Blog 14

Maybe we have a slightly bigger problem than what was originally thought.  The recent gulf coast oil spill is going to have a huge impact on our lives. Our gas prices will go up; also the spill poses a big health risk to the people on the coast. However the biggest cause for concern is the wildlife and the seafood industry .many animals could be in danger because of this spill. If the spill reaches the shoreline, the seafood industry could be shut down for years. The gulf coast is the nation’s biggest seafood provider. If the seafood is not available, many restaurants will have to resort to using imported seafood from out of the country. The spill will have a huge impact on the fishermen of the gulf coast. Fishing is their livelihood, which for most of them dates back to generations. This oil spill could cost hundreds of fishermen their jobs. Most of them probably have never done anything else but fish for a living. One of the main issues right now is that there is not enough oil containment booms to be put out into the gulf to protect the coast line and the wildlife and seafood. BP has stated that there were three leaks. One of them has been capped off; however, two of them remain producing about 200,000 gallons of oil a day into the gulf. The current plan is to have an oil containment dome, which will be used to pump out most of the oil. The 100 ton, 40 feet high steel, concrete box should arrive to the coast by the weekend. The gas company says that this will be an experiment in hopes to contain this crude oil. The odds of this plan working are about 50/50.  There is not a real solution to this problem.  There is already a lot of damage that has been done.  The news has already stated that this oil spill will influence The Gulf and its marine life for many years to come.