Oil Spill Threatens Delaware River Wildlife

[Placebo]

A tanker spilled 30,000 gallons of crude oil into the Delaware River between Philadelphia and southern New Jersey, creating a 20-mile-long slick that killed dozens of birds and threatened other wildlife, federal officials said Saturday.

Private contractors were called in to skim oil from the surface of the water and place thousands of feet of boom to contain the floating slick.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials said 50 birds were dead from the spill, 300 others were affected and fish also were threatened. A stretch of the busy river was closed to commercial and recreational traffic while the spill was being cleaned up.

full article may be found here: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20041128/ap_on_re_us/oil_spill

[Erika]

1. Bush Speak

We were able to minimize environmental damage due to increased tax relief to the corporations involved. Without our tax relief, the damage could have been tremendous. Thank God for corporations and our wise shifting of tax relief to them. We are saving the planet. Thank God for corporations and our progressive tax cuts favoring them. GWB.

[Placebo]

2. So true.

*sigh*

[Judi Lynn]

3. Such a sad spectacle. The incentives to companies to prevent these events

are being seriously weakened, aren't they, thanks to pResident _Bush?

From the article:

The tanker, the Athos I, registered in the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus, was carrying 325,000 barrels of oil from Venezuela, said Jim Lawrence, a spokesman for the vessel's owner, Greek shipping company Tsakos Shipping and Trading SA.

The nearly 750-foot-long ship, built in 1983, was last out of the water for maintenance in April, Lawrence said. He said it had never before spilled oil.

It was the worst spill on the Delaware River since 1995, when strong wind pushed a tanker away from a refinery dock in West Deptford, N.J., snapping a fuel line that spilled 40,000 gallons. In 1989, a tanker ran aground near Claymont, Del., spilling 300,000 gallons of heating oil into the river.

About one million barrels of oil come through the Port of Philadelphia each day.
(snip/...)

[Carl Brennan]

4. It's the environmentalists fault!

They need to get off their asses and stop this and if they can't they should have a quicker response to spills. (sarcasm/off)

[talk hard]

5. Hey, the wildlife had it coming.

Pesky creatures. Too bad we couldn't have hunted them with bows and arrows by helicopters first.

[LisaL]

6. We are liberating them, just the same.

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

[Moderator]

7. Duplicate topic--Please continue discussion here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1026293