The Consequences of 'Drill, Baby Drill': More Than 90 Oil Spills a Day in the U.S.

The 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska on March 24 got much attention, including reports that significant oil still pollutes the area and many fish and animal species and the Alaska Native economies that relied on them have still not recovered.

Meanwhile, the captain of the Cosco Busan cargo ship which slammed into San Francisco's Bay Bridge and caused a major spill in November 2007 is currently on trial.

Such dramatic accidents are what normally come to mind when people think of oil spills. But oil spills and ongoing leaks from pipelines, platforms, storage tanks and other infrastructure are actually a daily occurrence in Alaska, the Gulf Coast, California and other parts of the U.S.

Companies are rarely punished for such occurrences, yet these sources of contamination create serious and ongoing public health and environmental problems that communities are often left to deal with on their own. These spills happen from rigs, pipelines and infrastructure both on land and offshore, with the most serious health and environmental consequences coming when oil and related contaminants pollute waterways or seep into groundwater.

The Coast Guard National Response Center, which tallies all reports of oil spills, logged more than 33,000 in 2008. Pipelines and platforms accounted for more than 1,300 each, and storage tanks suffered more than 2,400 spills.

According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, a reported spill should be any "Discharges that cause a sheen or discoloration on the surface of a body of water; discharges that violate applicable water-quality standards; and discharges that cause a sludge or emulsion to be deposited beneath the surface of the water or on adjoining shorelines."

A 2002 report by the National Academies found that an average 880,000 gallons of petroleum enter North American ocean waters because of oil drilling and exploration each year, mainly from leaks in the Gulf of Mexico and off Southern California, northern Alaska and eastern Canada. (The report noted that other human sources, including land-based runoff, boat and jet ski engines and aircraft jettisoning fuel are a much more significant source, introducing about 30 times more petroleum into the ocean each year.)

Worldwide, the report said, 210 million gallons of petroleum enter the sea annually from the extraction, transportation and consumption of crude oil and related products. Oil also seeps naturally from the ocean floor into the water, about 180 million gallons per year according to the National Academies.

The U.S. Department of the Interior is currently considering how to deal with 300 million seafloor acres of offshore-drilling leases President George W. Bush opened up in his final hours in office. President Barack Obama placed a moratorium on new outer continental shelf offshore-drilling leases and extended the public comment period on the leases through September 2009.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the Minerals Management Service, part of the Department of the Interior that handles oil leases, has been holding regional public hearings around the country, including one scheduled for April 16 in San Francisco. Even though increased drilling doesn't seem to fit with Obama's stated focus on renewable energy, it appears likely the government will end up allowing increased offshore drilling, including along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, off Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of offshore leases on the table are those in Arctic waters, where climate change and the effects of increasing industrial development are already taking a huge toll on ecosystems and wildlife. New oil lease sales are being considered in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off Alaska, and in Alaska's Bristol Bay, the world's largest wild salmon fishery. Environmental groups sued to try to block a major February 2008 lease sale in the Chukchi Sea, arguing it would be devastating to walrus, polar bears and other creatures.