(Aired on July 6, 2010)
Do the words Piper Alpha ring a bell? They didn't to me, until I started doing a little research. The Piper Alpha was an oil platform in the North Sea that blew up, killing 167 people. It was 22 years ago today. In terms of loss of life, it was the worst offshore oil well disaster in history.
In the Gulf of Mexico, just over 60 kilometres off the coast of Louisiana, another disaster is evolving. So far, the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill has taken only 11 lives. But the explosion happened on April 20 - more than 75 days ago - and the gusher continues to flow. It is already the worst environmental disaster in American history, and is rapidly becoming one of the worst in the history of the world. In addition to the 6500 square kilometre slick on the surface of the water, there are reports of huge plumes of oil beneath the surface.
The reason I bring up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill once again today is not because there have been any significant new developments. Indeed, the plan is still to get the relief wells in place by August, and then perhaps we can see the flow of oil stemmed. But instead, I bring this up because I know it will take a concerted effort to keep this disaster as a part of our consciousness.
When it's watching news coverage, the public likes to see sexy pictures - oil gushing, rigs exploding, that kind of thing. That's just the way it is. But the pictures in this story are no longer sexy. It doesn't take too long to get tired of watching sludge lapping at the Louisiana shoreline, and that's how the story gets knocked out of the headlines.
So this is me reminding you, cajoling you, drilling it into your head. Please, don't forget.
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