Dr Satish Chand




Comedians can be cruel. One recently jibed that America had its first black president and its brand new black sea.
Another, following President Obama’s win in 2008, quipped that America had once again given the worst job in the nation to a black man. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico certainly leaves the president with one of the messiest cleanups ever.
If the President proved his worth helping clean the clogged banking system, this was a practice run for the looming challenge of the crude oil cleanup. And much like the financial crisis, this oil spill had its making in an era before the President took office. Many of the cosy deals struck between big business and past administrations are slowly coming to light. And much of what is being revealed is disturbing. Here, I take on the lessons for the Pacific Islands from the spill in the Gulf of America.
The gushing geyser
On first reports by British Petroleum (BP), oil was leaking into the gulf at a rate of 5,000 barrels per day. When the first underwater pictures of the gushing oil appeared on TV, independent estimates suggested the figure could be anything between 50 to 70 thousand barrels a day. This equates to anything between 8 and 11 million litres of poisonous crude oil making its way into the ocean. Just to get this home, this is equivalent to anything between 90 and 110 litres of crude pumped into the ocean every second.
The damage from the oil spill is broadcast hourly into American homes. Images of birds drenched in oil and marshes covered in thick black smudge suggest that the damage done to the flora and fauna could be both extensive and long-term. Fishing has been halted in the affected regions. Consumers like me will pay more for their sea food, but this is the least of the worries. Worse affected are fishermen and businesses reliant on the industry. America is a rich economy. And BP has promised relief to those hit the hardest. No amount of relief could revive the lost fauna and flora, however. No compensation is enough relief for those suffocating below the surface of water either. And the gushing geyser captured by underwater cameras was unrelenting at the time of writing—a full month after the disaster that claimed eleven lives. The failure to cap the flow persists despite call on all available resources at the hands of the mightiest company, and that of the richest nation.
Much of the above is well known, thanks to the media and investigative journalism. More will become clearer with time on both the costs of this disaster and the failings of a system that was supposed to have averted this crisis. South East Coast of America may be distant, but this accident offers many lessons to Pacific Islanders.
The Pacific Ocean covers approximately a third of the earth’s surface. It spans an area larger than the total land mass of the world. And tuna from the Pacific already accounts for approximately half the global catch. I bet this gigantic pan, home to the tiniest of nation states, also houses a third of the total global reserves of oil, gas, and precious metals. And that it is only a matter of time before these are discovered.
An oil spill of the size of the Gulf of Mexico would have left all of the coastlines of Viti Levu (and neighbouring islands) smudged for decades. It would be enough to starve many islands communities. Those in the Yasawas, as one example, might have considered their homes covered with sea water if not worse.
Fiji is large. Imagine a spill of the same magnitude in Micronesia. These islands states are not just small, but resource scarce. Coconut and fish constitute the staple for many isolated island communities. A single major oil spill could easily spell starvation for these communities.
The largest Pacific Islands nation has no reason to be complacent either. One PNG politician once boasted that his nation was an island of gold floating on a sea of (crude) oil. He might want to correct himself as this island is also floating on natural gas given the mammoth Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project underway in his green and gorgeous country.
Lessons to learn
So what are the lessons from the Gulf of America? First, accept that the Pacific Pan is susceptible to an oil spill similar in magnitude to that in the Gulf some time in the future. Rather than wait for such an eventuality, islands governments must learn from the unfolding disaster in the Gulf. Second, extreme care has to be taken in issuing mining licenses.
Further, regulation of industry, particularly those with the potential to be disastrous for the environment, needs to be scrutinised closely. Third, SOPAC (South Pacific Island Applied Geoscience Commission) and SPREP (South Pacific Regional Environment Programme) must take lead in drawing lessons from the Gulf for island governments.
Fourth, independent monitoring of the environmental impact of industries must be established. The University of the South Pacific has both the skills and the scale to provide this service to its member nations.
Finally, our journalists need both training in and awareness of the fragility of islands environments. It is investigative journalism that has brought many of the realities of the oil spill into the living rooms of the American public.  Imagine the consequences if the same disaster erupted in our region?