Oh, yes...the confidence we all share from our offshore wells in the Gulf of
Mexico...and the technologies they've developed down there to contain spills
under the seasonal Yucatecan Ice Pack.  Dang!  Why didn't anybody mention
that before?

On Fri, Aug 21, 2009 at 7:20 AM, Phyllis Mains <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>  From Alaska opinion page.  (To date there is no technology for cleaning
> up a spill the in the Arctic Ocean)  Phyllis
>
> Twenty years ago, the Exxon Valdez oil spill prompted Congress to call for
> a national research program into ways to handle oil spills, a pernicious
> side effect of our nation’s dependence upon liquid petroleum. The research
> program never materialized, and now it’s needed more than ever as the
> federal government sells oil leases in Arctic waters.
>
> The chairman of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission is expected to deliver
> that message at a congressional field hearing in Anchorage today. National
> leaders should heed his words.
>
> Mead Treadwell, the commission chairman, discussed the idea with federal
> officials Wednesday during a tour of potential offshore oil-producing areas
> in the Arctic Ocean. He noted that opposition to leasing such areas arises
> because some Alaskans have no confidence in the industry’s ability to deal
> with spills. The last big spill cleanup in Alaska didn’t go so well. Add
> some ice, and it becomes far more challenging.
>
> Treadwell noted in a news release Thursday that scientists in Norway
> already are studying oil spills and ice. “A recent test there, costing over
> $10 million, showed promising results for a number of technologies,
> including burning, skimming, dispersants, coagulants and bioremediation,”
> Treadwell said.
>
> Ten million dollars isn’t much these days, though. Tens of millions are
> needed. Treadwell suggested the United States could find it in the Oil Spill
> Liability Trust Fund, which receives a nickel for every barrel of oil we
> use.
>
> While such research is necessary and worthwhile, Arctic oil development is
> not the irresponsible act often portrayed by environmental watchdog groups.
> They often note that there is no proven way to contain or clean up an oil
> spill in or under ice. Fair enough. At the same time, they note, spills have
> been deemed a statistical certainty by government analysts. Also fair
> enough. So the inevitable result is environmental catastrophe, they assert.
> Not fair, nor logical.
>
> The effect of a spill depends entirely upon its size and its proximity to
> something that could be harmed. Oil already seeps into the ocean across the
> outer continental shelf off northern Alaska. Natural processes handily clean
> it up. And life is thinly dispersed in the Arctic, so an oil spill would
> need to be truly gargantuan to damage the ecosystem on any large scale, and
> the likelihood of such a gargantuan spill is extremely low. Look to the Gulf
> of Mexico, where hundreds of wells pump oil and major, sustained blowouts
> are unheard of, even after hurricanes. Transportation accidents — whether
> from ships or pipelines — have proven to be a more persistent threat. These
> aren’t likely to cause enormous spills, though, so there is no reason for
> the federal government to shut down offshore leasing in fear of them.
>
> It should instead proceed with more research into the most effective way to
> contain them. The Arctic Research Commission has a plan to lead the way.
>
>
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