A few weeks ago, Royal Dutch Shell spilled over 88,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and it seems as though no one is talking about it. Here’s a quick recap of the incident for those of you who still don’t know the details. Huffington Post states that the oil was released about 2,900 feet below the surface and later became visible in a two mile by 13 mile area about 97 miles off the coast of Louisiana. A Shell spokesperson has stated that the leak was isolated and controlled soon after it was identified by a company helicopter, and that they are working to recover the spilled oil.
According to an interview with coastal wetlands specialist for Gulf Restoration Network, Scott Eustis, the recovery effort it not going as well as it could. Gulf Restoration Network, along with Greenpeace and other organizations, claims to have been tracking the event. Eustis mentions reports of oiled dolphins and is concerned that there will be no formal damage assessment. He claims that helicopters have viewed the skimmer vessels and they don’t seem to be working at the rate they should be able to.
And, seemingly defying the odds, Shell has spilled again- this time off the coast of California. This spill came less than two weeks after Shell’s first spill in the Gulf and ended in about 21,000 gallons of oil leaking into the soil near California’s San Joaquin County. Apparently, this spill is the second leak in this same location in the past eight months. Greenpeace has reported that about 10,000 square feet of land has been covered in oil and that responders are working to clear it.
While they are not necessarily categorized as such, these seem like massive incidents. Especially with two spills so close together, even a non-expert like me begins to question Shell and their procedures. More so, I begin to wonder why these events aren’t getting the attention they deserve. It seems like none of the mainstream media platforms are covering these incidents because they are too busy engaging in the he-said, she-said of the upcoming election.
While I understand (kind of), the election is not the only event happening in the world. We cannot accept the Coast Guard’s claim that the environmental impact is nonexistent. Spills like these can kill millions of animals and even leak into our ground water. Ignoring tragic mistakes like oil spills does not make them go away. We are stuck with this earth for the rest of our lives. We get one, and it is our responsibility to keep it livable for ourselves and for the generations to come.
