Manatee County Braces for Oil Spill Spread, While BP Pledges to Cover Costs of Damage

BRADENTON -- Manatee County officials are nervously awaiting the arrival of what threatens to be the worst offshore oil disaster ever. What once seemed a mere outside possibility now appears increasingly imminent, as efforts to contain an uncapped oil well off the coast of Louisiana continue to fail.

The spill has already had a significant impact on the fishing industry in Louisiana, where many key oyster and shrimping waters have been closed, adding to local anxiety. The initial environmental impact has also begun to take shape, as the bodies of hundreds of endangered sea turtles wash ashore in Louisiana and Mississippi.

The Deepwater Horizon burns in gulf waters

An estimated 200,000 gallons of oil are spilling into gulf waters daily from the compromised well. The growing slick is expected to hit Florida coastal waters by midweek. BP, the energy conglomerate that holds the lease for the well, has expressed little confidence that a successful solution looms and the U.S. Coast Guard has indicated that it could be several weeks before the flow of oil is fully under control.

On April 20th, a massive explosion on an offshore oil rig caused the well to begin leaking. Several emergency systems failed, including the complex “blow out preventer”, which the industry hails as the ultimate failsafe for such catastrophes. The cause of the system failure is being investigated, but remains unknown. Several mitigating conditions, including the depth of the leak, the type of oil, and the vast size of the well, have created a perfect storm for disaster.

Efforts to burn and chemically treat the oil have largely failed and though ground has already been broken on relief wells, which are considered the most promising method of stemming the flow, they will take weeks to complete.

In the meantime, industry and regulatory experts have been mobilized to brainstorm other possible solutions. BP is currently constructing giant concrete and metal boxes, hoping to capture and siphon oil as it spills, but that measure is speculative and will still take six to seven days to employ.

The U.S. Government has committed significant resources to the effort, but President Obama has insisted that BP will foot the bill, a responsibility CEO Tony Hayward pledged to fulfill, while making the rounds on national TV and radio talk shows yesterday morning.

“This is not our accident, but it’s our responsibility”, Hayward told CBS’ “the Morning Show”, referring to the fact that the rig is owned by Transocean Ltd. The Oil Pollution Act, passed after the spill of the Exxon Valdez, places responsibility for spills on the owner of the oil. A fact sheet on BP’s website says that the company will pay for "legitimate and objectively verifiable" claims for property damage, personal injury and commercial losses caused by the spill, which experts predict could easily tally into the tens of billions.

Find more information at the U.S. Coast Guard website