Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Oil Spill Could Affect The Bahamas


By Kendea Jones

Government officials are gathering today to develop a contingency programme in the event that a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico pushes oil to the shores of The Bahamas.

Government officials are gathering today to develop a contingency programme in the event that a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico pushes oil to the shores of The Bahamas.

An estimated 5,000 barrels a day has leaked since the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the gulf on April 20, but experts have warned that the flow could reach 100,000 barrels in a worst-case scenario.

The incident left 11 people presumed dead and anxious states Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida awaiting the slick’s landfall.

Minister of Environment Dr. Earl Deveaux said environment officials would not sit idly by while the disaster affects the country’s closest neighbour.

"We have called the national oil spill contingency team together. I have asked them specifically to coordinate with CARICOM, Florida, the US Coast Guard and the major companies in The Bahamas to have equipment so that we develop all of our available options with respect to where we would seek help and deploy the help in case this oil spill creeps around Florida and enters the gulf stream," he told the Journal on Sunday.

According to officials, the oil spill is the size of Jamaica and is half an inch thick.

"If the weather shifts and this oil spill continues to drift and goes around Florida and enters the Gulf Stream then where those currents flow would have a direct impact on our country," Dr. Deveaux added.

Dr. Deveaux said the US is seeking to drill an alternate well to plug the oil leak.

"They believe that if they can drill a second well they can plug the leak but that can likely take about three months so this disaster will continue to be with us and we are developing our options," he said.

However, Dr. Deveaux stressed that if the oil reaches Bahamian waters, the country would need all the international assistance it could get.

"I don’t want to give anybody the impression that The Bahamas is capable of handling any disaster of this magnitude by itself," he said. " We would need every available international resource."

Environmentalists have said that if the oil gets near wetlands it would devastate economic and environmental life.

"Anything that comes in contact with the oil would be immediately covered with the slick and likely die," Dr. Deveaux said. "We would have monumental coastal damage to our areas and it would take years to clean up."

Dr. Deveaux explained that if a serious storm was to end up in the Gulf of Mexico it would travel through Key West and first hit Bimini and Cat Cay.

"If the oil is pushed into the Gulf Stream it would get into the Great and Little Bahama Banks. If it comes on to the Great Bahama Bank then the nearest islands it would affect is Andros and Berry Islands. If it continues onto Little Bahama Bank then we are looking at Grand Bahama and Abaco," he said.

Dr. Deveaux said even though The Bahamas has not been affected as yet, it should be alarmed.

"We should be alarmed because it is affecting our closest neighbour. We depend on oil to drive, eat, and cool. Though there is a remote chance that it will affect us, it is affecting the neighbour we would call on for help.

"If your neighbour’s child dies, do you feel compassion or do you only feel it if your child does? We have to feel it and we have to feel concerned," Dr. Deveaux said.


Source: The Bahama Journal - Bahamas News Online

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