The Well Named Macondo: Silenced Forever

The images of the Nightmare Well are something that the people living near the coast will never forget. The well, which was named Macondo after the mythical town of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude”, was spewed with gallons and gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico causing havoc on the coastlines from Texas to Florida.

Last Sunday, September 19, 2009, officials have declared that the well is officially dead and sealed off. This ends the drama that started 5 months ago (April 20, 2010) when the blast killed 11 workers and spewed 206 million gallons of oil in the gulf.

The man in charge of operations, Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, assured that the well will no longer pose a threat to the gulf after a pressure test was done.

The ramification of the Nightmare Well reaches to both economic and environmental concerns. A vast amount of oil remains afloat in the water, some of it even reaching the coast. Many fishermen in the area are hit with the economic pinch as many are not allowed to fish. And those who catch shrimps are having a hard time selling their goods mainly due to the perception that they are inedible and are not safe to eat.

The tourism industry near the gulf has been severely hit by the massive oil spill, drastically changing the coastline and the lifestyle of the people living in the area. People have lost jobs and revenues.  The once mighty oil giant BP PLC  who owns the majority of the oil rig has the hardest hit as it has been reported that they have already shelled 9.5 billion dollars in the cleanup effort as well as reserving up to 20 billion dollars  in a relief/compensation fund for the victims of the disaster.

In the meantime, there is hope for those in the gulf as fishing grounds are slowly being opened and tourists are now beginning to return to the area. There is hope that they can recover from this even after losing a full summers worth of revenue. They also wait for their compensation as the struggle to recover continues. For now, the well named Macondo is silenced forever but many still hear the echoes.

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Related posts:

1. There is Hope After the Oil Spill Disaster