As you may have heard, an oil rig exploded in the gulf of mexico April 21 and is continuing to spew oil from the well. When it first happened, we are told there is no threat, it's a minor leak, no danger to the coast or wetlands of Louisiana. Now we find out that there are not one, but THREE leaks and that the amount of oil out there is five times larger then what they said and may grow to be worse then the Exxon-Valdez spill. What is really bad is that if this gets into the estuaries in Louisiana, this could potentially destroy our seafood industry. All the shrimping grounds, oyster beds, and more. Could put a LOT of people out of work, like the fishermen and the people who prepare the food like the oyster shuckers, and could have some far reaching effects. I am not even going to go into what this could do the environment and wildlife. This feels like waiting for a hurricane that is a day or two away.
What I do not get, or maybe I missed something, I don't know, is why have government and BP officials waited til the last minute to realize how serious this is? I remember when this first happened and they seemed so unconcerned about it all. They acted like it was no major threat and it feels like they did not really put forth their best effort to stop this. The only people who seemed to take it seriously were the officials from Plaquemines parish, but they don't have the equipment or experience to deal with something of this magnitude.
Now that it looks like the oil will hit the Louisiana coast and wetlands by Friday night, NOW everyone is going on about how serious this is, how they need all the help they can get, and BP is asking for aid from the US government and military. Where the hell was all this concern a week ago? You'd think that our politicians who all claim to be protectors of the wetlands would have done more to get state and federal aid in there to fight this leak sooner rather then let just the coast guard and BP people try to contain this. How could they not know that a busted well constantly spewing out oil would not end up being a massive massive problem?
I am pissed because I know people who will be ruined by this if worse comes to worst, and that I like going down to fish and just relax there. It just seems to me that everyone was so apathetic about the situation until the last minute when it was revealed that this is a lot worse then they thought and the worst case scenario looks like it might happen. I really hope they find a way to stop it from hitting Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Buhhh...
