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Mississippi delta threatened by oil slick

02 May 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist praises the "glorious splendor" of God's kingdom this Sunday, but the beauty and splendor of the fragile wildlife eco-system off the coast of four U.S. Gulf Coast states is threatened by an approaching oil slick. The U.S. Coast Guard Wednesday started a "controlled burn" to battle the giant oil slick from last week's deadly offshore drilling rig explosion, but strong, gusty winds and thunderstorms moving into the Gulf of Mexico Thursday could push the large seaward oil spill ever closer to the coast. At midday Wednesday the edge of the spill was only 23 miles off the coast of Louisiana, close to a delicate system of coastal estuaries and swamps teeming with birds and other wildlife. The leaking well, 5,000 feet under the ocean surface off Louisiana's coast, has created a growing oil sheen and an emulsified crude slick that has a circumference about the size of Jamaica--and growing, the Coast Guard said. London based British Petroleum, the oil company that contracted with Transocean to use the rig, has been unable to shut down the gushing crude. "We will not stop until we have exhausted every single option," company executive Doug Suttles said, adding that the company was spending $6 million a day in the effort. The drilling rig caught fire April 20, leaving 11 workers missing and presumed dead. The fire raged until the rig sank last Thursday, severely bending the pipe that connected it with equipment on the seafloor. Crude began to gush from the end of the pipe as well as from a hole in it. Thousands of feet of boom were being readied at staging areas in Venice, Louisiana, Biloxi, Mississippi, and Pensacola, Florida to keep the oil slick from reaching coastal areas. But the precautions did little to assure biologists on the coast, who warned that the oil will affect everything from oyster beds and fisheries to endangered wildlife. Source: Articles by Chris Baltimore for Reuters, Ben Casselman, Angel Gonzalez, and Guy Chazan for the Wall Street Journal, and Rick Jervis for USA TODAY

doug suttles british petroleum gulf of mexico coast guard louisiana oil spill
Gulf coast on slippery slope toward ecological disaster

09 May 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

With their livelihoods and natural surroundings in serious jeopardy because of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, many coastal residents are praying with the psalmist this Sunday that "God have pity on us and bless us." The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday it may take at least three months to stop the flow of oil, but there was hope containment domes might trap some of it. On Wednesday British Petroleum (BP) managed to cap one of three leaks at the deepwater oil well, but the work was not expected to reduce the overall flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. BP officials have said that fewer leaks will make it easier to drop a containment box on the breach. The well has been spewing at least 210,000 gallons per day since an April 20 explosion at a rig 50 miles off Louisiana. Oil leaking from the well in the Gulf of Mexico could surge to 60,000 barrels a day if plans to cap it with a containment dome fail, said Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) after a meeting with industry executives. John Curry, a BP spokesman, said he didn't have any worst-case-scenario data and could not comment. BP expects to have the dome in place on the seafloor and trapping oil within five days, Doug Suttles, chief operating officer of exploration and production for the London-based company, said at a press conference. The 125-ton, 40-foot-tall steel box is designed to capture 85 percent of the oil. Source: Articles by Jim Polson, Lisa Lerer, and Mark Chediak for Bloomberg, Pascal Fletcher and Anna Driver for Reuters, and the Associated Press

doug suttles british petroleum gulf of mexico oil spill john curry edward markey

Take Five for Faith Daily

Thursday
January 30

All for the good

Catholic Schools Week is the perfect time to reflect on what we can learn from our Catholic schoolchildren. One young student wrote in a religion class report, “If you do good things, you will have good experiences. If you do bad things, you will have bad experiences.” This simple yet profound understanding of virtuous living echoes Jesus’ teaching in the gospel: “The measure you give will be the measure you get.” If we want the young people in our lives to lead lives of love and good works, we do well to model those actions ourselves.

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