Oil Slick

I've been keeping track of the continued disaster in the Gulf, as most people have, and all I can feel lately is a sense of impending doom. One of the government leaders from a coastal area made the point that even after the leak is sealed off and BP makes compensation to any affected areas, there is no guarantee that there wouldn't be a continued threat to the coastal environments over the course of several years.

It took a minute for that to sink in.

I realized that he was right. The amount of oil in the Gulf is enormous. While most of it seems to be on the surface, and not in danger of hitting the coastline yet, it won't stay that way. Hurricane season is only 3 weeks away. It's not going to be a question of whether a hurricane whips the polluted water all over the place, it's of a question of how many times it will happen in the next few months. We haven't even begun to see the worst of this disaster.

All it will take is one hurricane passing directly over that area, creating storm surges that will drive all that oily water, not only onto the beaches, but onto the land directly adjacent to it. It will be polluted for decades.

The mind boggles at the worst case scenario....and the best case probably isn't that great either.