With so many oil spills over the years it really wasn’t too much of a surprise when I read from a favorite site of mine Treehugger.com – “Two weeks ago today, Exxon Mobil’s Pegasus pipeline carrying diluted bitumen from Canada ruptured catastrophically, creating a 22-foot long gash that unleashed hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil and toxic chemical diluents into the Central Arkansas town of Mayflower.”What is tragic about this is the number of residences who have suffered from toxic fumes, the contaminated water and the fact that these people will now have to battle with lawsuits. Having something like this happen within a built up area highlights the danger that pipelines, that criss-cross countries around the world, can create. Most of the time these spills affect both the environment and the animals and, although tragic, is not as impacting on our sense of horror and outrage as it is when there is a population of humans in the forefront.
It really is time that we put more pressure on these companies that disregard the environment and disregard human and animal suffering.
I leave you with a video put out by comedians Andy Cobb and Mike Damanskis who have satirized this disaster…..even though it’s “comedy” I’m sure if you watch it you will get the underlying message.
