December 31, 2011. A man dips his hands in crude oil during a protest in Nigeria against petro giant Shell, which is accused of spilling 40,000 barrels of oil off the West African nation’s coast.
Letter to the editor
Jan. 10, 2012
To the editor:
During their Herculean effort to break through sea ice and deliver fuel to Nome, the crews of the Coast Guard cutter Healy and the Russian tanker Renda are inching forward slower than a person can walk, with no guarantee they will reach their destination.
There is a lesson to be learned here, and the rest of Alaska and the nation should be paying attention. As oil companies, the federal government and our congressional delegation charge forward with plans to begin offshore drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, Nome’s crisis reminds us that nature — especially in northern oceans — routinely humbles us.
While the oil giant Shell promises to recover up to 95 percent of any oil it spills in the Arctic Ocean — something it has never achieved even under the best conditions anywhere in the world — the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill with 40,000 persons and good weather only achieved 9 percent recovery - does anyone really believe such a thing could be done at the end of a drilling season in icy, stormy Arctic seas a thousand miles from a Coast Guard base and with virtually no shore-based infrastructure to support a major spill response? The current Nigerian oil spill is a good example of Shell not cleaning up but covering up its own oily sea mess - if it cannot turns words into action then what is the magic they plan for the Arctic? Words are no indication of effective action - until Shell shows it can recover 95% they should not be allowed to drill. Federal regulators wake up - ask for hands-on proof - ask Shell to run demonstrations in the Ohmset tank ( http://www.ohmsett.com/ ) Either they do what they say or they cannot - show us!
We will respectfully keep watching Nome’s drama unfold while hoping the ships arrive safely. But we should all hope we never face similar circumstances when there is a gushing oil well or pipeline in the Arctic Ocean.
http://newsminer.com/bookmark/17062456-Imagine-a-spill
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