The Tale of Two Oil Spills

Riki Ott, marine toxicologist and author of Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill makes this observation in her article :

Oilgate! BP and All the President’s Men (Except One) Seek to Contain Truth of Leak in the Gulf

"...last week in Calhoun County, Michigan, an Enbridge pipeline ruptured, spilling at least 19,500 barrels of oil. At least thirty families were temporarily relocated because of the stench and roads and beaches were closed. Health officials have warned people to stay away from the fumes and beaches, and to avoid swimming and fishing near oiled areas. “It’s a very toxic and dangerous environment,” Calhoun County health officer Jim Rutherford said.

If spilled oil is “toxic and dangerous” in Michigan, it’s also toxic and dangerous in the Gulf. But in the Gulf, public officials have downplayed the health risk despite hard evidence of an epidemic of chemical illnesses related to, I believe, the oil-chemical stew.

The fact that the official story in the Gulf does not match what people are experiencing is more alarming to me than the oil disaster. How can our president hold BP accountable if he accepts – or worse is complicit in – the crime?"

See more on the Gulf Oil Disaster here.