According to Northwestern Prof. Neal Blair, an accident in the Gulf of Mexico “was as certain as an earthquake on the San Andreas Fault.” This controversial statement began a discussion on the April 20 Gulf oil spill, organized by Science Cafe Evanston, an NU science-based community outreach program.
Despite testing anomalies and other warning signs on the Deepwater Horizon rig, methane rose up through the well and created an explosion, killing 11 people and causing the rig to later sink. The result was an oil spill that released 4.5 million barrels of oil per day, Blair said.
Blair, a civil and environmental engineering professor, discussed many of the issues that preceded the catastrophe, such as increasing closeness between government regulators and oil companies, unimaginative and vague emergency plans, and a disregard for several anomalies leading up to the explosion.
Blair then discussed the various ways of capping the leak, such as the unsuccessful top kill and the successful relief well, which ended the leak about 110 days after the initial explosion.
After a short intermission, Blair continued to discuss the devastating economic and environmental effects of the spill. He included the short-term costs of the spill, like the great number of marine animal deaths, and also the long-term costs, such as the movement of oil toxins through the food chain.
Several Evanston residents in attendance asked Blair questions involving the specifics of government regulations and the effects of oil on the ecology of the ocean. Because the discussion was very intimate, including around 25 people, these questions made the presentation livelier.
“I thought it was an interesting topic, and I came to hear about the science behind it,” Evanston resident Mark White said. “I thought the presentation was very clear.”
Tom Wagner, another attendee and Evanston resident, thought the presentation offered a more critical view of the content.
“It focused on the negative aspects of what has occurred, but we don’t really know what the long-term effects are,” he said.
Both Blair and Suzanne Auburn, the director of the Science Cafe series, agreed that education about oil extraction is important. Blair said more knowledge about the topic will help with energy conservation efforts.
“We will be better educated to make decisions that will help make the world better,” Auburn said.
The next Science Cafe event will be held on January 19, covering invasive species in Lake Michigan. The presenter will be Jim Robinett, vice president of animal collection at the Shedd Aquarium.
