States
Should Consider Oil Spill Risks Before Agreeing to Offshore Drilling
October 12, 2009
The
federal government is weighing how much of the nation's coastal waters
to open to offshore oil production. The oil industry is pushing a
message that new technology makes drilling cleaner and safer than ever.
Before
Florida and other coastal states accept that message and sign up for
oil drilling close to their shores, they should take a look at what has
been happening off the coast of Australia.
An oil well 150 miles
off the coast of northwestern Australia experienced a blowout August 21
and has been spewing thousands of gallons of oil ever since. It took
more than six weeks for the necessary repair equipment to arrive on the
scene, and now we learn that the long overdue attempt to plug the
leaking well nearly a mile and a half below the ocean's surface failed.
Meanwhile, hundreds of barrels per day, by the Australian
government's estimate, continue to leak out of the well and spread in
the Timor Sea, endangering marine mammals and fisheries that support
nearby coastal communities.
The leaking well is not an old
clunker in a Third World country. The rig is only a few years old and
was installed off the coast of an industrialized nation capable of
enforcing high environmental standards.
U.S. communities that
depend on beach tourism and fishing should think long and hard about
the risks of allowing oil drilling in nearby waters.
The
economic risks are significant. In Florida, for example, beach tourism
adds more than $40 billion to the Sunshine State's economy each year
and supports half a million Florida jobs. An oil spill that results in
tar balls and other unsightly muck landing on beaches could wreck a
coastal community's entire tourist season and mar Florida's image as
the best place in the world to visit the beach.
Consider this:
if plugging an oil well leaking into a summertime tropical sea is
proving to be a challenge, imagine how difficult it would be to fix a
well spilling during the winter into Alaska's storm-tossed Bristol Bay,
which supplies 40 percent of America's annual seafood catch.
No
matter how carefully it is carried out, the Australia oil well blowout
shows that offshore oil production is an inherently risky business.
Coastal states tempted to believe "trust us" appeals from the oil
industry should consider the fisheries, recreation, and other coastal
resources that could be in harm's way if they allow oil rigs close to
their shores.
