Gulf fisheries reopen despite dangers of oil contamination

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A took a PR swim on the Florida ccording to President Obama, who coast this summer, the Gulf of Mexico is squeaky clean and “open for business!” We wonder how many tourists are actually swallowing his line.

At a press conference in mid-August, National Incident Commander Adm. Thad Allen announced that he expects the well in the Macondo Prospect (the name of the oil reservoir, 18,000 feet below the ocean surface) to be finally sealed but warned that it would take an uninterrupted flow of successes in order to happen soon. Of course, stuff happens, especially when one is flying by the seat of one’s pants as BP has from the get-go.

Said Allen, “We are not done. Nobody’s declared ‘mission complete.’” Of course, we were promised that the project would be completed a long time ago, and are now told the well will not be permanently sealed until the second week of September. The horror of it is that, after this well is plugged and abandoned, BP still plans to drill in the same reservoir. After all, they paid for the lease. They own the oil and natural gas—and profits are profits.

Meanwhile, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries re-opened three shrimping grounds on Aug. 16 in zones severely affected by the oil spill, maintaining that they are safe. But skeptical shrimpers are calling government claims “a load of shit” since they have seen more oil in the bays than there ever has been.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who has strong ties to the tobacco industry, has also given the all clear. Despite reports of tar balls, oil, and dispersants in the waters, the buying it. Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images (Left) Oil-covered brown pelicans await cleaning in Buras, La.

researchers ridiculed the government’s ludicrous claims by pointing out that the oil could not have realistically vanished as “sugar dissolves in water.” A child could tell them the sugar is still there. That’s why the water tastes sweet. It’s merely in solution.

They also accused the feds of being irresponsible for not thoroughly testing marine life before reopening the Gulf to fishing. This goes beyond pompous proclamations and phony PR campaigns by putting the public’s health and safety at risk.

The 22-mile-long monster In June, a team of scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution made a Gulf voyage and found a continuous, unbroken plume of hydrocarbons 3300 feet down, stretching southwest from the wellhead for 22 miles at a thickness of 650 feet and a width of 1.2 miles. They suspect it is even larger, but had to abort their 10-day mission because of Hurricane Alex. The cloud of oil seemed to be maintaining its structural integrity and holding at constant depth, travelling at four miles per day.

Using the autonomous robot submarine Sentry, the scientists took 3500 measurements over 140 miles, moving in a zigzag pattern at different depths. They used a mass spectrometer tethered to a cable to sample the water for oil and methane. The density of hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) was 50 micrograms per liter of seawater, which is equivalent to a half cup in an Olympic pool, whereas the government estimates only four to seven