BLOG OF iECYCLE

The Gulf Oil Spill, beginning on April 20^th and thus far continuing for weeks, is a tragic event in our environmental history; a giant black streak, so to speak.  Endangered species and ecosystems are being threatened, valuable oil is being wasted, eleven workers were killed in the blast, oil covered animals are being rescued – these are just a few of the devastating effects of this event.   All of this seems typical and even cliché for an oil spill; however, this event is marred with obvious neglect and careless regard for safety standards. 

Accidents can happen, as we all know, but how many can be prevented?  Mistakes happen as well, but aren’t we supposed to learn from them?  These are the questions oil companies, such as BP, the company responsible for this spill, should be seriously considering.  The last several years has seen many oil spills, environmentally degraded oil fields and other areas, and oil has also played major roles in wars and governments.  Therefore, mistakes and accidents are obviously magnified given the front stage position oil companies have. 

Royal Dutch Shell is another major oil company that is guilty of heavy pollution.  Since the early 90’s this company has been polluting the Niger delta in Nigeria, and done nothing about it.  In 1993, there was a two-month long oil spill in the Southeastern part of the Niger Delta that Shell did nothing to stop.  According to Greenpeace, “Shell pays the fines, then continues to do so.”

Another oil spill most everyone is familiar with was the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska in 1989.  Again, this was another sensitive and complex ecosystem that was dramatically harmed by the oil tanker running aground a spilling its contents.   What came of this could be considered a success story, so to speak.  In the book by Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, he talks of a moment he was visiting an oil field under the Chevron oil company.  He was out bird watching, walking along one of the roads when he was called into the office of a safety representative.  “I had been noticed stepping several feet out into the roadway to observe a bird.  That posed the hazard that a vehicle might hit me, or that in swerving to avoid hitting me it might crash into an oil pipeline at the side of the road and cause an oil spill,” says Diamond.

Now, we have BP, a company who almost merged with Shell not long ago, despite Shell’s reputation.  The oil rig that exploded, the Deepwater Horizon, represents this paradigm.  BP apparently has a history of safety violations and other serious accidents that they have been fined for.  According to an article by the World Sentinel BP, “could have utilized backup safety equipment (i.e., a remote switch that might have stopped the flow of oil at its source) some 5,000 feet below the surface of the ocean.  While the device is not mandated under U.S. law, it is often used in the industry and required in other parts of the world where BP drills.”

An old saying, “history repeats itself” comes to mind.  However, this should not be the case with catastrophic events.  These accidents could have been prevented, and when that failed, the mistakes should have been rectified.  When are oil companies going to take responsibility for their actions, or start taking the necessary precautions?    We have the technology, we have the ability.  It is time for a change.