http://keysnews.com/node/25304
Experts to air views on threats past and future
BY TIMOTHY O’HARA Citizen Staff
tohara@keysnews.com
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig may be capped, but the possibility the massive spill will have some type of impact on the Florida Keys is still very real, and the pollution threat is not just from the northern Gulf of Mexico, some experts are saying.
Marine biologists and research scientists with the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Mote Marine Laboratory and other research institutions will present their findings and views on the Deepwater Horizon spill on Wednesday in Key West.
The Natural Resources Defense Council and Oceana are hosting the forum at the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center to help answer the question: What likely are to be the chief impacts of the Gulf spill on the Keys’ marine and coastal habitats, fish and wildlife.
The forum comes after the Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a press release Friday stating the threat of oil reaching the Keys “is not likely.” That is, if the cap continues to hold.
“The likelihood is minimal at this point,” said Billy Causey, regional administrator for the National Marine Sanctuaries Program. “What we don’t want to do at this point is put out misinformation. I think our economy has suffered enough. It’s time to move forward and start with the recovery and restoration of the Gulf of Mexico. … We need to focus on the fact that we are oil free and we will continue to be oil free in the future.”
Keeping the Keys oil free in the future may be a challenge, as a Spanish oil company has entered into negotiations with Cuba to drill just 60 miles south of Key West.
The plans sparked talks between Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and President Barack Obama. Nelson told the president he was “greatly concerned by reports that Spanish oil giant Repsol has contracted with a unit of Italian oil company Eni SpA to operate an exploratory rig off of Cuba’s northwest shores.”
Cuba’s state-run oil company, Cubapetroleo, also continues to lease individual exploration areas to foreign oil companies in both the Florida Straits and Gulf of Mexico, said Nelson, D-Fla. To date, Cuba has leased 17 of 59 areas to oil and gas companies based in Spain, Norway, India, Malaysia, Venezuela, Vietnam and Brazil, Nelson said.
There also are reports that Cuba is negotiating a lease with China National Petroleum to jointly explore as many as five offshore areas in the Gulf.
“It does not matter where it is coming from, we need to be protected,” said Paul Johnson, a marine policy consultant with the Key West-based Reef Relief. “It’s all connected.”
Johnson, who will speak at Wednesday’s meeting, also has concerns about underwater oil plumes from the Deepwater Horizon oil well reaching the Keys.
“There are still a lot of unknowns and unanswered questions that we will not have answers to for quite a while,” said Johnson, who is also a marine policy consultant with National Resource Defense Council.
The forum starts at 6 p.m. at the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center, 35 E. Quay Road, Key West. Scheduled speakers include Causey, Mote coral expert and researcher Dave Vaughan, Florida Institute of Technology marine biologist James Fourqurean, Florida Keys Community College Marine Science Director Patrick Rice and Monroe County Commissioner Mario Di Gennaro, who serves on the governor’s Gulf Oil Spill Economic Recovery Task Force.
tohara@keysnews.com