Oil spill could reach Florida Keys
With the oil spill now hitting land, scientists worry its reach will spread as huge plumes of crude may soon get caught in a northward current, carrying the oil up to the Florida Keys and beyond, damaging coral reefs and killing wildlife.
Oil streaks past a lighthouse as it impacts land near the mouth of the Mississippi River south of Venice, La. Monday, May 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Greenpeace marine biologist Paul Horsman shows oil collected from a jetti at the mouth of the Mississippi River. BP announced today that it is successfully siphoning off 1,000 barrels of oil per day from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded and sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico April 22, killing 11 crew members. May 17, 2010 (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Greenpeace Marine Biologist Paul Horsman inspects oil pooled on the shore of the Mississippi River in Louisiana. May 17, 2010. BP said on Monday it was capturing about a fifth of the estimated oil
gushing from its ruptured undersea Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico well through a suction tube inserted into a pipe on ocean floor. (REUTERS/Handout)
Gas from the damaged Deepwater Horizon wellhead is burned by the drillship Discoverer Enterprise, in a process known as flaring. Gas and oil from the wellhead are being brought to the surface via a tube that was placed inside the damaged pipe. May 16, 2010. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)
Logan Heyne, 5, waits for workers to pass by as they search the beach for tar balls to be picked up as they wash ashore from the Deepwater Horizon site, in Dauphin Island, Alabama. May 15, 2010 (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Workers clean up hay that was placed to protect the beach from oil and tar balls if they wash ashore from the Deepwater Horizon site in Dauphin Island, Alabama. May 15, 2010. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
A Brown Pelican is cleaned at the Fort Jackson Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at Buras, Louisiana. The bird was rescued after being exposed to an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform more than three weeks ago. May 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Erica Miller, left, Heather Nevill, center and Danene Birtell clean a Brown Pelican at the Fort Jackson Wildlife Rehabilitation Center at Buras, La. The bird was rescued after being exposed an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform more than three weeks ago. May 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Shrimp boats skim oil from the water's surface in the Gulf of Mexico. May 17, 2010. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/MCT)
Idle shrimp boats rest at the docks of Joshua's Marina in Buras, Louisiana. Local shrimpers who have not been hired by BP for oil spill clean-up efforts continue to fish the bay side of the coastal waters while restrictions are lifted. Energy giant BP said on Monday it was capturing about a fifth of the estimated oil gushing from its ruptured undersea Gulf of Mexico well and hoped to increase that amount before trying to fully stop the flow later in the week. May 17, 2010. (REUTERS/Hans Deryk)
A shallow-water coral reef a gray angelfish swims amongst soft corals in the Florida Keys. Despite BP siphoning some of the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, worries escalate about the spill reaching a major ocean current that could carry it through the Florida Keys and up the East Coast. (AP Photo/NOAA)
I hope finally people will see why we need to curb the use of oil. Besides the air pollution and climate change we have this disgusting mess. Every time you drive your car you are helping this sort of destruction occur.
Posted by: jay-TO | 05/18/2010 at 12:52 PM
The fishermen could make more money skimming oil from the surface AND save fish in the process;
Posted by: Frank Frankfurter | 05/18/2010 at 01:42 PM
This is just disgusting. The US Federal Government should throw everything they have at this then present BP with the bill and a hefty fine to go with it. Jay-TO, cars are an unfortunate part of our everyday life. Agreed we should be working hard to switch away from carbon based fuels, but in the meantime, we should put a moritorium on offshore drilling and hold the greedy and irresponsible companies like BP accountable.
Posted by: other mark | 05/18/2010 at 04:21 PM
I would like to see the media interview the mechanics and roughnecks that worked on that rig to see if they have as history of requesting maintenance. But no one in the media seems interested in what the guys who worked on this rig have to say? It appears that we only want to hear from Senators and Executives??
Posted by: [email protected] | 05/18/2010 at 04:58 PM
But according to Rush Limbaugh it's the fault of "greeniacs" "forcing" oil companies to dig far out into the sea!
Posted by: JK | 05/18/2010 at 04:58 PM
Greed and the ownership of governments by private industry will eventually lead to the murder of the earth. If people truly want this stopped, there will be onerous jail terms for executives and directors of companies who are responsible for these accidents and no drilling in any sensitive areas such as those advocated by intellectually-challenged,drill-baby-drill Sarah Palin. Suddenly, when they know their a** is going to wind up in jail for 20 or 30 years, they'll be sure that there is NO possibility of something going wrong. "What if" scenarios have to ensure that ANY accident can be handled with no possibility of damage. The Exxon Valdez is still a disaster with the oil lying buried and surfacing as it poisons. Until then, they pay off governments for easy, cheap drilling and care about nothing but the buck! There are still single hulled tankers cruising the oceans. Sell your business/condo/property on the Gulf Coast cause if the oil companies don't get you this year, they will someday. And let's look at those present and retired and bring them fourth publicly to ask how they could allow this? For shame.
Posted by: J. Richard Wright | 05/18/2010 at 05:26 PM
Please Please GOD....STOP THIS DESTRUCTION
Posted by: MICHAEL ZACK | 05/18/2010 at 06:07 PM
@othermark
The media can't interview the 11 people who worked on this rig because those workers died in the explosion that kicked off this crisis.
Posted by: mal | 05/18/2010 at 06:41 PM
Drill baby drill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn2Tyh6b5dE
Posted by: jfjunior | 05/18/2010 at 07:30 PM