A blog from Washington
I have been in Washington, DC for the past few days, watching the legal and political reaction to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I would say that the clearest lesson to be drawn from the reaction of the U. S. government is that techniques for the extraction of oil at great oceanic depth are more advanced than those for the prevention of leaks or blowouts, as well as response and remediation afterward.
Closely associated with this lesson is a growing awareness that risk exists. It must be managed; and most important, it must be planned for, and be adequately funded. The Gulf of Mexico blowout demonstrates how costly failure can be.
For the future, hydrocarbon extraction… Continue reading
Further thoughts on deepwater horizon
The Gulf of Mexico drill rig disaster is casting a growing shadow on the discipline, if that’s the correct word, of oil spill prevention, cleanup and response.
Not since the EXXON VALDEZ incident, more than two decades ago, has so much attention been focussed on “measures taken” and “lessons learned.”
There will, we can be sure, be many lessons learned.. One is that the marine environment and its protection is of great political and economic significance.
When a few friends and I formed the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA), three years ago, it was with an awareness that the private sector, the government, engineers and scientists still had to reckon with the peculiar nature of oil spills, particularly those involving large quantities of the stuff.
What we have before us… Continue reading
Does Marpol Annex VI cover a Volcano?
claytoonjpgIn his previous post Michael praised the shipping industry in the wake of the grounding of all aviation in Northern Europe, but I have also noticed that the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, give or take an umlaut here and there, is spewing all manner of harmful particulate matter, NOX and SOX, CO2 emissions and so forth, probably affecting the world climate for some time to come. Continue reading
We must stop this MADD-ness before its too late
Several weeks ago, a tug towing a barge in Prince William Sound, Alaska ran into Bligh Reef. This is the same reef that collided with the Exxon Valdez twenty years ago. The consequences were famous. Continue reading
The sad story of the oily water separator
Everyone seems to have noticed, as Lloyd’s List’s leader of March 26 puts it, that “the unfairness to seafarers in the magic pipe cases in the US has been brought to light again”. Very true. Continue reading
NAMEPA Part II: Working in partnership
Although NAMEPA is a young organization, it has already become a significant interlocutor between local government and environmental groups in sensitive coastal areas. Continue reading
NAMEPA Part I: It’s good to talk…
I am off to Houston this week for MareForum USA, where I have been asked to talk about the development of NAMEPA[North American Marine Environment Protection Association], so I thought this would be a great time to share this information with my blog readers. Continue reading
Never forget the crew
In his message to the world’s seafarers, dedicating the year 2010 as the “Year of the Seafarer,” Efthimios Mitropoulos, Secretary-General of the IMO, points out that it is the crew of each ship that makes world trade possible, and that 1.5m seafarers serve the daily needs of more than 6.5 billion human beings. Continue reading
Remembrance of things past
My habit of studying oil spill problems has reminded me of something different: a note to our British contributors. I’ve been meaning to send it, but something always comes up these days, and here at last is my end-of-year comment.
On January 15, 1942, before even I was born, the British tanker COIMBRA was lost to enemy action off Moriches Inlet, Long Island, New York, with heavy loss of life. Since that time, the wreck has been intermittently “burping” oil. It is one of more than 100 wrecks off the Atlantic coasts of the United States and Canada that are now the subject of possible abatement efforts, even though they have been under water for, in some cases, more than 65 years.
Some of you will say that… Continue reading
Where Washington leads others follow
During the IMO assembly meeting last month, Secretary-General Mitropoulos made a plea for uniform solutions, arrived at internationally, through a process of collective agreement. In the field of oil pollution legislation – always politically sensitive – this is perhaps wishful thinking. Particularly in the United States. Continue reading
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