Oil spill update.

So, let us recap: an unexpected leak has dumped highly alarming amounts of crude oil into the water, taxing the resources of local authorities.  Wildlife and wetland areas are already affected, and there’s no sign of swift relief.  The governor of the state primarily involved – a state that frankly cannot afford more bad things happening to it – is screaming for the relevant federal authorities to get out of neutral and actually help, and screaming largely in vain.  And, of course, nobody’s quite sure how much crude has leaked, and how culpable the oil company is in the leak, and whether the same federal authorities that aren’t helping now are responsible for missing the conditions that caused the original leak.

Michigan can’t just seem to catch a break.

Contamination from a massive oil spill in the Kalamazoo River has spread 35 miles from the initial the source of the leak, potentially endangering another cleanup site and prompting a sharp rebuke from the governor.

[snip]

In a conference call late Wednesday, Gov. Jennifer Granholm said the sheen has been seen from the air near the dam at Lake Morrow — an area officials with Enbridge Energy Co. Inc., the Canadian owners of the pipeline, had hoped to protect.

“The situation is very serious,” she said. “The company and the EPA promised us they would provide additional resources. They know the resources they have provided so far have been wholly inadequate.”

Much more commentary unnecessary, but I’d like to note for the record that the general assumption among the American people was that this administration would at least take its poor overall response to the spill down in the Gulf of Mexico as a not-so-subtle indication that THEY NEEDED TO DO BETTER NEXT TIME.  Well, it’s ‘next time.’  That part of Michigan is already virtually one big Superfund site: so where’s the EPA?  For that matter, why hasn’t the White House addressed this issue?  I know that over 800,000 gallons of crude oil may not sound like much compared to the Gulf spill, but it’s concentrated in a much smaller area…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.