These are the words of Acy Cooper, a shrimp fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico, speaking recently. Although over 80% of the waters in the gulf have now been cleared as fit for fishing again, his concern is that harmful levels of toxicity remain in his shrimp catches.
Cooper speaks for many of the fishermen in the area, who have experienced one of the greatest eco-catastrophes in recent US history. In April 2010, there was an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig which killed 11 workers, injured many others and created an oil leak that was not secured for another four months. The rig was part of BP’s drilling equipment. The Blow-out Preventer failed to prevent a blow-out and 4.9 million barrels of oil (around 50–60,000 barrels each day) poured into the waters of the gulf, preventing fishing and polluting vast stretches of water. The cost to BP has been estimated at more than $8 billion and they have already paid out $399 million in claims. However, the cost to the environment cannot be as easily calculated and the litigation as to liability will be long, drawn out and very costly. BP is soon to release the report of their internal investigation, laying some blame on the other corporations involved in the drilling.
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