blog #3

      Earlier this year an oil pipe in the Gulf of Mexico broke. This wild and unexpected explosion of oil began on August 20,2010 by the BP drilling rig. The spill has caused much controversy. This is a major disaster, not one to be taken lightly. This is not the first time BP has had an oil spill problem. It has caused major commercial fishing problems. The spill has reduced the amount of aquatic life in the Gulf of Mexico area, Southern coast of Africa, and parts of the Louisiana coast. Due to the loss of commercial fishing, it has affected the economy greatly. Not only has fishing gone down and been effected by this, they say one of the largest oil spills in history (Campbell Robertson and Clifford Krauss). “It is releasing about 210,000 gallons of oil a day”, says John M. Broder and Tom Zeller Jr. from the New York Times writers of the Gulf Oil Spill, but How Bad article. Broder and Zeller mentioned that this spill could spill for years, it could possible surmount the Exxon Valdez accident of 1989 (Broder and Zeller). There have been attempts to seal the leak, however such attempts had gone in vain. On July 15th the well was capped, and following that on September 19th the well was classified as dead. This was nearly five months after the oil began gushing out of the well (Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (2010)). There is an interactive map that shows clearly the areas affected by the oil, it shows the day-to-day growth of the oil (Tracking the Oil Spill in the Gulf).
     The after effects of the spill are quite tremendous. Small companies are claiming they deserve a pay out of all the sufferings their business endured during the crisis. One restaurant owner asked for $5.9 billion in emergency payments though before the spill his earnings were not nearly that amount, this said by John Schwartz, writer of Claims to BP Fund Attract Scrutiny. The documentation that they deserve this payout is quite scarce, therefore making it unlikely for them to receive this money.
Another major problem faced by this disaster is the wildlife itself, for example, the sea turtles. To be more specific, the Loggerhead turtles. These turtles are considered to be at risk of extinction. Due to the oil spill some of the eggs in Alabama and coast of Florida are being dug up and relocated to a warehouse and then upon =hatching be released in to the “oil free Atlantic” (John Mooallem).
    This oil sill is one that has been in and out of the news since it began in April. It had become something that was common to see on the news. However, nothing about it was common. It was just as dangerous and lethal as sharks attacking suffers in the wild. We invaded the ocean by putting oil rigs in the middle of the oceans, just like surfers invade that of the shark’s natural territory.











Aigner, Erin, Joe Burgess, Joanne Nurse, Haeyoun Park, Amy Schoenfeld, and Archie
Tse. "Map and Estimates of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico - Interactive Map –
NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News &
Multimedia. 02 Aug. 2010. Web. 22 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/01/us/20100501-oil-spill-
tracker.html?scp=9&sq=oil spill&st=cse>.


Broder, John M., and Tom Zeller. "The New York Times Log In."
The New York Times - Breaking News, World News &
Multimedia. 3 May 2010. Web. 2 Sept. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/us/04enviro.html?scp=2&sq=oil spill&st=cse>.


"Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010) - The New
York Times." Times Topics. 23 Sept. 2010. Web. 25 Sept.
2010.
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/o/oil _spills/gulf_of_mexico_2010/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=oil spill&st=cse>.


Mooallem, Jon. "The New York Times Log In." The New York
Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 1 Oct.
2010. Web. 07 Oct. 2010.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/magazine/03turtles-
t.html?_r=1&scp=9&sq=start of oil spill&st=cse>.


Robertson, Campbell, and Clifford Krauss. "The New York Times
Log In." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News &
Multimedia. 02 Aug. 2010. Web. 28 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/us/03spill.html>.



Schwartz, John. "The New York Times Log In." The New
York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia.
02 Oct. 2010. Web. 02 Oct. 2010. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/03/us/03feinberg.html?scp=4&sq=oil spill&st=cse>.