Gulf Oil Spill Is Bad, but How Bad?

In John M. Broder and Tom Zeller Jr.’s “Gulf Oil Spill Is Bad, but How Bad?” in May 3, 2010’s New York Times, the facts and opinions of many experts have been reported on about the potential problems and solutions that will come with the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. While an oil spill the magnitude of this one is bad, it is not nearly as devastating as several past spills that occurred years ago. The potential problems that may come from this spill are highly dependent on many variables such as the weather, type of oil spilled, and how much actually gushes from the broken pipe. Experts feel that the Gulf will undoubtedly bounce back into shape since it successfully recovered after a spill of 140 million gallons in 1979 after just 3 years. While some feel the gulf will be just fine, others are not sure how much abuse it can take.

Personally, I think that BP will be able to successfully stop the leak relatively soon since they are such a large, well equipped company but I don’t think this should have occurred in the first place. It wouldn’t surprise me if safety short cuts were taken on the oil rig to make the job easier. BP or anyone going over the accident should look deeply into why it happened to prevent a spill in the future.