Offshore Drilling

Gulf Oil Update - April 2011

The good, the bad, and the unknown of the BP oil spill. Samantha Joye, a marine scientist at the University of Georgia in Athens, found evidence of dead invertebrates – starfish and coral – on the bottom of the Gulf, along with oily, sticky bacteria. “These are keystone species to the ecosystem,” said Joyce. But we do not know enough about what has happened or what may happen in the years to come. It is a challenge for scientists trying to tally the cost. (4)

Four hundred and six dolphins have washed ashore from the Gulf of Mexico in the last 14 months. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has declared “an unusual mortality event” ongoing since last February after a spike in the number of dead dolphins washing up in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Scientists in the area are unable to conduct necropsies on these animals because the US Justice Department is using dolphin testing in its investigation into the 2010 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Meanwhile, wildlife biologists contracted by the National Marine Fisheries Service to document spikes in dolphin mortality and to collect specimens and tissue samples for NOAA were quietly ordered in late February to keep their findings confidential. (1)

NOAA is reported to have collected 30,000 samples for the assessment of damage in relation to the spill and the environmental evaluation that is required. According to federal laws enacted after the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, a dollar value will be placed on the damage and the evaluation is the process. (Oil Pollution Act, 1990). How much BP will pay will depend on linking environmental damage to BP oil, and, proving that the losses mean something financially to the public. Part of the Justice Dept. goal is to avoid lengthy court battles with BP so restoration can begin soon. In line with this, BP consultants are allowed to accompany the federal and state scientists while they take research samples. BP is allowed this participation in part because is has agreed to take responsibility for the damage and give $45 million upfront to start the damage assessment. The relationship with BP has concerned environmental groups and independent scientists. (2)

Court debate: how to calculate the fines? The US Dept of Justice is seeking civil environmental penalties based on an estimated 4.1 million barrels of oil that spilled. The civil penalties sought would be between $1000 and $4300 per barrel based on whether it was determined that there was willful negligence. BP is claiming that they were not willfully negligent and that they should only be assessed fines under the Clean Water Act as a fixed fine for each day the oil flowed into the Gulf. The day figures would mean $2.8 billion to $4.9 million, while the per-barrel figure would be $4.1 to more than $20 billion. (3)

This week it will be one year since the BP oil disaster. Has anything changed? Not much. Big Oil will continue its pursuit of deepwater drilling. And the Interior Department will discontinue its press releases when they award drilling permits. And you can forget about action from Congress. Partisan politics held up any action last year, as Democrats looked to find a way to use the oil spill to move broader energy legislation while Republicans and Gulf state lawmakers complained about a ban on deepwater drilling. Now, everyone in Congress is pulling in his own direction: some in the Gulf states to get it all over and get the money to do restoration; others want to raise the liability cap on oil drilling; others want to expand offshore oil drilling.

1.Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/16/us-dolphin-strandings-idUSTRE73F2XW20110416

2.Herald Tribune. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20110416/ARTICLE/110419583/2055/NEWS?p=all&tc=pgall&tc=ar

3.Houston Chronicle, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/7508609.html

4.Time. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2066031,00.html

Hands Across the Sand Miami - Say NO to Offshore Drilling (August 2010)

Surfrider Foundation, Sierra Club Miami Group, Greenpeace, 1Sky, ECOMB, the Urban Paradise Guild and Environment Florida, along with hundreds of beach lovers came together on Saturday, June 26th to show their opposition to new offshore oil drilling and yes to promoting safe, renewable energy alternatives.

The Hands Across the Sand movement is not about politics. It is about protection of our beaches, our tourism, and our local marine environment.

This was an International Event! There were protesters in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, England, Canada and Brazil.

Check out some photos taken on the beach at the Miami photostream on flickr

Want to track the Oil Spill?

Try the NY Times website (2010): New York Times Finds the Oil

Sierra Club National News

Yes, the President may have tried to temporarily ban the deep offshore drilling projects, but drilling continues, and a judge has decided that the ban is unlawful. Sierra Club is in court to help the government appeal the decision. What will happen next? If you want to keep up with what Sierrans are doing, with Sierra Club Press Releases, blogs, and the strange goings on in our world, check out the Sierra Club CLean Energy Blog. You can read about our plan to "get off oil" in 20 years. check out the blogs, and the latest news on Sierra Club reactions, go to Sierra Club Compass

Another good source of information is the Gulf Restoration Network - no they are not new, they have had that name for a long time, it just seems so appropos now.

Gulf Restoration Network

Sierra Club Press Release - June 22, 2010

Sierra Club will join the Obama Administration in Appealing Decision on Lifting Drilling Ban.

Today, a federal judge blocked a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling put in place by President Obama following the BP disaster in the Gulf. On June 7, 2010, Hornbeck Offshore Services, a company that provides vessel support to offshore oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, filed a lawsuit challenging the moratorium. Hornbeck Offshore Services, Bollinger Shipyard Companies, Bee Mar Deepwater Vessels Companies and Chouest Shore Side, Vessel, and Shipyard Companies joined the lawsuit against the Obama administration.

The Sierra Club intervened on behalf of the government, along with other groups including the Florida Wildlife Federation. The groups are represented by Earthjustice. The Sierra Club will join the Obama administration in appealing the judge's decision. Statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune:

Keeping a ban on deepwater drilling in place is absolutely essential. To resume drilling as the disaster in the Gulf continues to unfold would be a slap in the face to the communities that have been hit hard by this tragedy. The oil industry's call to lift the ban on drilling now is one of the worst ideas ever proposed.

We haven't even stopped the massive flow of oil yet, let alone begun to respond to the damage it has wrought. It's like there's been a car accident and we're talking about how to get the vehicle on the road again while the victim is still bleeding. To open more drilling now would be to invite a second disaster of the same magnitude, or a third. The Gulf Coast can't handle that risk.

BP's carelessness has dealt a serious blow to the Gulf Coast's economy, leaving thousands in the fishing and tourism industries out of work. Fishing and shrimping boats are now all either docked or in service to BP to clean up its mess. The spill has affected an estimated 13,000 commercial licensed fishermen in Louisiana, not including deckhands and crew, according to the Louisiana State Department of Wildlife and Fisheries."

Now, the oil industry and its allies would like to declare the area a dead zone in which the only jobs to be had are from more oil drilling. This disaster should be a wake up call. We can't return to business as usual and face another disaster like this. It's time to stand up to the oil industry and embrace the clean energy solutions that will create good, lasting jobs while keeping our fresh air, drinking water, and oceans intact. We need President Obama's leadership to deliver a plan to end our dependence on oil over the next twenty years.

Sierra Club Press Release - May 2, 2010

Sierra Club Calls for Drilling Moratorium, Aggressive Clean Energy Plan As the offshore drilling disaster in the Gulf spreads to nearly 4,000 square miles and President Obama heads to the Gulf Coast, the Sierra Club is calling on the President to ramp up response efforts, to reinstate a federal moratorium on new offshore drilling, and to prevent future disasters through an aggressive plan to wean America from dirty energy.

Statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune:

Sadly, we are now witnessing one of the worst environmental disasters in American history. We commend the thousands of Americans who are working so hard to respond to the disaster. But we know that despite our best efforts, we will be dealing with the impacts of BP’s drilling rig for decades to come. The federal government should continue to use every resource available to respond to this crisis. But we need more.

We need assurance that this won’t happen again. We need to restore the federal moratorium on drilling off America’s most fragile coasts, immediately. Then we need to launch an aggressive plan to wean us from dirty oil over the next two decades. This is a turning point for America. The dirty oil and coal industries have had a stranglehold on our economy, our health, and our environment for too long. Better safety measures and better federal regulations may have prevented this disaster. But better regulations are not a failsafe way to prevent another, bigger oil spill. They are not an answer to the lopsided relationship between the oil industry and regular hardworking Americans.

BP and other oil companies have been raking in billions of dollars in profits and standing in the way of clean energy initiatives that would create thousands of good, green jobs for Americans. Now we are all left to deal with the consequences of the oil industry’s carelessness. The oil industry uses our oceans to ratchet up their profits, and then they leave us to clean up their mess. They leave us to comb the beaches looking for oil slicked birds. They leave us to worry about the small fisheries and coastal businesses that are now completely shut down. They leave us to worry about what their oil and toxic chemicals will do to our drinking water and health. We are tired of the oil industry polluting our air and water and standing in the way of clean energy jobs. Enough is enough. Story from 1999

OFFSHORE DRILLING..THE FIGHT CONTINUES!

"It Ain't Over Until The Leases Are Cancelled"

Sierra Club CONTINUES the Fight to Stop New Drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico!!

The Issue:

The Bush Administration is pushing forward with a proposal to open up 1.5 million new acres for leasing and drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. This is 1.5 million new acres of potential oil and gas drilling off the Gulf Coast of Florida! Recently the US House of Representatives passed the "Davis / Scarborough" amendment that would delay any leasing in this region. Unfortunately this amendment failed in the Senate. The amendment is not dead if it is a part of the conference bill that emerges for Interior Appropriations. We need to keep the pressure on US House Members from Florida to fight for this language in the conference bill.

Why We Oppose Drilling:

A single offshore rig emits the same quantity of air pollution as 7000 cars driving 50 miles per day.

Routine offshore drilling operations dump thousands of pounds of "drilling muds" (containing heavy metals like cadmium, chromium, arsenic, and lead) into the Gulf of Mexico. The routine pollution can cause severe disruption to marine environments and health and reproductive problems for marine mammals and fish species.

A single exploratory well dumps approximately 25,000 tons of toxic metals into the ocean.

A single production platform can have between 50-100 wells and can discharge 90,000 metric tons of drilling fluids, wastes, and metal cuttings into the ocean. *The Gulf of Mexico has a roughly 3000 square mile "Dead Zone" that is growing. Offshore drilling pollution, by smothering benthic (shallow water) communities, contributes to oxygen depletion and adds to the Dead Zone.

Offshore drilling releases "toxic brines" that are pockets of water that are trapped in the geologic pockets where gas and oil occur. This toxic brine contains NORMS (naturally occurring radioactive materials), cadmium, lead, benzene, etc. The petroleum industry admits that up to 1.5 million barrels of toxic brine are discharged into the Gulf every day.

In 1982 a 9.6 million gallon spill occurred from a storage tank of coastal Panama. This caused massive damage to seagrass beds, corals, mangroves, and coastal ecosystems much like those occurring Florida. Much of the damage from that spill continued for years, and the lasting impacts are still seen today.

The largest spill in the world's history occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 1979. An exploratory well blew out and was not brought under control for 295 days. This spilled 140 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico Why We Don't Need to Drill in Lease Area 181:

Estimates vary, but most agree that the total gas and oil reserves off the Florida coast amount to about 2.5 months of U.S. energy needs. Increasing the average fuel efficiency standard of U.S automobiles to 40 mpg would save TEN TIMES that by the year 2020! By improving home insulation across the country we could save FIVE TIMES that by the year 2020.

The Bush Energy Plan is fundamentally flawed. It places extraction and fossil fuels ahead of efficiency, renewables, alternatives, and clean technology. We can meet our nation's energy needs and NOT have to expand drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.

(Information in this Alert was compiled from materials produced by Florida PIRG, Greenpeace, and the Sierra Club. Facts and figures mentioned are compiled from data obtained from the U.S. EPA and the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Dept. of Interior)

— Jonathan Ullman