As oil spreads fast over the coast of Mexico, oiling companies BP, Halliburton and Transocean claim to be on the ball finding solutions and cures, but none seem to take responsibility for the disaster.
On the 20th of April 2010, an enormous explosion off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico sent tremors rippling across the globe: both figuratively and literally. And three major oil companies: BP, Halliburton and Transocean were caught in the backlash.
Amidst efforts of skimming vessels that collected oily water, and remote control vehicles working around the clock underwater to try to curtail the oil leak, a chain of events was set off that could have long-term economic and environmental effects on several southern US States. Oil from the Transocean, Ltd. oil drilling rig has been leaking ever since over some 4,800 sq. km. of the Gulf of Mexico.
As the Coast Guard reported an ever expanding sheen of oil growing at an alarming rate, CEOs of the oil companies began their own game of cat and mouse. The US Congress asked BP and its drilling partners to account for the “cascade of failures” behind the spreading spill, zeroing in on a crucial chain of events at the deep-sea wellhead just before the explosion. While BP blamed Halliburton for cementing the well casing inadequately, inside sources at BP reported that the company themselves had flouted federal permits allowing them to drill only upto 20,000 ft., claiming the company went upto 22,000 ft.
By the end of April the slick had spread 80 kms wide with growing concerns that winds could shift without warning and the oil would eventually reach the shore. The clean up of the spill taking place against rough weather conditions further slowed down the process, and continued to have a devastating effect on the area’s shrimping and fishing communities.
Some say the disaster is being underplayed by the powers that be, and in turn by the media’s blind publishing of neatly worded press releases and “clean-up notes”.
According to commentators, including Paul Noel (software engineer for the U.S. Army at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama), the pocket of oil that’s been hit is so powerful and under so much pressure that it may be virtually impossible to contain it. And Noel isn’t the only person questioning the scope of the disaster. The New York Times reported that BP was working on something as drastic as a huge containment dome intended to cap the leak and catch the escaping oil so that it can be safely pumped to the surface.
While everything is supposedly being done to investigate the cause and solve the crisis at hand, it’s still scary to think of the ramifications of what has been likened by doomsayers to a “volcano spewing oil under the earth”. Extinct sea animals, and blackened, fish, oyster beds and shores hover scarily in the future.
To ask who messed up where seems almost futile currently. This isn’t the ideal time to point fingers or cry over spilled oil. It’s time for answers. Quick, efficient and satisfactory. The lesson to be learnt? Don’t poke too deep, you never know what will come up.
