns is at risk: entire villages survived thanks to fishing activities.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that close to 4, 676 birds have been collected and the majority of those were found dead, while over a thousand birds were visibly oiled. The traumatizing species have been put into rehabilitation centers until they are cured and their bodies are strong enough to be self-sufficient. The birds are just one of the many types of species that have been deadly affected by this accident. Today it remains impossible to estimate with full accuracy the damages of the spill.

Skeptical of the declarations made by the federal government, any independent scientists and scholars are launching their own private researches in order to evaluate the real damages. A report conducted by the University of Georgia in collaboration with the Georgia Sea Grant seems to declare that the amount of oil remaining is much more superior to the one reported by the federal government:  “in fact 70-79% of oil not captured at the wellhead by BP still poses a threat to the ecosystem. That’s 2.9-3.2 million barrels of oil still in the water.” (Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/08/80-percent-oil-from-gulf-oil-spill-remains-in-water.php). According to scholar it is false to believe that the remaining oil had simply dissolved into the water and was therefore harmless. Charles Hopkins, director of the Georgia Sea Grant sustains the reports that declare that the remaining oil is composed of dispersed micro-droplets, some with additional dispersant coats and other residuals particles. The scientists reminds us that the word “dispersed” needs not to be mistaken with the term “gone”. This is a serious misinterpretation often pushed forward by the news and mass media coverage’s. The portraits is not all negative, as some shades of positivity reflect upon the black sea: due to the favorable currents, the oil has been prevented from reaching the Atlantic Ocean.

As the months have passed by and the gushing well has been stopped, many journalists and media coverage centers seem to have forgotten about the most damaging oil spill accident in the history of the United States. Yes, the well has been blocked but public opinion needs to remember that the problems haven’t yet been solved. Professional and financial aid is still need in order to limit the damages and save what is left of the wildlife.

Greenpeace members Anais Schneider from Germany and Victor Rask from Sweden had recently returned from a trip to the Arctic where they took part of a protest group with the scope of stopping the deep water drilling executed by Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy. This experience didn’t frighten the two activists as decided to take direct action against Chevron. They literally climbed up the giant anchor chain and suspended themselves in a tent to it with signs that could read “Go beyond oil”. There courageous action is impeding the anchor from being pulled and there it is preventing the ship from going to the drilling site. The actions of the two young activists are not simply a spur of the moment impulsive move, as they are calling upon the North Sea competent authorities in order to take action against the drilling and hopefully ban it. Activist Victor Rask, and occupant of the tent declared:

“UK Prime Minister David Cameron said his government would be the greenest every, but he wont even support a plan to protect our seas from a BP-style disaster. Instead on drilling for the last drops in places like this, the oil companies should be developing the clean energy technologies need to fight climate change and reduce our dependence on oil. In order to shift the oil companies and governments need to ban deepwater drilling. In the longer term we need a permanent shift awat from fossil fuels towards clean energy solutions” (Source: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/chevron-shetland-stopped210910/).

While the activist’s comments are strongly valid, authentic and in sync with the values defended and represented by Greenpeace, there is no doubt that various other stakeholders and lobby associations are putting a considerable amount of pressure on the Prime Minister in order to force him to consider the economic interests in this situation.  It appears that concealing both opposing points of view is a much harder task than what it seems. BP, the oil company responsible for the greatest catastrophe, is already operating in the area with three oil and gas field they also have further plan to start drilling deeper. The young and courageous Anais Schneider described with frenzy her experience as something incredible:

“It was incredible to climb up the anchor chain, the rungs were nearly as big as I am and Chevron’s drilling ship is one of the biggest things I’ve ever seen at sea. It’s time to go beyond oil. Our addiction is harming the climate, the natural world and our chances of building a clean energy future” (Source: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/chevron-shetland-stopped210910/).

The infamous duo is also supporting a new initiative called “Go Beyond Oil” (find out more at http://www.gobeyondoil.org/) a call to action brought to you by Greenpeace as a response to the BP oil accident. This call to action is also a way to force people to reflect upon their dependency on oil and the risks it could present for the future of our planet. According to the official website, governments shouldn’t subsidize oil companies, instead they should put money towards the development of a sustainable long-term clean form of energy. Yet, things are not always so crystal clean when it comes to doing the right thing. Indeed Chevron went to court and demanded for measures to be taken against the two environmentalists that now risk to get arrested for their environmentalist act of bravura. Chevron declared that such action is “foolhardy and demonstrates that Greenpeace is willing to put its volunteers at risk to carry out such reckless publicity stunts” (Source: http://www.u.tv/Business/Chevron-wins-court-order-in-bid-to-end-Greenpeace-oil-protest/8295de1d-b600-413f-8a93-e40e0b2a8b39). While this stunt is indeed dangerous, the activists  partly got what they wanted; managing to raise public awareness and getting the media involve on the case.

Greenpeace is a world-respected organization that fights for the conservation of our planet and its wildlife. While the actions of the activists can be somewhat debated, the reflection they propose is a very valid one. Has our dependence on oil gone overboard? What will happen once the planet runs out of oil? Perhaps it is indeed time to focus on cleaner forms of energy.

The spill has had a tremendous impact on the life of indigenous people who hold a great respect and reverence for natural resources. To coordinate their efforts towards finding a solution to diminish or at least contain damage, native people have traveled more than 3500 kilometers from the Ecuadorian Amazon in order to join a support rally with other native tribes. “Members of the United Houma Nation, a state recognized Tribe of 17,000 in the marshland of southeastern Louisiana, are subsistence fishers and trappers, who, in wake of the BP Deeepwater Horizon disaster, are facing an uncertain future” (Source: http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2010/world/people-from-ecuador-to-louisiana-forge-alliances-against-global-oil-spills/). Such communities have a special relationship with nature and all its elements; they have a great respect towards water since their survival depends of water’s resources like fish. Nature is at the centre of their economical and social survival. The Ecuadorian people feel directly involve in this situation since for the past 17 years they have been waiting for the outcome of the lawsuit filed against Chevron and Texaco. The case should decide if Chevron is guilty for having polluted around 5000 square kilometers of the Amazon Rainforest. This weeklong meeting was a unique occasion for the Ecuadorian people to share their knowledge, stories and experience in recovering from a disaster of such a large endeavor. In a press release, Thomas Dardar Jr., Principal Chied of the United Houma Nation said that he was pleased to meet his brothers and sisters from the Amazon in order to exchange opinion on how to protect the “indigenous way of life when face with such huge environmental impacts” (Source: http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2010/world/people-from-ecuador-to-louisiana-forge-alliances-against-global-oil-spills/).

While the native communities are organizing themselves to come up with a plan of action and to share their stories, musicians and artists all over the United States have offered their own contribution in response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. From direct money donations to benefit concerts, artists have launched a new initiative: they will boycott BP products for all 2010 tours. Lady Gaga is the newest addition to this initiative launched by Jonathon Davis of KORN who has declared in an interview: “From everything we’re hearing about now, it’s become clear that BP cut corners to put profit ahead of safety. The message we are sending should tell all the oil companies to spend they money and take the necessary precautions to make sure this doesn’t happen again” (Source: http://www.forbes.com/2010/06/22/bp-spill-boycott-technology-lady-gaga.html). Not long ago, only the Backstreet Boys and KORN were on board; while now the initiative seems to have had a snowball effect, with many other artists like Creed, Megadeth or Filter. It is yet too early to determine the impact of this boycott, perhaps others bands will jump on board and maybe even fans.  This boycott raises a series of controversial questions and ethical debates. Will a boycott truly make a difference? Will BP use this boycott has an excuse to declare they lack the money in order to reimburse victims and to clean up the gulf?

Other strands of opinion seem to contradict this movement arguing that boycotting BP doesn’t really affect BP but instead causes financial harm to the station owners. Many American consumers are starting to refuse to fill up their cars with gas sold under BP’s name. “In 2008, BP announced it was exiting the retail gasoline business because the margins were lousy. Today, BP owns only about 100 of the 900 or so gas stations bearing its name. The rest are operated by independent business owners” (Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/media/boycott-bp-that-hurts-station-owners-not-the-company/19499350/). Stations who bear the BP brand are suffering greatly in this situation and due to legal contracts they have no way to distance or separate themselves from the giant firm. According to protesters, their objective is not to hurt local station owners, “the boycott’s objective is to tarnish BP” (Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/media/boycott-bp-that-hurts-station-owners-not-the-company/19499350/ ).

While many critiques and reactions are questionable, one thing is for sure, people are angry and demand explanations. While answers fail to arrive, and time is ticking citizens and individuals that have directly been impacted by this disaster feel the need to react and to communicate their sentiments to the entire world. Only time will tell if those initiatives will make the difference, but at least some of us feel the need to take action immediately, putting pressure on BP and the Obama administration.

A violent hurricane has hit the country of Belize, carrying strong winds and torrential rain that preoccupied the American National Hurricane Centre (NHC). According to Admiral Thad Allen, “the continued bad weather caused by Hurricane Alex means that skimming vessels and other boats working on the clean-up have to remain in port” (Source: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/07/2010721622335501.html).

A part from putting in danger the lives of the clean-up staff the storm is pushing junks of crude oil on the beaches and the already damaged and fragile Gulf coasts. In addition to the clean temporarily stopped cleaning activities, the control of oil on the ocean and the diffusion of dispersant chemical products were all put on hold due to the weather conditions. The hurricane has given life to six-foot waves and winds going up to 20 miles per hour. This nightmare has caused the total paralysis of a lucrative tourism industry on the states situated along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The ruined beaches have killed any potential tourist activity and this situation has consequently left all hotels and restaurants empty handed. “The lucrative tourism industry in the Gulf could be had to hit for years by a false perception the spill has ruined all the beaches, tourism officials said” (Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65O5TA20100629). Many blogs and comments on the web seem to believe that this hurricane is being wisely as an additional excuse to elongate the time of clean-up since blaming mother nature is easier than taking full on responsibility. Polls and public opinion have treated President Obama in a very serious way for his slow response to this national crisis. Logically, an even harsher treatment was reserved to BP who has been fined $ 5.2 m by the US Interior Department (Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10461597.stm).

The United States have finally accepted 22 offers of help from 12 countries in order to contain the spill. Skimmers will be sent from Mexico, Norway, France and Japan while sweeping systems will be given by the Netherlands. ” The details of which offers will be accepted and how to help will be delivered were still being worked out, but would include two high skimmers and fire containment booms from Japan, the State Department said” (Source: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115×252319). At this stage, it is impossible to assess the concrete difference that will be brought by those other nations. As we have seen with the Haiti earthquake, with the increase of help and resources comes the increasing challenge of a real coordination which is often the most important aspect of emergency operations.

The President and his staff seem to avoid presenting an immediate solution in order to clean up the oil, contain the spill as much as possible, pay back damages to the local population and coordinate action in order to achieve more rapid and effective results. Mr. Obama stated numerous times that he would restore the Gulf as it was before and went as far as to declare he would make the Gulf of Mexico even better than before (see our previous post on BP oil spill /bp-oil.html). While public opinion is expecting and demanding a direct plan of action in order to contain the oil spill and protect the wildlife and the coast, President Obama is diverting attention on the long-term plans he has in mind. This is an emergency situation and before evaluating a long term plan the damage needs to be controlled and contained immediatly. The drilling seems so to have stopped temporarily, yet so far, the administration hasn’t proposed any new legislation on energy or on the specifics related to oil drilling.  It is time for the President to deliver because is somewhat already fragile reputation is at risk especially when the Republicans are waiting around the corner to demolish him. According to various news papers, Obama has promised he would force BP to take action, cover all the expenses and clean up the mess; yet in the meantime, the oil has reached the coastlines of Florida (Source: http://www.suntimes.com/news/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=B1aDpUOQ1QDlAW9jwB1a9hmBDrwltKNRB00B2whb3NCjpUh&bbParentWidgetId=B8k88rWwXopuz5STgLeVwBLu). It is obvious that BP alone will not be able to resolve this crisis any time soon due to the expensive cost, the long procedures and most of all the need to cooperate with local officials in order to come up with a unitary plan. It could take years or even decades to restore the balance of some fragile ecosystems that are starting to suffer from the oil spill and to clean up all the oil. The many disagreements between federal, local authorities, scientists, environmental activists and the BP administration on how to handle the situation is only making things worst.  Just like we have recently experience with the Haiti earthquake, in situations of emergency coordination becomes key in order to be able to use all resources effectively.

The BP official website presents a completely different outtake on its response to the oil spill. A special report page entitled  “Gulf of Mexico response” presents numerous daily updates of all the positive things the Enterprise has accomplished so far in order to clean up the mess and contain the situation (Go see for yourself: http://www.bp.com/extendedsectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=40&contentId=7061813) .

Their updated page seems to present no explanation for the shortcuts on security norms and regulation that the company decided to take in order to save money and meet deadlines. The damages that need to be repair exceed 100 million dollars in payments. Ironically, BP chose to take shortcuts in order to save money, causing the spill, and is now obliged to spend an amount of money that is so much more costly than it would have been to simply abide by security norms in construction and piping. BP’s ferocious communication campaign is perhaps the last strand the company has in order to save itself from total investor panic. “After closing above $60 before the April 20 disaster, the energy giant’s share plunged almost 20% in New York, to below $50, in just two weeks” (Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65H4A920100618).  Despite the plunge, when the disaster occurred very few analysts suggested to sell most of them. The motto only slowly shifted from “buy” to “hold”. Only a few financial advisors advocated the sealing as the ultimate solution. While it all seems to revolve around economics, shares and profit the ocean has turned a worrisome color of black, a canvas left without life where every shad of blue has been swallowed by the spill of black paint.

Now that the oil has reached the coast of Florida things could only get worst. This is taking a tool on tourism and on local economies that are centered on fishing. All eyes are pointed on the Obama administration as a sentiment of distrust is spreading around public opinion. The president’s charismatic cheer “Yes we can” seems to have be transformed in an interrogative stance: “Can we?”.

“According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a small portion of the slick has entered the so-called ‘loop current’, a stream of faster moving water that circulates around the Gulf before bending around Florida and up the Atlantic coast. Its arrival may herald a wider environmental catastrophe affecting the Florida Keys and tourist-dotted beaches along that State’s East coast. There is the growing risk that the spill could reach farther south”. (source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1279881/Gulf-Mexico-oil-spill-NASA-images-slick-spreading-Florida.html). In a pre-emptive manner, U.S. officials have initiated talks with Cuban authorities in order to help them respond effectively to the spill should it reach the island’s northern coast.

On May 19,  Bobby Jindal,  Gov. of Louisiana has declared that sheets of crude oil from the offshore spill have entered deep into the marshland around the entrance of the Mississippi River. The governor has been putting a considerable amount of pressure on the Federal government to approve a plan to build sand berms   to protect the remaining wildlife. Mr. Jindal has accused BP, the Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers for not moving quickly enough in order to implement the Sate’s proposal of building 80 miles of sand berms along the coastline.

Ken Holder, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said in a statement “that the Army Corps was still evaluating the potential environmental impact of the sand-berm plan”.  “The Coast Guard was also still reviewing the plan”, said  spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Tony Russell. Tom Mueller, a spokesman for BP, said “The company had several questions about the proposal, including whether the berms would be effective or cause unintended damages to the environment”. (source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/us/20spill.html?ref=science).

The risk is that the process of evaluation becomes too long and daunting while the disaster continues to worsen.

On Monday, May 14^th, the President visited Mississippi and Alabama in order to reassure local residents that “the government will leave the Gulf Coast in better shape that it was before”. Yet, as long as the cleaning task is in the hands of BP,  there is a sentiment of desperation and total distrust amongst the local community and scientists. Public opinion holds no faith in the company’s genuine desire to restore the Gulf and take full on responsibility for its actions. After the latest investigations on the dramatic incident, BP’s image and reputation are highly at risk. According to B. Skoloff and M. Daly from Associated Press, investigators found out that BP was terribly late on the project and was suffering from losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars daily. In order to respond, the company made a series of money-saving shortcuts including  well design to the installation of key safety devices. One of the world’s largest energy companies, BP, in order to save time and money, made decisions that increased tremendously the risk of a blowout.

(source: http://www.onenewsnow.com/AP/Search/US/Default.aspx?id=1050566)

“A 2003 report by the National Research Council predicted that the oil in a deepwater blowout could break into fine droplets, forming plumes of oil mixed with water that would not quickly rise to the surface. That prediction appeared to be confirmed Saturday when the researchers aboard the Pelican reported that they had detected immense plumes believed to be made of oil particles”

(source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/science/earth/20noaa.html?ref=science).

The results were not confirmed as final, and came as a surprise to the government.  The greater worry is that unique sea life concentrated in those areas could be exposed to a heavy amount of toxic materials as the plumes flow through the sea.

With evaluations, research and investigations still on-going, it is impossible to fully evaluate and comprehend the real dimensions of the spill and the continuous damage it is causing to the wild life and local economies.  The clock is ticking and a rapid solution needs to be found. The Obama administration has to promote greater transparency on this issue and to work closely with BP in order to coordinate an efficient and rapid plan of action.  People demand the truth, as the nation is nurturing a sentiment of exasperation.