It is a very powerful dramatization of the events on the Deep Water Horizon rig before the high pressure from the deep water oil well "the well from hell" busted the pipes and set the drilling rig on fire, killing 11 workers on April 20, 2010.
I was a sophomore, environmental engineering student in college when that happened and I honestly don't remember hearing that people died on the rig. The 20 million gallons of oil being released into the ocean that summer was all I heard about it.
Ever since my first job as a food commissary worker at the boy scout camp I have felt those little pressures here and there from management on getting it done quicker to make the money. It was sometimes more profitable to waste some food, or not take the time to breakdown cardboard or recycle, I hated it. I did it. In this film the well drilling process was already 43 days behind schedule and several million over budget, so they began cutting corners by skipping a concrete test on the pipe. Two tricky unusual test results gave a tricky reading of the pressure and they made the decision to open the well up for harvest, but there was way too much pressure down there that it broke the equipment and shot the oil into the rig which eventually caught fire.
As a new employee in the energy industry, a solar installer I understand the pressure coming down from management on getting the energy out at a reasonable time. And I can somewhat empathize with the middle management on the oil rig who have pressure from the big bosses to get that rig up and running and start to overlook the safety for the workers. Money and the pressure.
Similar story with NASA's Challenger disaster in 1986, there were some faulty O-rings and they discussed it the day before launch was scheduled but they decided as a group it was ok to proceed with the launch. The frost overnight made the problem worse and the tiny little thing of the bad O-ring failure caused the entire space shuttle to explode killing the crew during the launch.
I can remember distinct times on every job I've had that the pressure to get things done on time we went real fast and sometimes that left us in tough situation. One time, I never opened the pre-wrapped-in-aluminum-foil garlic bread to check it's quality before we handed it out and then I got a call 20 minutes after I got home that all the bread was moldy and the scout masters were very angry. I could have gotten fired for that, but I imagine mistakes on a big oil rig are just as easy to do, and have far worse consequences.
The corporate world has an incredible influence in our lives. Those of us with jobs are trapped because we have to make the money to pay for healthcare, buy food, and clothes for our kids. Yet sometimes that can put us in a real tough spot when we may have moral, safety, personal, or some other objection to doing a job a certain way.
It is really easy as an environmentalist, Eco-Steward, protester, solar installer, Nature Camper, and JMU ISAT graduate to blame all of this and the Deep Water Horizon on the big business, big oil, big money, quarterly profits, etc. Right. I mean all that is true. But the thing that strikes me most from this film was that WE PEOPLE, myself included buy the oil that caused 11 people die on the oil rig and so much more destruction beyond those deaths. I'm responsible.
I drove two and a half hours to meet my brother for his Birthday to see the film, and drive back. I watch these ELEVEN guys die in the oil fire knowing I had to fill my car up with gas to get back home and that I had an oil change scheduled the next day. I watched the characters burn up because my society is dependent on that oil. I cried a little thinking about being in that kind of workplace on that day. Imagining doing that job to pay for a parent's medical bill, or to send your kid to college. They put their lives on the line every day digging up fossil fuels. Why do they dig it up? We will buy it,so they will get it! No matter what they charge. Not only is the money putting pressure on them to hurry up and cut corners, but there is a massive thirst for the black gold.
Of course in all reality the extremely high effusion pressure of that particular oil well may not have been able to be contained regardless of corporate pressure. But the dangers of oil harvesting get worse the harder it is to get to the oil. The easy oil is in North America where many are protesting new development such as the Keystone XL pipeline, the Bakken oil being held back by the Standing Rock Souix tribe and so many other native people who have joined them in protest in North Dakota.
Please watch the film Deep Water Horizon. Please watch the damage to the pelicans, the ocean, and see the damage to the people. Watch the rig explode and burn uncontrollabley. Please remember that story, and take an action in your community to break the mold. We can't let the profits, and conveniences superscede the life of a fellow man, or another species, or our home. Please do what you can.
If you have no idea what to do in your locally send me an Email haneyja314@gmail.com I'll find you something, Or look for what the Sierra Club is doing near you. They are a widespread and informed group to get you started.
This graphic is a few years old, but it shows how many quadrillion BTUs of energy are used by we US citizens. It is easier to follow percentage but for perspective, 1BTU is about the energy you get out of striking one match.
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