Having spent countless hours on the ocean floor repairing leaks in pipelines and valves while rolling around in mud saturated with oil and distillates which cause chemical burns, I was not surprised to hear of another leak. But the magnitude of the accident involving the Deepwater Horizon and the tragic disappearance of 11 men who are now presumed to be dead is unprecedented.An estimated 210,000 gallons of crude oil are escaping the confines of the earth’s crust every day. Men rush across drill decks, leaders scramble to develop and approve emergency plans, and politicians argue about what this all means for a climate bill which would have allowed the expansion of offshore drilling on the East Coast, the Eastern Gulf and Northern Alaska. “The oil industry spent 40 years building a story line that it knew what it was doing underwater and because it knew what it was doing we could allow it to turn our most sensitive coastline into oilfields,” said Carl Pope, chairman of the Sierra Club.The proposal for an increase in offshore drilling will no longer be useful as a tool to gain the support of moderate Democrats, independents and Republicans.It is common knowledge F\for anyone who has worked in the oil industry that accidents occur on a regular basis. However, the magnitude of this incident is well beyond that of the everyday accident, spill or tragedy common in the offshore realm. It’s not that the oil industry doesn’t know what they’re doing — they do. But it’s impossible to plan for and avoid all disasters when working in a constantly changing environment. Experts have noted the cementing process has a history of causing blowouts such as this one, reported the Wall Street Journal last week. The U.S. Minerals Management Service conducted research in 2007 showing 18 out of 39 blowouts during a span of 14 years involved cementing.Cementing involves pumping cement to the well to fill gaps surrounding the pipe in the well hole. This prevents gas and oil from leaking from the well. Cementing is also used to plug wells, either temporarily when switching from the drilling phase to production, or permanently when abandoning the well.Halliburton, which was in charge of the cementing process on the Deepwater Horizon, was also in charge of the cementing process when a similar accident occurred off the coast of Australia last August, according to the Wall Street Journal.This accident highlights the importance of increasing our efforts to develop and improve alternative energy sources, such as wind, solar and nuclear. But it does not change the fact that we need to continue to pursue the expansion of drilling as well.We need to look at why the problem occurred and tighten regulation on that part of the process instead of demonizing offshore drilling in general.If the cementing process is proven to blame, and faulty cement or improper techniques are the culprit, then Halliburton should bear the responsibility. The government and the industry should then focus on developing ways to prevent future similar occurrences.This disaster that will have far-reaching environmental, economic and political ramifications. It may be years before the clean-up is completed. In the mean time, sea creatures will die from the oil and other chemicals released. The marine and coastal habitats still have not fully recovered from the Exxon Valdez spill.The seafood industry is already up in arms about the irreparable damage this incident will inflict upon the livelihood of fishermen and shrimpers. Politicians and lobbyist are claiming this tragedy spells the death of the climate bill which President Obama supported and which included the expansion of offshore drilling.No matter how we approach this situation, we will continue to experience changes from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy for years to come.
Nathan Shull is a 35-year-old finance junior from Seattle. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_nshull.
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