Oil Spill In Montana

In the United States, we are well acquainted by this point with oil spills.  After all, it was just a little over a year ago that the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico and spewed oil into the sea for months.  This latest spill, comparatively, is minor and instead of spewing oil for over a month, spewed oil for only about an hour.  Despite the small size of the spill, the damage to wildlife still remains a concern and perhaps even more puzzling is the industry's reaction.  The cause of the spill was a ruptured pipeline carrying crude that according residents in the area, had been slowly exposed by erosion from the Yellowstone River.  Despite repeated pleas to fix the situation with the pipeline so that it wouldn't rupture, Exxon Mobil did nothing.  They said there was nothing wrong with the pipeline, yet the pipeline ruptured.  After the spill occurred, dealings with the company did not get better.  They claimed that the pipeline only spewed oil for six minutes when in reality, it spewed oil for the better part of an hour.  In addition, after claiming the oil only affected 10 miles of the river, oil was found seeping into low lying areas of the river 40 miles downstream.  There are excuses for everything from Exxon Mobil, some of them I am sure are legitimate, yet what ever happened to being honest, especially with people living in the vicinity of the ruptured pipe line.   In addition to not being totally forthcoming with information, security officials for Exxon Mobil attempted to keep people away from affected areas even though many of the areas affected were public land and not subject to their authority. 

To me, it seems as if Exxon Mobil and any other oil company for that matter can do as they wish, figuring that since they have such powerful friends in the government they can get away with anything.  After all the tax breaks they receive from the government, you would think that they would be a little more grateful to the American public for pumping their coffers full of our money, yet you would be wrong again.  Conversely, it seems that in order to make it in the oil industry, one must learn the arts of deception and deceipt in order succeed.  It should come as no surprise then to hear lie after lie coming from the mouths of company employees.  As if that weren't enough, seeing as they are in charge of cleaning up the spill, you might think that they would get right out there to fix the damage and preserve as much wildlife as possible, but then again, you would be wrong.  They take their time cleaning up spills, this case being no different, probably in an effort to keep the clean up process going for as long as possible.  However we proceed from here, the oil company's need a wake up call.  They need to realize that they can not just do as they wish and get away with it time after time.  There will come a point, hopefully soon, where the public will get too fed up with the companies and start asking for payback for all the damages.  Unfortunately, there is one minor problem; the American public relies heavily on these companies for the gas we use to drive around every day.  Until we can find a suitable alternative to gasoline, demanding retribution will be difficult.

As with many aspects of our infrastructure in this country, pipeline's are deteriorating as well; either through exposure as a result from erosion or other natural effect, or just due to the passing of time.  Regardless of the cause of deterioration, we need to take more seriously the pipelines running through out this country and ensure that they are fit to keep pumping whatever fluid they have in them.  We can not keep going through this scenario year after year.   If we keep on having an oil spill yearly, we will eventually destroy much of our environment and have nothing left.  Ok, maybe that view is a little grim and pessimistic, but it is getting to the point where we need to force these companies to look more closely at conservation, preservation, and prevention instead of emergency clean ups and the consequences dealt with in the aftermath of a leak or spill.  But for now, we can all talk to we are blue in the faces with no effect.  If the oil company's keep on getting their kickbacks and tax breaks from our government and we keep on buying their product, they will continue to do as they want with no fear of reprisal.  With as much money as they have, even if a lawsuit were to be waged against them, they wouldn't really be that concerned as they could hire the best law firm in the country to represent their interests.  They only place we can start is with our elected government officials.  We need to pressure them to pressure the oil companies for more transparency and due diligence when it comes to dealing with their own product.  Today, try to drive a little less and save some of the black gold from being burnt.