A Million Gallons Here And A Million Gallons There: Now We're Talking About Some Real Oil

The Gulf oil spill continues to dominate the news, and with good reason.

It seems that every effort by BP to stem the massive deep-well oil flow gets stalled. The perception is that BP really doesn’t know what it is doing. Yeah, they got a cap in place on the Deepwater Horizon well this last week but oil still flows into the Gulf.

The major issue is that BP put profits above safety. They apparently knew the risks drilling so deep in the Gulf. Still, they just went about business as usual and didn’t worry that there might be a massive blowout let alone put any thought into disaster planning.

BP CEO Tony Hayward even admitted the company couldn't handle the crisis. "What is undoubtedly true is that we did not have the tools you would want in your tool kit," he said.

Before that, with foot firmly in mouth, he added insult to injury by declaring that the spill is not a problem because the gulf “is a very big ocean.” Then he goes onto add that “the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest."

Let's not forget the various corporate finger-pointing about which particular company – BP or a myriad of sub-contractors – was to blame and drew the ire of Congress. It really was kind of comic to watch but I wasn't laughing. More than anything it was pathetic that no one wanted to take responsibility.

Now there is news of a criminal investigation. I'm not sanguine that anything will come of it, let alone indictments or convictions.

Why should I, over here in California, care? I remember the 1969 oil spill in the Santa Barbara Channel. While much smaller by comparison to the Gulf blowout I think it is still relevant.

The 1969 spill dumped an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of oil over 10 days, fouling Santa Barbara’s beaches and the channel islands . Nearly 10,000 birds were killed along those beaches, according to  Wikipedia.

Union Oil, which owned the well, was vilified for years in Santa Barbara and quite likely still is to this day even though they no longer exist as a single company.

Unfortunately, that spill's effects were felt nearly a decade afterward.

During my last year of college, the 1977 academic year, I had a girlfriend who attended the University of California, Santa Barbara.

I visited her every chance I could during that year.

I kept in shape during that time running. Running along the beach in Santa Barbara also was an exercise in dodging thick tar that was the legacy of the 1969 oil spill.

I had to hike down a steep trail to the beach below the bluff where the university stands.

One of the things I remember most is that the university (or someone with a kind heart) placed a bottle of solvent at the top of the trail – solvent that runners (and walkers) could use to remove the nasty, sticky tar that we inevitably picked up on our shoes or feet (I ran barefoot on the beach).

The enormity of the Gulf spill far exceeds that of the 1969 Santa Barbara disaster. Besides damage to shorelines and marshes, the devastation on wildlife will certainly be monumental.

Already, heart wrenching images are finally being shown to the public –despite Gestopo-like tactics by BP to keep such images from being released.

As I write this, estimates are that the BP blowout has seen 570,000 to 1.2 million barrels contaminate the Gulf and threaten the Gulf coast from Louisiana to Florida – with predictions that it could reach the Florida Keys and even turn northward and threaten the Atlantic Seaboard.

Remember that an oil barrel is a 42 gallon container (an oil drum is 55 gallons, in case you wanted to know). That means from 24 million to 47 million gallons of oil have escaped from the blowout.

Prior to the cap being put into place it estimates were that 500,000 to 1 million gallons poured into the Gulf each day. That appears to be cut by one-quarter with the cap. Nonetheless, a significant amount of oil continues to flow into the Gulf.

It's no wonder they report these spills in barrels. The amount looks so much smaller than it does in gallons. And the millions of gallons of oil that started to flow into the Gulf on April 20 continues to flow. No real end is likely seen until August.

Remember what I said about the far smaller spill in the 1969 Santa Barbara disaster – I personally still saw its effects nearly a decade later. So imagine the long-range impact of the massive Gulf spill.

I’m not going to point a finger of blame. It seems there were breakdowns at a number of levels, including the government oversight agency that signed off on the project without really looking at safety contingency plans (OK, I did point a finger).

I do know that after this the “drill baby drill” mantra of the GOP and you know who should be met with boos and disdain. Certainly, President Obama’s plans for off-shore has been seriously derailed – there is now a moratorium on deep-well proposals but a shallow well was approved late last week.

Did anyone say alternative energy? Yes, I still drive a car but that doesn't mean I feel good about it. I try to use alternate transportation as often as possible, including my own two feet.

We in the U.S. are certainly addicted to oil. Maybe this blowout will be part of the withdrawal pains we all will feel as we wean ourselves off of oil.

Still, those withdrawal pains will be felt for years, not only from the after effects of the Gulf blowout but also as we wait for alternative solutions to fuel our transportation and energy needs.

Maybe this spill will provide further impetus to speed up the process of developing those alternative solutions. Let us hope so – but don't hold your breath.