Scott And Crist, Like Oil And Water (Crist photo: Martha Jackovics)
Back in April 2010, BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform exploded, killing eleven workers and letting loose an oil spill that couldn't be contained until September 2010.
In October of this year, Central Florida Health officials issued warnings about a flesh-eating bacterium that led to the death of a Flagler County man last month, but tried to do so without causing too much panic for Floridians. Since then, however, 27 more cases of flesh-eating bacteria have been recorded. Henry Konietzky's was the ninth death.
Vibrio vulnificus bacterium is a naturally occuring bacteria, but it's making an appearance much more often in the wake of these cases, and one has to look into why.
This brings us back to the BP oil spill of 2010.
The Alabama Gulf Coast attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, and since the 2010 BP Oil Spill, tens of thousands of tar balls.
A couple hundred miles away at Auburn University, Dr. Cova Arias, a professor of aquatic microbiology, conducts research on the often-deadly and sometimes flesh-eating bacteria Vibrio Vulnificus. Arias’ research at Auburn, and through the school’s lab at Dauphin Island, has focused on Vibrio’s impact on the oyster industry which was brought to a standstill three years ago by the BP Oil Spill. In 2010, out of curiosity, Arias set out to discover if Vibrio were present in the post-spill tar balls washing up on the Alabama and Mississippi coasts. She was highly surprised by what she found.
“What was clear to us was that the tar balls contain a lot of Vibrio Vulnificus,” said Arias.
Arias can show an observer Vibrio in the lab as it appears as a ring on the top of the solution in a test tube. Vibrio is not something, though, that a person can see in the water, sand, or tar balls.
But, Arias’ research shows it there, especially in the tar balls, in big numbers.
According to Dr. Arias’ studies, there were ten times more vibrio vulnificus bacteria in tar balls than in the surrounding sand, and 100 times more than in the surrounding water.
“In general, (the tar balls) are like a magnet for bacteria,” said Arias.
Arias’ theory is that Vibrio feeds on the microbes that are breaking down the tar.
She and researchers looked at tar balls that washed in to the same areas they had previously studied so they could therefore make valid comparisons to before the oil spill.
“What we also found was in water, the numbers were about ten times higher than the numbers that have reported before from that area,” said Arias
So the water alone had ten times as much Vibrio as before the oil spill, and the tar balls themselves had 100-times more Vibrio than the water.
People can get Vibrio in two ways, either by eating infected seafood, like raw oysters, or being in infected waters, where the water can get into open wounds, which may have been how Konietzky encountered it.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the state there's a divide on whether to even warn people in the fear that they might cause a panic.
Posting signs about bacteria that are impossible to detect would be ineffective, said Dr. Bonnie Sorensen, director of the Volusia County Health Department.
"This is naturally occurring, so I'm not sure where you would start posting signs," she said. "It's everywhere."
Also everywhere is the tainted water, the dispersant used by BP, and those tar balls which are still out there to be found. Back in 2010, oil cleanup crews were "ordered" to wear protective clothing to protect themselves from the toxins, but not all of them did, as it wasn't strictly enforced, and many of them became ill as a result. Early on BP bragged that the oil was gone, merely because it wasn't visible to the eye. Dispersant is used to break up the oil which then sinks to the bottom.
With the oil "gone" (but not forgotten by many) the push to begin drilling in Florida once again is making a comeback.
At the time of the spill, then Governor Charlie Crist said he would do whatever was necessary to protect Florida. “I always would prefer to be criticized for doing too much, rather than be criticized for doing too little.” He worked to open a command center to work jointly with Alabama, where Arias study on the tar ball connection is being conducted.
In December of 2010, then Governor Scott was not impressed with President Obama's reimposed offshore drilling ban, and so Scott released this statement:
"The Obama Administration’s offshore drilling ban is yet another example of government regulation impeding economic growth. Florida is committed to pursuing energy independence, which is essential to national security. With sound policies in place, we could expand domestic drilling and eliminate our reliance on foreign oil. Furthermore, I am disappointed that the White House has chosen to unilaterally impose a policy that threatens job creation and economic growth in Florida without consulting our office.”
Scott is again tossing out the idea of bringing back oil drilling to Florida, and fracking is being considered as well, as bad an idea as that would be for our fragile aquifer, lands, and communities.
Florida needs leaders who will think of the environment first, and Floridians as well, as they consider this new threat of dangerous killer bacteria lurking beneath the water, and in plain sight on those numerous tar balls on the beaches.
What you can't see can hurt you.
