Oil Spill

“Texas oil spill harms wildlife; officials work to reopen ship channel”

By: Michael Muskal

Source: LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-texas-oil-spill-galveston-birds-20140324,0,2914466.story#ixzz2xPCcd5jv

An oil spill that happened over the weekend in Texas in the Houston Ship Channel has harmed wildlife and the local economy. Authorities would have liked to reopen the Houston Ship Channel but it remained closed. The oil spill happened after the collision with a Liberian-flagged ship in Galveston Bay on Saturday. 168,000 gallons of oil spilled, threatening birds at a nearby wildlife sanctuary. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Coast Guard are investigating the incident. Eighty ships are waiting to pass through. They are hoping to have the channel partially open where the ships will be able to pass through but as of now they are trying to determine when is the safest time to have it open, but that is not the main concern. The main concern is the effect on birds and wildlife. There had been investigators sent from the Environmental Protection Division to the spill site. More than three birds had been affected by the oil spill on Monday morning, but some reports say that the number of birds affected was larger, but less than a dozen. Birds have been already affected therefore other animals are in danger such as dolphins and turtles. Officials will continue to work on monitoring the environment, controlling the oil spill, and reopening the channel. According to the Coast Guard, The Houston Ship Channel is one of the world’s busiest waterways for moving petrochemicals. The delay of shipping could increase the price to buyers. There has been oil found in the Gulf of Mexico, twelve miles of shore, on Sunday. The oil spill caused a huge amount of damage, not only closing the channel down, but also to the environment around it. Wildlife is being affected and that is not okay. The economy is being affected also. This spill is affecting the small businesses and interrupting fishing. The increasing of prices is not fair to consumers all because of an oil spill. There needs to be a way to control the amount of oil spills happening.