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"Radioactive wastes from oil and gas drilling take the form of produced water, drilling mud, sludge, slimes, or evaporation ponds and pits. It can also concentrate in the mineral scales that form in pipes (pipe scale), storage tanks, or other extraction equipment."
Naturally occurring radioactive materials include radium and radon gas, potent carcinogens that accumulate in water, wildlife, plants and vegetables, and take 1,600 years to degrade. Combined with other toxins (after decades of offshore drilling) has left vast areas of global waters dangerously toxic - why nothing in them should be eaten.
The Latest Reason to Ban All Offshore Drilling
On September 2, operating 100 miles south of Louisiana's Vermilion Bay in shallow water (several hundred feet deep), a rig operated by Mariner Energy, Inc. (a Houston-based independent oil and gas producer) exploded and caught fire, a company press release saying:
The company "confirms that a fire has occurred at a production platform located on Vermilion Block 380, approximately 100 miles from the Louisiana coast. All 13 members of the crew have been evacuated and safely accounted for. No injuries have been reported. In an initial flyover, no hydrocarbon spill was reported."
False. Workers told rescuers they heard a blast, saw a fire, and had to jump into Gulf waters to be safe. One injury was reported. The Coast Guard said a mile-long, hundred foot wide oil sheen was seen near the site, then later about-faced saying no oil was spotted. It's there and spreading, but there's no indication how much or whether the release was contained. First reported at 9:20AM, the fire was extinguished about six hours later.
Mariner's rig is a production, not drilling platform like BP's. At year end 2009, it produced 47% oil and 53% natural gas. The company has interests in nearly 350 offshore leases, including over 80 in deep water down to 7,100 feet. More than 110 are in development.
According to the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Regulation and Enforcement (BOE, formerly the Mineral Management Service - MMS), federal authorities cited Mariner and its related operations for 10 Gulf accidents in the past four years. They included platform fires, oil spills and a blowout. In a 2008 incident, one employee sustained serious injuries. In early 2010, the company was fined $55,000 for safety violations.
Consider its history. As a former Enron unit, it faced bankruptcy, saved only by private equity investors buying it at fire sale prices. On April 15, Apache Corp., America's largest independent oil and gas producer, announced plans to buy Mariner, calling the deal "a strategic step and a natural extension into the deepwater Gulf....provid(ing) an exciting new platform for growth...." The agreement is still on, Apache saying it's monitoring developments closely but hopes to complete its acquisition in a matter of weeks.
Final Comments
Despite offshore drilling dangers; the industry's history of violations, accidents, and spills, some major like BP's; and the growing contamination of waters and coastal areas, the rage to drill is unabated, few in Congress willing to challenge Big Oil's muscle.
After the Mariner explosion, however, environmental groups are flexing theirs, wanting offshore drilling banned, Greenpeace USA's oceans campaign director, John Hocevar, saying:
"How many times are we going to gamble with lives, economies and ecosystems? It's time we learn from our mistakes and go beyond oil," for sure stop drilling offshore to get it.
Jackie Savitz, senior campaign director for the environmental group Oceana agrees, saying:
"We think all offshore oil drilling should be banned, but not just the deepwater drilling. Even oil spills in shallow water are bad. It doesn't have to be in deep water to be a disaster."
Environment America's Mike Gravitz said Obama "need(s) no further wake-up call to permanently ban new drilling."
