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Oil Spill Disaster Strikes Louisiana Coast & Mississippi Delta, Florida Next

Beach Vacations, Natural Disasters, South, USA — on April 30, 2010 3:46 pm

Gulf of Mexico Oil Rig - Oil Spill Disaster Strikes Louisiana Coast & Mississippi Delta, Florida NextAn oil spill the size of Jamaica in the Gulf of Mexico is threatening to ruin fragile ecosystems and billion-dollar tourism industries in Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida.

The massive oil slick began washing ashore on the Louisiana coast on Friday and traces of oil have also shown up along the Mississippi Delta.

The oil slick is expected hit Florida by Monday.

Faced with a disaster that could exceed the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Florida Governor Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency on Friday. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency on Thursday.

BP, or British Petroleum, LogoThe spill was started last week when a rig owned by offshore drilling contractor Transocean exploded and sank while working on a well for oil behemoth BP (formerly British Petroleum).

During the accident, the rig’s failsafe mechanism, known as a blowout preventer, failed to shut off the well. The well also allegedly lacked a remote-control shutoff device.

With no current way to shut off the flow, more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil are leaking out of the well per day, and officials said it could take up to 90 days to cap it.

Though the destroyed rig has dumped only 1.5 million gallons of crude in the Gulf so far, if crude continues to leak out at current rates the total devastation could be double the amount spilled from the Exxon Valdez.

Learn more about local wetlands and how you can help them recover: Wading the Louisiana Wetlands With Common Ground Relief

Mobile Bay, Alabama -photo courtesy Mobile Bay CVBAnd unlike Prince William Sound, the Gulf Coast is densely populated and an important hub for tourism.

In Alabama, despite its relatively short shoreline, tourists spent $2.3 billion annually visiting the state’s beaches, according to the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau. Beach tourism also provides the livelihoods of about 41,000 workers.

Mississippi tourism to the Gulf, meanwhile, brings in $1.3 billion in revenue and employs around 27,500 workers, according to GulfCoast.org.

Learn more with our Ask the Locals City Guide: Mobile, Alabama.

But state facing the greatest tourism threat is Florida. Tourism is one of Florida’s top industries, bringing in $65.2 billion a year in revenue and employing just over a million people statewide.

Kitesurfer - Florida Tourism Threatened by OilThe state depends on pristine beaches to draw in visitors, so oil-tainted beaches could destroy the summer high season.

Floridians already know the cost of oil spills. In August of 1993, more than 300,000 gallons of heavy oil and jet fuel spilled into the mouth of Tampa Bay.

The spill undermined tourism to beaches around south Pinellas County for at least four years.

Lawsuits filed by hotel operators to recover damages went on for eight years.

By Adriana Padilla for PeterGreenberg.com.

Related links: Los Angeles Times, AL.com, Wall Street Journal, St. Petersburg Times

Related Links on PeterGreenberg.com:

  • JimC

    Has anyone considered the possibility that the oil rig was destroyed by an explosive charge beneath the water line either by terrorists or radical green freaks, who are trying to show what a real problem with offshore oil drilling can be? Think what kind of a mess we will be in if this is the case, and several other rigs are purposely destroyed!!

  • James

    People love conspiracy theories because they’d like to think everything is part of some great plan. Unfortunately, human error and greed are more likely causes.

  • JimC

    I normally tend to agree, but greed isn’t a factor in this case, and the human error factor seems some how unlikely. The oil rigs are wide open targets for those who may wish us harm…. especially economically. I never subscribe to conspiracy theories….too dramatic for me. This case just seems very fishy to me.

  • Corwin

    I don’t love conspiracy theories, but there IS a great plan to weaken America — by practically the entire rest of the world. Greed and hatred are the motivation for weakening this great nation. What? Do you think they could do it with our permission? Of course it’s done in secret and that’s a conspiracy. The soldiers in Iraq have confirmed that terrorists blew up a rig over there a couple of years ago. That was just practice.