Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup

In the wake of the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Earthjustice is calling for a halt to further exploratory oil drilling off America's coasts -- especially in fragile Arctic waters. Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen issued the following statement:

The tragic explosion and loss of life on the exploratory drilling rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico reminds us that offshore oil drilling comes with continued risks to workers and the environment.

We welcome the White House announcement today that the administration would hold off on any new drilling until a full review of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been conducted. It is especially important that the pause in new drilling the administration announced today apply to current and future offshore drilling plans in America’s Arctic waters. Despite the dangers of offshore oil drilling, plans are already underway for new exploratory oil drilling to begin as early as July in the Arctic Ocean’s Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. If we are unable to contain the spill from Deepwater Horizon, how can we expect to do any better in the ice-laden Arctic Ocean.

Clean-up effort during Exxon Valdez oil spill

(Earthjustice Media Director John McManus remembers what it was like covering the Exxon Valdez oil spill as a CNN journalist)

The oil now washing up on the Gulf Coast reminds me of the last big oil spill America lived through, the Exxon Valdez spill 21 years ago.

On March 24, 1989 a supertanker that had just topped with oil left the port of Valdez and crashed into a submerged rock reef in Alaska's Prince Williams Sound. Eleven million gallons of north slope crude oil gushed from the side of the ship into the Sound.

Authorities immediately discussed lighting it on fire. There was even talk of the military firing missiles at the oil slick to ignite it. But the fires never happened. Maybe it was too cold, being Alaska. Instead the oil washed up on the beaches, headlands, harbors, villages and rocks that ring this giant bay. Some of the oil washed out of the Sound and into the Gulf of Alaska, fouling beaches hundreds of miles away on Kodiak Island and beyond.

Oil rig spill started hitting area jutting out

<Update: Go here for today's oil spill news.>

Oil from the Gulf of Mexico offshore drill rig explosion has just started hitting sensitive areas of the Louisiana coast, according to a locally based citizen action group, the Gulf Restoration Network. The group told Earthjustice that it was going out to investigate by airplane and by boat, but had no further information. Authorities hadn't expected the spill to hit land until later tonight or Friday.

Here is a link for local information, news and photos. The New York Times offers a visual depiction of areas and wildlife most endangered by the spill. The Los Angeles Times put together this snapshot of what's at stake. Earthjustice will provide a daily, updated report on the spill as events progress.

Today, after disclosing that the spill was five times worse than previously reported, the federal government and state of Louisiana both made crisis declarations. The White House dispatched top officials from the Homeland Security Department, Environmental Protection Agency and Interior Department to the Gulf Coast, while Louisiana's governor declared a state of emergency.
 

NASA image of Gulf of Mexico oil spill

The latest news reports suggest the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that sunk earlier this month is much worse than anticipated. The oil slick, which is now the size of West Virginia and getting bigger by the day, could hit Louisiana's coastline by this weekend. Experts say the oil continues to leak at a rate of about 5,000 barrels per day, more than five times original estimates. The Coast Guard's plan to ignite the oil slick and burn most of it away isn't going as planned as winds have limited their ability. The White House has declared this a spill "of national significance."

But just a month ago, the Obama adminsitration announced plans to open new areas off the East Coast to more offshore oil drilling, and also upheld Bush-era leases in almost 2.8 million acres of the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic Ocean. The announcement allows exploration drilling to move forward starting as early as this summer. As we and many other groups have said in the past, a catastrophic oil spill in the icy, remote waters of the Arctic would be an emergency beyond any we've ever seen.