Overwhelming stench from monstrous stain on the sea

[highplainsdem]

Source: Times Online

From The Times June 1, 2010

Overwhelming stench from monstrous stain on the sea

Jacqui Goddard, over the Gulf of Mexico



Only from the air can the enormity and hopelessness of the situation be comprehended. Even before Lieutenant Rene Baez of the US Coast Guard lowers the ramp of the surveillance aircraft in which we are flying, opening up the cabin to a rush of air from the Gulf of Mexico 1,500ft below, there is no mistaking the smell of crude oil.

With the ramp down, the dose is strong enough to give a kick to the head — and the slick from which it emanates is monstrous.

For anyone tempted to judge the scale and severity of the Deepwater Horizon disaster by the number of oiled birds rescued, turtles choked, beaches oiled and marshes clogged — all of which have so far been relatively minimal — the view from this aircraft provides a reality check.

The slick spreads across nearly 29,000 square miles, a giant stain on the map. So severe is the contamination, not only from the oil but from the 910,000 gallons of toxic dispersants that have been used, that 60,683 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico are closed to fishing, by orders of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That’s one quarter of the region’s fisheries.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7141343.ece

[no_hypocrisy]

1. That's been my question all along. Even if the gusher were capped right now,

what if the fumes are too powerful to allow any meaningful remediation?

[Corrupted Edge]

2. *sigh*

:banghead: jeez this sucks... (I'm THAT much at a loss for words...)

[Mnemosyne]

4. I was in a discount store the other day in the book sale aisle and saw a photo-book of the ocean,

and suddenly I realized I had tears falling onto the book.

It was so beautiful...

I agree, no words...




Welcome to DU, CE! It's an education. :hi:

[CoffeeCat]

3. ...and this is just the beginning...

the oil leak hasn't stopped flowing, so we can only guess
what the total damage will be.

[inna]

6. it's not an "oil leak", it's more like an "oil fountain", or an "oil volcano"....

:(

[joanmj]

5. More depressing news....

but DU sure beats CNN for updates...

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. As if housing prices, bad faith insurance companies and hurricanes

have not done enough to destroy home values, all those houses on the beaches and even a few miles inland
are going to lose value. Esp. if the air is toxic, the water poisoned, and the air unbreathable.

[Quantess]

8. How horrible.

[marasinghe]

9. sorry; but, allow me to state the obvious here ....

the stench doesn't come from the stain in the ocean. the stench comes from the mansions of the rich. the stench comes from corporate boardrooms. the stench comes from political leaders. and the stench comes from those of us who do not oppose the dominance of such entities.

[lunatica]

10. A DUer has named it the BP oil gusher

It's an apt name.