The Problem:
For several years, The Bahamas government has been flirting with the idea of allowing offshore oil drilling in its beautiful crystalline waters, home for one of the most studied dolphin populations in the world. Now they plan to go forward with the idea as soon as this December. They plan to open 3.9 million acres of water to offshore drilling.
The Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) is proposing to start drilling in these Bahamian waters, which are near protected areas and the Cuba and Florida Coasts, between December 15, 2020 and February of 2021. According to the local Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF), the BPC has published a substandard Environmental Impact Assessment and an inadequate spill response plan. The drilling ship ICE Max is currently waiting in the Canary Islands for deployment to The Bahamas.
This proposal comes despite tourism being the most important part of The Bahamas economy. Such drilling is also a threat to the Atlantic Coast of the United States, where local coastal activists and politicians have been fighting against offshore oil drilling for years.
Embed from Getty ImagesOil exploration requires extremely loud noises by shooting off air guns into the water column to map out potential oil bearing rocks from the echoes off the layers of earth. These booms can be heard for miles underwater. Marine mammals in particular are sensitive to loud underwater noise, which has led to ear damage and death of cetaceans. Oil drilling also comes with loud mechanical noise, and uses a number of toxic materials in drilling muds that are dumped into the ocean after use. Small oil spills tend to be routine, especially in transferring oil to surface vessels for transport to land for processing.
California waters have been drilled for years, resulting in the massive 1969 oil spill when a well blew out that tarred beaches of Santa Barbara with an estimated 3 million gallons of oil, helping to grow the modern environmental movement. Such an oil spill could damage beaches in The Bahamas for years to come, as the oil takes time to break down. Use of dispersants to control oil includes additional toxic components, further poisoning marine life.
It is clear that The Bahamas government would be unable to contain a major oil spill nor would the country be able to make payments to mitigate such a disaster to fishermen, coastal communities and others impacted by the oil.
Coral reefs in The Bahamas are already suffering from bleaching, likely caused by increasingly warm water from global warming episodes of high temperatures. Adding oil to the mix will be a major threat to the survival of these reefs and the marine life that depend on them.
What You Can Do:
Sign the petition urging Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis to cancel all oil drilling and exploration leases in The Bahamas. Protection of its coral reefs and the general health of the ocean is extremely important to the people of The Bahamas and the world.
Follow the work of the International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute here to receive updates and other news about offshore oil drilling and exploration threats.
