So big oil has once again violated our environment, our property, and our lives. One of ExxonMobil's pipelines burst in the Yellowstone River in Montana. Although the Huffington Post does not say when the leak was noticed, cnn.com says that the spill was reported at 11:30pm on Friday, July 2nd. Judging by the wording, that does not necessarily mean that was when the leak started.
ExxonMobil's spokeswoman Pam Malek said the pipeline leaked 750 to 1,000 barrels of crude oil. I guess that doesn't sound like much. So how many gallons is that? When you figure in 42 gallons per barrel, it comes out to 31,500 to 42,000 gallons (apparently most officials are leaning towards the 42k)! To put this in to perspective, if you were to fill up a swimming pool with this oil, you could fill up a space that is 5ft deep, 25ft wide, and 45ft long!
Well, how bad could this be? 140 people were evacuated because of the possibility explosions and the overpowering fumes. Not so much can be said for the wildlife.
Take note of the televised version of the story. The tag reads "1000 gallons," not "1000 barrels." And the cover-up begins...
OK. Well, mistakes happen. At least it isn't the Gulf Spill, again. ExxonMobil isn't that bad, right? Let's have a brief history lesson, shall we?
March 24, 1989, Prince William Sound, Alaska - An Exxon tanker crashes and spills 260,000 to 750,000 barrels (10,920,000 to 31,500,000 gallons). Why such a huge difference between the two numbers? Exxon wasn't "sure" how many barrels actually broke open and leaked. Those that did not may still be sitting at the bottom of the Sound. By the way, an olympic size pool holds 660,000 gallons of water.
2006, Jacksonville, Maryland - A break in an underground gas line leaked gasoline throughout an affluent neighborhood. The neighborhood gets its water from its wells which may have been affected. 400 people are still locked in a suit with Exxon.
May 1, 2010, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria - Of course, all oil spills do not occur in America. Africa is afflicted with careless spills by many companies. Chances are that you will never hear about them... In Akwa Ibom, an ExxonMobil pipeline burst, spilling over one million gallons of oil in to the Niger Delta. The delta feeds farms and drinking water. When the Nigerian people protested, they were attacked by security guards. The Niger Delta has 606 oilfields and supplies 40% of America's imported oil.
So what do we do with this information? There are a few things. A few decades ago, Americans were fond of boycotting. Whenever someone was screwing things up, we would stop using it. A few oil companies to be mindful of would be ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP. Remember seeing those people at BP right after the Gulf Spill? Yeah. We shouldn't be going there. We can also invest our time and money in Green solutions. "But I don't have that kind of money!" That's because the oil companies are trying to keep Green solutions out of the mainstream, but sometimes the right thing to do is the hard choice. Spend less on an SUV or other expensive sports car, and spend more on solar panels, Green tech., etc. Your move, America.
Written by Robert Marshall
Edited by Joann Agoglia
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