Maggie
Post 1
Technology/Science
Officials declare BP well dead, Harry R Webber
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/19/gulf-oil-spill-well-plugged_n_730696.html
288 words
Retired admiral Thad Allen declared the BP oil well dead on September 19, 2010, bringing to an end one of the most devastating disasters of our time. The pipe blew up on April 20th 2010, and oil gushed out freely until a temporary cap was placed on the pipe in mid July. The mud and cement held it closed but it couldn’t be declared dead until a relief well was drilled so the ruptured one could be closed from the bottom. This ensures the cap will hold and cannot come loose. Although the well is now declared dead, residents know the suffering in the area will continue. Two of the main sources of income for the area are tourism and fishing, and these are two of the industries most affected by the disaster. Tourism in the gulf coast is down, people nationwide are afraid to eat the fish from the area (which is silly – the fish is fine). BP has already given $9.5 billion for cleanup, promised $20 billion for people affected, but BP is slowly recovering financially after taking a huge fall after the disaster occurred. Sales are still down even months later in reaction to this horrific event, and are predicted to stay low for a while.
In the end, recovery will be slow in the gulf coast. Although BP has fixed the leak after almost 6 months, their financial recovery is slow and they have to spend much of their money on cleaning up their mess. There is still oil washing up on the coasts and everywhere in the water, and scientists are investigating the magnitude of the devastation.
First off, let me just say that I am VERY VERY glad that the oil spill was finally closed off. However, I am a bit surprised that the article passed this off in a very blazé manner. Although it did not affect the fish per say, it killed off many other creatures in the sea, and destroyed many habitats of those in the sea. Still, while the oil spill was closed off, this article decided to focus of the financial depression that BP is going into. Personally, I think that if they caused such a threat to our already weakening environment, the article should focus more on what they are doing to clean up the oil in the ocean, and how they will fix the damage created. Still, I think it is very important to know that at least the oil has stopped flowing out of the pipe and that they are making an effort to fix things.:)
ReplyDeletei am very sad to hear that that things are still far from better, but at least the oil FLOW has been stopped, this is just the first step. I hope that the money BP portioned off to help clean it up ACTUALLY gets used and isn't just filed away into some new beuracracy BS.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the after effects of the oil spill still remain, it is an important step forward that the oil has stopped flowing. I think we should stop dwelling on BP financial problems and try to look past this once things get better... that is if things get better.
ReplyDeletethe oil spill is bad and im glad it stop this could make people more aware of the oil spill and stuff so it doesn't happen again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julia. Although, I think we should/could have helped with this issue long ago and tried to fix this problem, since it took half a year to finally solve.
ReplyDelete