Wildlife expert: Extent of impacts of Gulf spill will never be known
Backing a recently released final report on the 2010 BP oil spill, a local wildlife expert said it is likely that the oil company responsible for the 208 million-gallon spill into the Gulf of Mexico will likely get away with paying for little or none of the damage, and that the federal government’s efforts to focus on managing what the public and press could see will make it hard to prevent future spills.
“I worry that the extent of the impacts will never be known. The government has released their figures on wildlife damage, pointing out that more than 8,000 birds, turtles, and other species ‘were recovered’ during the spill. They want us to believe that this is the full extent of the damage, but that is utterly ridiculous. Any reasonable review of the situation shows just how ridiculous it is,” said Ed Clark, the president of the Waynesboro-based Wildlife Center of Virginia, who traveled to the Gulf in June as part of a team that was there to examine the impact on wildlife.
What he found were “overt government and industry efforts to keep our team, the media, and the public as far away from the impact areas as possible. They seemed to be much more concerned about preventing us from seeing the extent of the damage than about cleaning it up or limiting the environmental impacts,” Clark said.
“I am incredulous that tens of thousands of animals died because the federal government seemed to be more concerned about controlling the press and limiting public scrutiny than about locating and recovering the countless wild creatures that were affected by this disaster. Unfortunately, the commission report fails to even mention this issue, except in the most oblique ways,” Clark said.
The bipartisan commission appointed by President Barack Obama concluded that the entire system of oversight and regulation of offshore oil exploration and development was largely ineffective, and that unless the government and the industry dramatically restructure and redirect their efforts to protect workers’ safety and the environment, a repeat of such a disaster is not only possible, but probable.
Clark criticized the report for failing to address what he calls “the shamefully inadequate response of the federal government to the plight of oiled wildlife.”
“We have lost an opportunity to study the wildlife and fisheries impacts of a spill, as it is happening,” Clark said. “The federal government’s cloak of secrecy meant that scientists and researchers could not get to most of those oiled animals in a timely manner; there was no way to collect samples, conduct studies, or learn about the effects of this oil on the birds, reptiles, fish, and other living creatures of the region. These untold thousands of animals have simply died in vain. It just breaks my heart to think about it.”
Read Ed Clark’s full statement on the commission report here.
Story by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at freepress2@ntelos.net.
EMU student: Gulf cleanup was extension of faith
Eastern Mennonite Seminary student James Åkerson found the two weeks he spent this summer helping with clean up from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a “natural extension” of his Christian faith.
Åkerson, who is about half way through his program of study at EMS, is a forest ecologist and program director for the National Park Service. Normally he works in insect and disease control and invasive plant management. When he heard about the oil spill and follow-up efforts, he made sure that his disaster response form was up to date. He was asked to leave immediately for Pensacola Beach, Fla.
“I saw my work with beach clean-up as an extension of creation care,” said Åkerson. “It was good for me to be there, because I saw first-hand the impact of my oil use.”
“One thing I learned is that it is my use of oil and demand for plastic that caused this disaster,” he continued. “The best thing for us to do to prevent this kind of thing from happening again is to reduce our own use of oil.”
Åkerson often finds intersection with his work in the Parks Service and his seminary studies. He is a part of the Creation Care group at Harrisonburg Mennonite Church where he attends and recently completed an internship.
“Creation care is something that should never be divorced from faith,” said Åkerson. “It has been our job to care for the earth since creation. Even before the fall described in Genesis, we were called to be stewards of the earth.”
“There is a big difference in treating creation like it is ours and remembering that we are just caring for it for someone else,” Åkerson stated. “I think it’s a wrong sentiment to say that because you own something it is yours. Really, you’re just taking care of it for now.”
Åkerson’s primary duty while on the beach clean-up crew was to make sure that local wildlife was not endangered. In Pensacola, this meant making sure that the birds that nest in the dunes and the sea turtles that lay eggs on the shore weren’t disturbed during the clean-up efforts.
“I had day shift for three days, and I’ve never been so glad to have night shift in my life,” said Åkerson.
“For the clean-up workers the heat and humidity, combined with the clean-up suits they were required to wear meant that we could only work 20-30 minutes out every hour or we would suffer from heat exhaustion,” he said. “I didn’t have to wear the protective clothing but was plenty hot in my long pants and shirts.”
Åkerson is taking several seminary classes each year so he can work them around his job with the parks service.
“Each class I’ve taken is a great tool,” said Åkerson. “I have found joy in my seminary studies, and I enjoy the ministry opportunities I have at Harrisonburg Mennonite and in the local community.
“I have felt a call to ministry since childhood,” he continued. “I have held a long litany of church positions, including teaching, leading Bible study and book keeping. My internship at Harrisonburg Mennonite confirmed that I was on the right road.”
Eastern Mennonite Seminary offers two- and three-year degrees and one-year certificate programs. For more information, contact the office of seminary admissions at 540.432.4257 or by e-mail at semadmiss@emu.edu.
Story by Laura Lehman Amstutz
Kathleen Rogers: Ending our oil addiction
Column by Kathleen Rogers
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When President Obama spoke to the nation about the Gulf Coast oil spill, he gave us needed straight talk for holding BP accountable and helping those affected by the spill. But, when it came down to talking about clean energy, he disappointed. This was his moment to say America needs a new investment in renewable energy and that it’s time to end America’s dependence on fossil fuels.
While Americans are all feeling the impacts of the spill, we have collectively failed to make the connection between our everyday oil use and the recklessness and negligence that led to the destruction we are witnessing now. Our consumption habits and antiquated infrastructure are exponentially increasing demand, creating an environment in which taking shortcuts on safety standards can prove to be profitable for oil and gas companies. Continue reading “Kathleen Rogers: Ending our oil addiction” »
Madeline Ostrander: Protect America’s coasts and waterways
Column by Madeline Ostrander
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Dave Rauschkolb took on the oil industry when it got personal—it threatened his beach and his business.
Rauschkolb is not an environmental lawyer or professional Sierra Club-type. He’s an avid surfer and owns a pizza bar on the northwest coast of Florida, within range of the BP spill. Rauschkolb has never called himself an activist. But he was so incensed that state and federal politicians let the oil industry take a gamble on the safety of drilling in the Gulf Coast that he recently organized a protest called “Hands Across the Sand.” What started just weeks ago as an idea on a website mushroomed into more than 900 events in all 50 states and more than 30 other countries—thousands of people who linked hands on beaches to take a stand for protecting coastlines and waterways. Continue reading “Madeline Ostrander: Protect America’s coasts and waterways” »
Feds to Wildlife Center: Thanks, but no thanks
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Ed Clark has been in the wildlife business long enough to remember when his help was wanted after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. The deskbound experts running the show in the wake of the still-ongoing spill in the Gulf of Mexico have made it clear that they think they have the situation covered.
“There are some really profound questions about what’s going on, and the agencies are saying, We’ve got this under control, we have our people there,” said Clark, the president of the Waynesboro-based Wildlife Center of Virginia, back from a frustrating six-day tour of the Gulf.
The chief frustration for Clark: “The people in charge of this response are making a concerted effort to ban any access of any nongovernmental employees to the area.”
“We have more experience and expertise in handling wildlife in distress than practically anyone. Some of the people involved with the government agencies are experts, but they’re deskbound experts. We deal with handling and capturing and restraining wild animals every single day, and yet we have been told that we are not welcome, our help is not needed, and we’ll be banned from the area unequivocally if we show up,” Clark said. Continue reading “Feds to Wildlife Center: Thanks, but no thanks” »
The World According To ChrisGraham.com: Fun with numbers
How do you think President Barack Obama is handling the oil spill in the Gulf? I ask the question a bit facetiously. The president is not a safety engineer, and the oil spill is the result of the private market at its best, or in this at its worst, with the breathless reports coming down daily about how the various entities involved took numerous shortcuts in advance of the disaster that in hindsight seems to have been inevitable.
That said, pollsters, being pollsters, have to ask the question.
Link to column on TheWorldAccordingToChrisGraham.com.
Wildlife Center to play role in post-spill Gulf
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
They’ve got plenty of people down on the Gulf Coast washing oil off birds. Ed Clark is focusing his attention at the Wildlife Center of Virginia on ecosystem issues.
“We don’t need to go down there and wash birds. They’re already well cared for by the professional groups. What we’re working on is the evaluation of what might be the long-term implications for wildlife, not only in that region, but since migratory birds come through that ecosystem, it might eventually mean that water fowl in Virginia have health effects that originate with the oil spill. Or it could be eagles eating fish that died from oil contamination that floated up to the surface, since eagles are scavengers. What might that oil do to those eagles? The implications of this are enormous, and there really aren’t any good mechanisms in place to follow up on them,” said Clark on Thursday. Continue reading “Wildlife Center to play role in post-spill Gulf” »
The Gulf Oil Spill: A Virginia Perspective
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
There’s only a “slim chance” that oil from the BP oil spill off the coast of Louisiana will end up washing ashore on beaches in Virginia, according to a James Madison University professor who is a Gulf Stream expert.
“The Gulf Stream, as it travels eastward, reaches its closest proximity to the coast in South Florida. As it flows northward from there, it starts to flow eastward. So by the time you get to, let’s say, the Outer Banks of North Carolina, it’s about 40 miles from the coast. When you get to Virginia Beach, it’s about 70 miles from the coast. So there’s only a slim chance that it would reach the beaches of Virginia, unless a storm were to come in and blow it toward the coast,” said Stan Ulanski, professor of meteorology in the department of geography and environmental sciences at JMU and author of The Gulf Stream: Tiny Plankton, Giant Bluefin, and the Amazing Story of the Powerful River in the Atlantic. Continue reading “The Gulf Oil Spill: A Virginia Perspective” »
Ken Plum: Lessons from tragedies
Column by Ken Plum
www.kenplum.com
There was undoubtedly a feeling of elation among the 2,228 passengers and crew members as they boarded the Titanic ocean liner for her maiden voyage April 10, 1912. There was no way to know that by April 15 only 705 of them would survive her sinking. After all, the Titanic had been described as a first class ocean liner that was the largest luxury liner on the open seas with a special construction of water-tight compartments that made her invincible and in the word of an official of White Star Line that owned her, “unsinkable.” Ironically, his comment was made the day after the Titanic sank. Continue reading “Ken Plum: Lessons from tragedies” »
Dr. Jeffrey Patterson: Lessons from the Gulf for nuclear reactors
Posted by afp on July 19, 2010 · Leave a Comment
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One crucial lesson from the BP oil spill is that measures to speed licensing, cut corners on safety and undermine regulation can lead to tragic consequences. Yet Congress appears on the verge of repeating mistakes that led to the environmental catastrophe in the Gulf.
Federal lawmakers are weighing a BP-type deregulation of new nuclear reactors – the one energy source in which damage from a major accident could dwarf harm done by a ruptured offshore oil well.
In this effort, the nuclear industry’s backers are working both sides of the street. On one hand, they proclaim that the current nuclear regulatory system is so superior, it could well serve as a model for regulating the petrochemical industry.
At the same time, those nuclear proponents are working behind the scenes for regulatory rollbacks that would dramatically reshape safety and environmental requirements for new reactors. These provisions might be incorporated into a climate bill, or into a narrower “energy-only” bill that could be voted on by the Senate as early as this month. Continue reading “Dr. Jeffrey Patterson: Lessons from the Gulf for nuclear reactors” »
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