Has anything changed since the Gulf oil spill?

What, if anything, has actually changed since the Deepwater Horizon exploded and caused the country’s largest oil spill?

Watching the burning oil rig on television from Bushwick was surreal. The images of oil-coated wildlife, contaminated marshes and barrier islands and tar balls on beaches from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle were horrifying. The partisan back-and-forth over the response to the disaster was infuriating.

There was some concern that oil from the Deepwater Horizon could potentially reach Fire Island if it were to enter oceanic currents. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy stressed to the Fire Island News last June that his administration was preparing for the “worst-case scenario.” This “worst-case scenario” thankfully did not come to pass on the beach. The Gulf Coast was obviously not so lucky.

One can certainly make the case that the disaster proved the need for this country to further invest in renewable energy sources—although the Japanese earthquake and tsunami clearly demonstrate the calamitous potential of nuclear power. It is crucially important to acknowledge, however, that the Deepwater Horizon explosion killed 11 people. The subsequent oil spill also dramatically disrupted a way of life along the Gulf Coast. This legacy could last far longer than a country’s collective memory.

Oil reportedly enters powerful Gulf current

The tar balls that washed up onto one of Key West's beaches earlier this week did not come from the Deepwater Horizon, but reports the oil from the massive spill has entered the Loop Current are certainly troubling.



From the Key West Citizen.

Boy in Bushwick posted pictures on Monday of the Dry Tortugas and other areas that the oil could potentially affect. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said yesterday American officials have had "working level discussions with the Cuban government to keep them informed" about the oil's location in the Gulf of Mexico. The crude that has reportedly entered the current could potentially reach the Florida Keys and Cuba's northern coast in about a week.

Let's hope this catastrophe does not expand any further.

Oil spill could reach the Florida Keys

A Miami Herald headline earlier today spoke for itself: Concerns grow that Gulf oil spill could reach Florida Keys.

Reports continue to indicate some of the millions of gallons of oil that have leaked into the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon rig caught fire and sunk on April 20 have entered the loop current. The Miami Herald reported the oil could potentially reach the Dry Tortugas, the Marquesas Keys and Cuba's northern coast.

The [Key West] Citizen has a link on its Web site that updates readers on the status of the spill, but the mere thought some of the oil could potentially impact the Florida Keys -- and it's particularly fragile ecosystems -- is certainly frightening. Here are some pictures of the Dry Tortugas and the area around the Marquesas Keys I took during an Oct. 2008 trip.



Looking west from Key West en route to the Dry Tortugas National Park.



Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas.



Approaching Fort Jefferson on Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas.



Fort Jefferson.