Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill May Not Be Worst Ever, But Threatens Clean Energy Future

Every year oil seeps into ocean, either from natural or human sources. The combination of timing, location, and politics with the Horizon spill has the potential to destroy endangered species, devastate the fishing industry, and disrupt President Barack Obama’s plans for a better energy future.

Each year, oil rigs and vessels spill thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. According to numbers kept by the Mineral Management Service, the government group responsible for overseeing offshore drilling, last year 2,700 barrels of oil were spilled and in 2008 nearly 3,000 barrels of oil — 113,000 gallons or 126,000 gallons respecitively since there are 42 gallons per barrel — were spilled. In 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita damaged and destroyed hundreds of oil rigs and pipelines and spilled almost 200,000 barrels of oil [PDF].

The history of offshore drilling extends back at least 40 years. In January 1969, an oil platform just six miles of the coast of Santa Barbara suffered a blowout. More than 5,000barrels of oil were spilled; 35miles of coast were covered in up to six inches of oil. It was this spill that in part spurred activism to establish the first Earth Day.

And though the current Gulf spill might be on everyone’s mind right now, but in 1979, the Ixtoc I, an exploratory well, blew out in the Gulf of Mexico. After nine months of spilling 10,000 to 30,000 barrels a day, 3 million barrels of oil ended up in the Gulf. It was the biggest accidental oil spill to date, only topped by the intentional spill cause by Iraq during the first Gulf war, which released approximately 24 million barrels. While 5,000 barrels of oil leak everyday from Deepwater Horizon, it will have to continue at its current rate for another year and eight months to surpass the damage caused by the Ixtoc I oil leak.

The Exxon Valdez spill, which emptied 260,000 barrels of oil into the unspoiled Prince William Sound in Alaska in late March 1989, is also among the worst human-caused oil spill disasters. Only a fraction of the carcasses of birds and sea otters were recovered, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that 250,000 birds, 2,800 sea otters, 250 bald eagles, and billions of salmon eggs died in the spill.

And while industrial oil spills like the one in the Gulf seem massive, they don’t compare to what every day Americans wash down their storm drains every year. About 32 percent of the oil that ends up in the oceans surrounding North America are from the accumulation of runoff from cars, jet skis, and boats, says a 2003 report by the National Academy of Sciences. That’s the equivalent of 600,000 barrels, or 25.2 million gallons, of oil every year. Combined with the 1.1 million barrels of oil naturally seeping from ocean floor, more than 94 percent oil is released into the oceans from everyday Americans or Mother Nature.

Lincoln Pratson, a professor of energy and environment at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, says that compared to how much oil the Gulf region produces, the oil industry has a good safety record. The Gulf region produces 1.5 million barrels of oil every day.

“If you’re talking about spill of a thousands barrels a year, that’s relevantly small,” says Pratson. But it’s not the amount of oil that is spilled that’s the problem; it’s the rate at which it’s spilled. “When that release is very rapid and very large, the environment can’t absorb it quickly, and that’s when it becomes toxic,” Pratson says.

The coast of Louisiana is also home to about 40 percent of the nation’s wetlands. It’s presently breeding season, and even a few drops of oil could be toxic to the reproduction of many wetland species. Even more distressing to fishermen is the impact this will have on the shrimp industry. Every summer, a dead zone blooms in the Mississippi delta from nitrogen rich waters emptying from the Mississippi river. Shrimp migrate to the east to avoid the area, but this year they’ll be heading directly into the oil slick.

“It’s one of the more sensitive areas in the Gulf of Mexico,” says marine scientist Paul Montagna of Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. “This will leave tar balls on the beaches for years to come,” Montagna says.

Luckily, not many shores have been soaked by the oil so far, where it could harm nesting birds, breeding fish and other mammals. While an unusual number of dead sea turtles have washed ashore, scientists say it’s not yet clear whether their deaths were caused by the oil spill or another cause. And there have been fewer reports of carcasses washed up on shore than expected. On Wednesday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported no harm to the national wildlife refuges.

But there are still potential major impacts beneath the surface, says Ronald Kendall, Texas Tech University’s Environmental and Human Health Director: “Just because we haven’t seen dead animal on the beach, doesn’t mean impacts are not occurring.”

Over the next few years and decades, scientists will be watching the populations of fish and marine life. It’s hard to see what the impact of the oil spill on fish eggs and shrimp will be, Kendall says.

There are several issues that make this oil spill more dangerous than previous spills, even those in the Gulf region. Most oil spills occur in shallow water, Kendall says, where there is a “natural cleansing” and oil can break down more easily; sunlight, crashing waves, and bacteria can help break down the oil more quickly. But in deep water, there is no sunlight, crashing waves, or bacteria to break down the oil these natural cleansers are rarer.

“This is all an experiment,” says Kendall. “We’ve never had a spill like this with deep-well drilled oil.” Kendall says this kind of oil has many unknowns, and the oil could settle on the ocean floor. Oil resting on the ocean floor could disrupt the food chain, starving fish and shrimp and further impacting our seafood industry. And with hurricane season beginning in less than a month, Kendal fears these storms will churn up the oil and spread it across the coast.

“If a big hurricane comes into the Gulf, we could very well be sweeping oil up in the streets of New Orleans,” says Kendall.

And the current spill could have political consequences; after the Exxon Valdez spill, politicians barraged the oil industry. They closed of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling, required energy companies to prepare plans for potential disasters, and demanded safer tankers to prevent spills. After this latest spill, congressional leaders are already dusting off their environmental soapboxes. At stake is the forthcoming climate bill, which could be introduced as early as Wednesday, and Obama’s plans for expanded offshore drilling.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) has introduced legislation to halt expansions of offshore drilling and says he will filibuster the climate bill if it includes offshore drilling. “Any proposal for offshore drilling is dead on arrival," Nelson says. "If offshore drilling is a part of it, this legislation is not going anywhere."

It seems that many congressional leaders are becoming aware of the risks that environmental scientists like Kendall have been aware of all along. Kendall was at the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. He’s seen the impact a major oil spill can have on the environment and the community that depends on it. But because the Louisiana coast is one of the most productive ecosystems on Earth, this will cost more money, cause more ecological damage and be more complicated to remediate, Kendall says.

“In my opinion, this will be one of the greatest ecological disasters in our countries history,” says Kendall. “And it’s unfolding right now.”

Tristan Fowler is a staff writer for Campus Progress.

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