Amount of biological damage, loss in Gulf still unknown

This a continuation of a look back at the 2-year anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. To read Part 1, visit here. Today, the food chain in the Gulf of Mexico is chock full of telltale signs of toxic bio-accumulation and the probable longer impacts on natural systems. Dolphins are sick and dying. Here’s what National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says about the most recent problems affecting dolphins there: Based on comprehensive physicals of 32 live dolphins from Barataria Bay in the summer of 2011, preliminary results show that many of the dolphins in the study are underweight, anemic, have low blood sugar and/or some symptoms of liver and lung disease. Nearly half also have abnormally low levels of the hormones that help with stress response, metabolism and immune function. Researchers fear that some of the study dolphins are in such poor health that they will not survive. One of these dolphins, which was last observed and studied in late 2011, was found dead in January 2012. Spokane resident Marc Gauthier, who traveled to Louisiana shortly before oil began to wash up on the beaches, saw the instant effects on wildlife. He chronicled his observations and interviews with residents prior to and after the spill to create the documentary, “Gulf Coast Blues – Oil in Our Veins.” He and myself also wrote “Dispatches from a Disaster,” which can be read here. He and I have seen photos of dolphins swimming through thick carpets of oil, and two sperm whales bogged down and trailing wakes a mile long in gunky oil. The victims aren’t limited to mammals. Forage fish have major gill damage. Oysters are full of metals. Shrimp are missing eyes. Deepwater species like snapper are festooned with lesions. The speckled trout that sport fishers highly regard are gone from their feeding and breeding zones. Has the Gulf been cleaned up? According to Ian McDonald, Florida State University professor of biological oceanography, natural systems like the Mississippi River and other factors pushed the oil away from shores. “Well, we should be clear that BP did not clean up the Gulf, and the government did not clean up the Gulf. The natural systems in the Gulf were what removed the oil that’s gone. And there is still oil present. It still has an effect. But it was Mother Nature that cleaned up the Gulf, not the agency of government or BP. The question is, how much damage was done, and how can we recover that damage? And I think that’s something that’s going to be the subject of this ongoing research.” That research is expensive and difficult to conduct on a vast horizon of deep ocean. The long-term recovery of the Gulf is not in BP’s sights, and the best way to prevent future disasters is to find BP guilty of crimes. The President’s Oil Spill Commission and the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force are pretty clear, utilizing the best available science, on how to restore the region and protect it. The BP settlement will need to fund a complete follow-up and follow-through on those reports’ recommendations. At a minimum, that might require $10 billion or $20 billion. BP has to pay. This is how Phil Radford and Aaron Viles, respectively executive director of Greenpeace USA and deputy director of Gulf Restoration Network, sum it up: “With an estimated $50 billion price tag to re-engineer the lower reaches of the Mississippi River to reintroduce sediment and freshwater into the marsh to rebuild wetlands, this crisis demands a national commitment. In the face of rising seas, subsiding marsh, and increasing energy costs, coastal scientists estimate we have less than 10 years as a nation to begin the restoration process. “Here’s the irony. Despite the horrors the BP disaster has brought to the region, it also presents a unique opportunity to jump start this $50 billion restoration project. BP will be on the hook for an historic fine under the Clean Water Act, as much as $17.6 billion depending on how aggressively and effectively the U.S. Department of Justice pursues the super-polluter. The oil industry (well, one very large corporate representative) might finally be forced to fix what they broke in our ecosystem. Congress is considering a bill that would devote 80 percent of the Clean Water Act fines would go to gulf restoration projects. Congress needs to pass this bill without holding it hostage to anti-environmental legislation. “Two years after the disaster, it’s outrageous that this is where we sit. Two years after the Santa Barbara oil spill, Earth Day was born, and helped to launch the modern environmental movement. Two years after the Exxon Valdez spill, the Oil Pollution Act had been passed by Congress, raising the bar on how we deal with oil accidents. Yet two years after the BP disaster, we’re faced with horrible political gamesmanship, a vulnerable and threatened ecosystem, and struggling communities.”