Exxon Valdez: The Poison That Keeps On Poisoning

[boutons_deux]

Why The Exxon Valdez Spill Was A Eureka Moment For Science

Twenty-five years of research following the Exxon Valdez disaster has led to some startling conclusions about the persistent effects of spilled oil.

One of their most surprising discoveries was that long-lasting components of oil thought to be benign turned out to cause chronic damage to fish hearts when fish were exposed to tiny concentrations of the compounds as embryos.

"You studied them for one or two years. When things were back on track, you walked away," Rice says. "And so we walked away from herring. And all of a sudden they crash to the bottom of the floor, and then we're scrambling trying to figure out why."

In addition to the herring population crashing, other animals — such as killer whales, sea otters, harlequin ducks — also unexpectedly continued to suffer years after the spill.

Scientists had traditionally believed that oil basically had to cover an animal or embryo to hurt it. But the evidence they saw in Alaska suggested it didn't take much oil to do a lot of damage. And that damage could manifest in different ways.

For example, oil under rocks and in sediments contaminated clams that sea otters ate. It didn't kill the otters outright: Wildlife biologist Dan Esler of the U.S. Geological Survey says it shortened otters' lives and suppressed the population for 20 years.

"The understanding that lingering oil could have chronic effects on wildlife populations was a new and important finding, and one that we did not anticipate at the time that we started the research,"

Rice's team exposed pink salmon embryos to tiny amounts of oil.

"We were dosing them with oil that you couldn't see [and] you couldn't smell. But we were doing it for a really long time,"

. The culprits are from a class called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, or PAHs. Before the Exxon Valdez spill, they weren't known to be toxic to aquatic life. But after the spill, scientists discovered these compounds persist long after other parts of oil evaporate.

Block's lab used individual heart cells from tuna to show that PAHs in oil can interrupt the electrical signals that are essential for fish hearts to beat effectively. So far, the scientists think this can happen to embryos — and possibly to young fish — at low concentrations.

Discovering the mechanism that makes oil toxic to fish is like a coroner pinning down a mysterious cause of death — but taking 25 years to do it. And, as in a criminal case, this knowledge could give scientists evidence to hold companies responsible for long-term damages no one ever knew oil spills were causing.

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/22/292131305/why-the-exxon-valdez-spill-was-a-eureka-moment-for-science

Exxon played legal games for 20 years, judges went along and reduced Exxon's bill, while 1/3 of the recipients died.

BigOil fucks up the planet, aka "external" costs and gets off cheap, or free, certainly doesn't not pay anywhere near the damages it inflicts.

[boutons_deux]

Texas Barge Collision Spills Up To 168,000 Gallons Of ‘Sticky, Gooey, Thick, Tarry’ Oil

http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/AP917815162788-638x478.jpg

A barge carrying 924,000 gallons of thick marine shipping oil collided with a ship near the Texas City dike on Saturday afternoon, spilling up to 168,000 gallons and forcing closures on the waterway.

“This is an extremely serious spill,” Capt. Brian Penoyer of the U.S. Coast Guard told the Houston Chronicle. “It is a persistent oil.”

The barge was being towed from Texas City to Bolivar carrying a substance called RMG 380, “a special bunker fuel oil often used in shipping that doesn’t evaporate easily.” As of 10 p.m. Saturday, the spill had not been contained and the Coast Guard was still investigating the collision. Thus far, Texas City Emergency Management said the dike and all parks on the water are closed until further notice and part of the Houston ship channel was closed to traffic, according to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard “said officials were closely monitoring the spill area for health-threatening hydrogen sulfide and other dangerous gases that can be emitted by the spill,” the Houston Chronicle reported. Dangerous concentrations of the gases have not been detected but two of the six crew members on the tug were treated for exposure to fumes, Texas City Homeland Security Director Bruce Clawson told the Chronicle. Exposure to RMG 380 may cause respiratory tract, eye and skin irritation and the “vapor may contain hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas which can be harmful or fatal if inhaled,” according to the Material Safety Data Sheet.

“That stuff is terrible to have to clean up,” Jim Suydam, spokesman for the Texas General Land Office, told the Associated Press. Suydam described the type of oil the barge was carrying as “sticky, gooey, thick, tarry stuff.”

The spill also threatens key bird habitat on both sides of the Houston ship channel just as peak shorebird migration season approaches. Richard Gibbons, conservation director with the Houston Audubon Society, told ABC13 that the Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary just to the east attracts 50,000 to 70,000 shorebirds to its shallow mud flats. As the birds prepare for migration, Gibbons said “the timing really couldn’t be much worse.”

Geoff Roberts, who was out fishing Saturday, told ABC13 he “noticed a layer of oil caked on” the side of his boat and on his fishing reel. “They even told us don’t eat any fish you catch today,” Roberts said.

Thousands of feet of containment boom were placed around the partially submerged barge Saturday night, as well as at the ecologically critical Big Reef at the end of Galveston Island and Little Pelican Island. Sunday, the Coast Guard and cleanup crews will work to assess just how much of the oil leaked and where it moved overnight, and to begin the process of transferring the oil that remains on the barge, potentially hindered by overcast conditions and rain.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/23/3417916/oil-spill-galveston-bay/

Can't these fuckers and their radars avoid collisions? In the middle of the day? :lol

Cheney LIED that technology was "sufficiently advanced" to eliminate pollution. :lol

[boutons_deux]

Oil spills are like Oreos? Fox News’ strangest Keystone argument yet


http://media.salon.com/2014/03/shutterstock_151592543-e1395696960654-620x412.jpg

On Monday’s edition of Varney & Co., Byrnes and guest host Charles Payne explained why we shouldn’t pay attention to the 170,000 gallons of heavy oil that’s currently threatening wildlife and blocking off a major shipping channel: “Anytime we hear these kind of things, it feels like another impediment to growing out our fossil fuel industry, another thing for environmentalists to rally around, although we know accidents are bound to happen,” Payne said.

Because you just know that when the solar industry starts experiencing all of those devastating, um, sun spills, we’ll all react the same way.

Added Byrnes, in enthusiastic support, “Just do the Keystone Pipeline already! Create all these jobs. [You know, all 35 of them (http://www.newsweek.com/state-department-keystone-xl-pipeline-would-only-create-35-permanent-jobs-228898).] Enough of the nonsense, these are all distractions.”

Yes, distractions. “Much like anybody who wants to lose five pounds has a Oreos in front of them,” Byrnes elaborated. “Just get rid of the Oreos, and you’ll be fine. Same thing. Do the pipeline.”

http://www.salon.com/2014/03/24/fox_news_the_texas_oil_spill_is_like_oreos/

Gotdamn, you avid, rabid Fox viewers really know where to get yourself informed! :lol

[boutons_deux]

200,000 Pounds Of Oiled Sand Found Along Texas Coastline After Spill (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/06/3423424/toil-galveston-bay-spill/)

The March 22 collision between a ship and a barge carrying (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/25/3418921/ship-traffic-reopens-galveston-oil-spill/) up to 4,000 barrels of “sticky, gooey, thick, tarry” bunker fuel oil in Galveston Bay, Texas has resulted in more than (http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Tons-of-oiled-sand-cleared-off-Texas-coastline-5379931.php#src=fb)200,000 pounds of oiled sand and debris accumulating along some 22 miles of shoreline on the Texas coast.

Marine life in the area is also suffering. Since the ship and barge collided, 29 dead dolphins have been found (http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/29-dead-dolphins-found-since-oil-spill-5376540.php?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter) in the vicinity of Galveston Bay. A total of 47 dead dolphins were found in March, above the average of 34 and triple last years’ 15. Scientists are working to determine if the oil spill played a role in the elevated number of deaths. A high number of deceased dolphins are typically found during what’s referred to as the “stranding season” between January and March, and it’s possible that more are being found this year because of the increase in coastal workers helping with the cleanup.

Whether oil is responsible for the deaths of the dolphins or not, there will likely be long-term chronic health impacts (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/28/3419947/texas-oil-spill-birds/) for marine life, including irregular heart rhythm and cardiac arrest, which have been found to be associated with the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf several years ago.

A shrimp boat captain also reportedly (http://www.khou.com/news/local/Shrimp-coated-in-oil-concerns-businesses-seafood-lovers-253994591.html) caught an entire catch of shrimp coated in oil, furthering concern about the spill’s impact on the seafood industry. Already local businesses are saying shrimp sales have taken a hit because of public perception. Fishermen and bait shop owners are suing over the spill, and on Friday a federal judge ordered (http://www.galvestondailynews.com/free/article_a450555c-bc3a-11e3-9cfe-001a4bcf6878.html) the seizure of the cargo ship involved in the collision. T

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/06/3423424/toil-galveston-bay-spill/

[The Reckoning]

oh noes not da herring!

[RandomGuy]

oh noes not da herring!

Herring is one of the bases of the ecosystem, i.e. the thing that other fish tend to eat.

It also points out that the crowd that bitches about "government picking winners and losers" think oil energy is great because of the jobs, and get real quiet when you point out that oil jobs tend to destroy fishing and tourism jobs.

[boutons_deux]

Herring is one of the bases of the ecosystem, i.e. the thing that other fish tend to eat.

It also points out that the crowd that bitches about "government picking winners and losers" think oil energy is great because of the jobs, and get real quiet when you point out that oil jobs tend to destroy fishing and tourism jobs.

... and sickens/kills human, fauna, flora

[The Reckoning]

oh cute a lecture on herring

[The Reckoning]

i'm herring you loud and clear on the issue

[TeyshaBlue]

i'm herring you loud and clear on the issue
Careful TR. He's steamed. You can see the anchor in his eyes!

[RandomGuy]

oh cute a lecture on herring

A 19 word blurb is hardly a lecture.

The point was merely that herring was a bit more important than you alluded to.

[The Reckoning]

there's nothing fishy about what i said. the issue really makes me heartbroken.

[Th'Pusher]

there's nothing fishy about what i said. the issue really makes me heartbroken.
If you don't mind me asking, what is your field of study?

[TeyshaBlue]

If you don't mind me asking, what is your field of study?

He's gonna be a sturgeon!

[TeyshaBlue]

A quality, hand-crafted fish pun....and nothing!
This is why this bbs can't have nice things.:nope

[The Reckoning]

He's gonna be a sturgeon!


rofl

[Th'Pusher]

He's gonna be a sturgeon!
:lol

[The Reckoning]

A quality, hand-crafted fish pun....and nothing!
This is why this bbs can't have nice things.:nope

http://youtu.be/6l1GvDWtccI

[Th'Pusher]

rofl
And I'll take that as a, yes I do mind you asking my field of study?

[The Reckoning]

http://youtu.be/T1CEvt2lyuc

[The Reckoning]

"for a moment there, i thought i was losing my herring."

[The Reckoning]

just some jams for boutons to tuna up when he's carpying and pasting articles

[boutons_deux]

here's more hilariously amusing news for the Oil suckers

Oil spill clean-up: Ten tons removed from Matagorda Island


Amid one of the most important wildlife sanctuaries in America, a place where birds almost always outnumber the few humans venturing to a remote island, workmen are now hauling away tons of beach sand contaminated by oil.

Men wearing protective suits scratch at the sand on Matagorda Island, using shovels to unearth the layer of oil lingering beneath a thin film of freshly deposited sand.
“Right,” says George Degener, a U.S. Coast Guard petty officer. “We want to remove as much contaminated debris as we can, but still leave as much clean sand in the area as we possibly can.”

More than two weeks have passed since a barge carrying oil collided with another vessel at the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel, triggering a spill that shut down traffic flowing into the Port of Houston and coated an unknown number of birds in oil during their migratory season. But the consequences of that accident are still evident along the Texas coastline, on distant shores like Matagorda Island.

Oil washed ashore along 24 miles of the island’s beaches, leaving black stains not only in the sand but also on debris like logs. Coast Guard spokesmen say all but about four miles have since been cleaned by workers who’ve removed more than 10 tons of contaminated soil and contaminated debris.

Most of the oil has dried out, in some places developing into patches looking like asphalt on the beach. But some of it still glistens in pools.

“As the oil settled and tide brought in layers of sand over it, it’s dried out,” Degener says. “And it’s become almost asphalt-like. As it lays in, the toxins will evaporate and the oil will actually harden. So that’s what they’re trying to remove right now.”

http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/Oil-spill-clean-up-Ten-tons-removed-from-Matagorda-Island-254301561.html

[The Reckoning]

And I'll take that as a, yes I do mind you asking my field of study?


sorry i don't mean to be so koi about it

[Th'Pusher]

sorry i don't mean to be so koi about it
Each one is getting funnier and funnier...

[boutons_deux]

Four Years Later, BP’s Oil Spill Is Still Killing Gulf Wildlife (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/10/3425225/bp-oil-spill-gulf-wildlife/)

It’s been almost four years since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion killed 11 people and spilled 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, but the effects of the disaster are still being felt by Gulf wildlife

1. Bottlenose dolphins: The report notes that between April 2010 and March 2014, 900 bottlenose dolphins have been found dead or stranded in the northern Gulf. Dolphins’ health has also suffered since the spill, with dolphins that live in and around the oiled region showing signs of anemia and liver and lung disease, as well as an increased number of stillborns. But Inkley also said it was difficult to know exactly how many dolphins — and any other animal — had died as a result of the spill.“We find a very small percentage — usually less that 10 percent — of the animals that die, and that’s going to be true of the Gulf oil spill as well,” he said. “So the impact is certainly much greater than we are visibly seeing by the stranded dolphins that we are able to find.”

2. Atlantic bluefin tuna: The Gulf of Mexico is one of only two places where Atlantic bluefin breed, and the Deepwater Horizon disaster occurred during the species’ breeding season. One study noted in the report found (http://blog.nwf.org/2014/02/study-deepwater-horizon-oil-causes-heart-damage-in-tuna/) that a chemical in the oil that spilled can lead to irregular heartbeats in yellowfin and bluefin tuna, which can lead to heart attack and death for a species whose populations have already plunged in the last several decades due to overfishing.

3. Sea turtles: Like bottlenose dolphins, strandings for the five species of sea turtle that live in the Gulf have remained above normal in the four years after the spill. Each year, about 500 dead sea turtles have been found in the region affected by the spill, and in 2013, about three-quarters of those strandings were the critically endangered (http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/kempsridley.htm) Kemp’s ridley turtles, which spend their entire life cycle in the Gulf of Mexico. But it will probably take decades of monitoring to determine how the 2010 spill affected young turtles, due to how slowly they mature, said Pamela Plotkin, director of the Texas Sea Grant.

“For species like the loggerhead turtle that doesn’t reach maturity for maybe 20 or 30 years, we may not see the impact of what occurred in 2010 until 30 years from now,” Plotkin said on the press call.

The report notes that, depending on the result’s of BP’s civic trial, the oil giant could pay up to $14.08 billion into the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund, which will create plans for Gulf ecosystem restoration. Last month, the U.S. government lifted the ban (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/14/3405801/bp-is-back/) on BP seeking new oil leases in the Gulf, allowing the company to expand (http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/bp-set-to-expand-gulf-of-mexico-drilling-20140319) its drilling in the region.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/10/3425225/bp-oil-spill-gulf-wildlife/

[boutons_deux]

Here's some relevant update info.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/trump-guts-offshore-drilling-rules-put-place-deepwater-horizon-spill/5676581 (https://www.globalresearch.ca/trump-guts-offshore-drilling-rules-put-place-deepwater-horizon-spill/5676581)
https://www.globalresearch.ca/deepwater-horizon-oil-rig-explosion-what-you-need-to-know-six-years-after-bps-gulf-oil-disaster/5521114?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles
https://www.globalresearch.ca/native-americans-document-hundreds-of-pipeline-leaks-and-oil-spills-kept-secret-by-north-dakota-government/5546626?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles
https://www.globalresearch.ca/legacy-of-radioactivity-contamination-from-thousands-of-fracking-wastewater-spills/5524733?utm_campaign=magnet&utm_source=article_page&utm_medium=related_articles

Enriching BigOil by $Bs, Trash's quid expects $100Ms in pro quo for his campaign.

[a777pilot]

I would opine that the amounts of petroleum waste dumped in the air and waters of this earth by the conduct of two major and multiple smaller wars of the 20th century far exceeds that dumped by the Exxon Valdez.

Also, the very fact that there is oil, curd oil, under ground and it seeps out on its own greatly adds to the pollution problems of oil. It's not all caused by man.

[boutons_deux]

since 1850, list all the "natural" pollutants, eg oil seepages, that were on a level with Exxon Valdez, Deepwater Horizon,

[Pavlov]

I would opine that the amounts of petroleum waste dumped in the air and waters of this earth by the conduct of two major and multiple smaller wars of the 20th century far exceeds that dumped by the Exxon Valdez.So what?

[a777pilot]

So what?

That is what I think of you....So what?

[Pavlov]

That is what I think of you....So what?What does your opining matter when it comes to oils spills?

[boutons_deux]

Oil company has been leaking 4,500 gallons of oil per day into the Gulf of Mexico for 14 years (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/6/26/1867500/-Oil-company-has-been-leaking-4-500-gallons-of-oil-per-day-into-the-Gulf-of-Mexico-for-14-years)

https://images.dailykos.com/images/689870/story_image/GettyImages-103256924.jpg?1561582073
Hell on Water


Back in September 2004, Hurricane Ivan tore through the Gulf of Mexico.

As a result of this weather phenomenon, a Taylor Energy Company

offshore oil rig platform collapsed into the water, and oil began spewing into the gulf.

The company and the government kept the size of the spill very quiet until around 2015,

when the Associated Press did an investigation that estimated that the Taylor Energy oil rig was leaking at least 91 gallons of oil per day, and had been for more than a decade.

, a new report was released (https://cdn.coastalscience.noaa.gov/publication-attachments/nccos-tech-memos/NCCOS-TM-260_Mason_2019.pdf) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Florida State University, in which they estimated that

the Taylor Energy Company oil rig had been leaking around 4,500 gallons of oil per day.

This, the report explains, was more conservative than other recent estimates (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/climate/taylor-energy-gulf-of-mexico.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur):

“Using sonar technology and a newly developed method of analyzing oil and gas bubbles rising through the water,

scientists determined that the plumes are the result of oil and gas released from multiple wells.”

the Trump administration wants to rollback the oil drilling regulations put in place after the Deepwater Horizon disaster (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/10/2/1800780/-Trump-Interior-Department-lifting-rules-to-protect-against-another-Deepwater-Horizon).

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/6/26/1867500/-Oil-company-has-been-leaking-4-500-gallons-of-oil-per-day-into-the-Gulf-of-Mexico-for-14-years?utm_campaign=trending (https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/6/26/1867500/-Oil-company-has-been-leaking-4-500-gallons-of-oil-per-day-into-the-Gulf-of-Mexico-for-14-years?utm_campaign=trending)