Proposed oil and gas drilling exploration off the coast of South Africa has raised fears of another Deepwater Horizon-like incident.
The Wild Trust, with a marine conservation programme, Wild Oceans, submitted comment on Environmental Resources Management’s (ERM) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) application on behalf of Italian oil company Eni, which is seeking environmental authorisation to drill up to six deep-water wells offshore of the East Coast of South Africa.
“A key concern relating to any offshore oil and gas exploration drilling programme is the risk of a catastrophic oil spill occurring, and the environmental and socio-economic impacts such a spill can have.”
He added that the ecological and socio-economic impacts associated with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon well blow-out and subsequent oil spill clearly illustrated this risk.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill began in April 2010 off the Gulf of Mexico and resulted in the release of 124million gallons of oil, over 112146km.
“The released oil was toxic to a wide range of organisms, including fish, invertebrates, plankton, birds, turtles and mammals and caused a wide array of toxic effects, including death, disease, reduced growth, impacted reproduction, and physiological impairments that made it more difficult for organisms to survive and reproduce.”
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Source: IOL
