Deep-Sea Oil Is Radioactive

The latest oil spill catastrophe exposes the dangers of deep-sea oil drilling. Deeper wells are already being planned which could result in even more serious oil spills with global implications. Deep sea drilling, therefore, has to be closely controlled in the same way atomic energy is overseen.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has every indication of causing the greatest contamination in history. BP’s first attempt at containing the escaping oil failed miserably. Even if 700 tons are being captured daily, an underwater video shows huge quantities still escaping. It lies as a viscous film on the surface of the Gulf waters and appears headed for Florida, but reddish oil streaks are already being imagined on Cuba’s beaches. The desperate attempts to burn the oil slick off managed to limit the carpet of oil but produced large amounts of black smoke.

The Deepwater Horizon rig catastrophe vividly demonstrates that deep-water drilling threatens the entire global environment. As the Obama administration now admits, mistakes were made in licensing and overseeing the technical aspects of its production, which only shows that national agencies, even in monster bureaucracies like the United States, are unable to master the complexities of this sort of oil production. Oversight of deep-sea drilling operations has to be controlled by a totally new agency. It should be an international agency working under the auspices of the United Nations and operating much like the International Atomic Energy Agency.

IAEA oversight is recognized as exemplary and effective. In the production of deep-sea oil, a similar agency could ensure that the highest safety standards are maintained. The recently collapsed BP oil platform wasn’t constructed to rigid safety standards; there was no acoustic switch installed enabling remote shutdown of drilling operations. Such a safety measure isn’t currently required on rigs operating in U.S. waters. President Obama accused regulatory agencies of having a “cozy” relationship with the oil companies. If they can’t be regulated on the national level, then they must be regulated on the international level.

Such an agency is even more imperative as the world’s thirst for oil drives the companies into ever-deeper waters. The Brazilian oil concern Petrobras is getting ready to drill a 5,000 to 7,000 meter deep well on the Atlantic floor in waters some 2,000 meters deep. In the same region, there are already more than 60 Brazilian drilling platforms in operation producing oil. Should a catastrophe similar to that in the Gulf of Mexico take place, the Gulf Stream could carry the spilled oil to the distant coastal waters of Ireland. And from there, it’s not far to the North Sea’s German coast.

So the alternatives are clear: either deep-sea oil drilling has to be controlled internationally or we can just wait for the next underwater discharge.