We have a new champion: The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has now exceeded the Exxon Valdez incident of thirty years ago and is only getting worse.
Yet, as the Old Gray Lady reports online this a.m., this is nothing compared to what has, is and continues to happen in Nigeria.
"Experts estimate that some 13 million barrels of oil have been spilt in the Niger Delta since oil exploration began in 1958. This is the equivalent of one Exxon Valdez every year for 50 years." Yet there is little or no coverage of this ongoing disaster in the Niger River Delta.
This is crazy stuff. I am not an expert or anything close to an environmentalist but this is nuts. "Dead fish and oily water are part of daily life for Niger Delta residents, as are gas flares. Some middle-aged Niger Delta residents have never had a night of total darkness...Oil companies operate in Nigeria with little or no oversight from the government. It must be noted that the government has part ownership in the subsidiaries of all the oil multinationals which operate in Nigeria."
San Antonio, Texas academic Anene Ejikeme continues in the Opinion piece in today's New York Times to tell that "Interviewed by one television station, BP CEO Tony Howard offered a hollow-sounding apology, then quickly added, 'I’d like my life back.' When big oil spills happen, ordinary people rarely get their lives back."
True that.
WFDS
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