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EarthTalk: Is offshore drilling any safer?

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Dear EarthTalk: Is offshore drilling any safer for the environment today given lessons learned from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico? — Leslie Jackson, Bern, N.C.

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in 2010 resulted in 11 lost lives and hundreds of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. Various failures resulted in the loss of well control, an explosion, fire and an ongoing spill. Five years later, the U.S. Department of the Interior reported that there were more floating deepwater drilling rigs working in the Gulf of Mexico than prior to that devastating spill, and drilling activity is only expected to steadily grow.

In light of this, and in response to the findings of investigations into the tragedy, the Interior Department announced a proposal in 2015 that will encompass “the most ambitious reform agenda in the Department’s history to strengthen, update and modernize offshore energy regulations.”

Proposed regulations include enhanced industry standards for blowout prevention technologies and reforms in well design, well control, casing, cementing and subsea containment.

U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director Brian Salerno noted that new regulations would also provide oversight of equipment performance and operations through third party verification and real-time monitoring viewed onshore.

“Both industry and government have taken important strides to better protect human lives and the environment from oil spills, and these proposed measures are designed to further build on critical lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy and to ensure that offshore operations are safe,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said.

While the Interior Department has yet to finalize its proposed regulations, this past fall, the BSEE gave Shell Oil approval for two Applications for Permits to Drill (APD) to conduct limited exploratory drilling in the untouched waters of the Chukchi Sea off of Alaska’s northwest coast. The Chukchi provides nutrients and pristine habitat for a multitude of organisms, the U.S. Audubon Society said, ranging from walruses, ice seals and whales to millions of seabirds and the top predator mammal, the polar bear.

“Without question, activities conducted offshore Alaska must be held to the highest safety, environmental protection and emergency response standards,” Salerno said. “Without the required well-control system in place, Shell will not be allowed to drill into oil-bearing zones.”

Shell will be limited to drilling only the top sections of wells and barred from drilling into oil-bearing zones until it has its capping stack, equipment placed over a well in the event of a blowout, on site.

Contacts: U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, bsee.gov; Shell Oil, shell.us.

Dear EarthTalk: What advantages do so-called “vertical farms” have over traditional gardens and farms? — Sylvia Pleasant, Washington, D.C.

When Dickson Despommier’s book “The Vertical Farm: Feeding the World in the 21st Century” was first published, there were no vertical farms. Now, it’s an exciting movement in U.S. food production, providing pesticide-free leafy greens and herbs to a fast-growing population.

Indoor vertical farms use LED (light emitting diode) lighting for efficient photosynthesis in place of sunlight and can grow plants year round — in half the time and with far less water compared to outdoor, open-field farms. There’s also no risk of genetically modified (GMO) seed contamination or crop failure due to weather conditions like drought.

“On average, we’re growing in 16 days what otherwise takes 30 days in a field — using 95 percent less water, about 50 percent less fertilizers, zero pesticides, herbicides and fungicides,” said David Rosenberg, chief executive and co-founder of AeroFarms. “People don’t want chemicals on their food. And we’re able to offer them a residue-free product with no pesticides.”

Aerofarms is currently constructing what will be the world’s largest indoor vertical farm. The $30 million, 69,000 square-foot complex in a former steel mill in Newark, N.J.’s Ironbound District will grow up to 2 million pounds of kale, arugula and other greens annually. At the groundbreaking ceremony in July, New Jersey Acting Governor Kim Guadagno said: “By 2050, there will be 9 billion people who need to eat every day. And the solution is right here on the property you’re standing on.”

Vertical Harvest’s three-story, 13,500 square-foot vertical farm is also now under construction in Jackson Hole, Wyo. With an average annual snowfall of 450 inches, one might not equate the mountainous region with year-round local food, but Vertical Harvest’s tiny 1/10 acre lot next to a parking garage aims to grow up to 100,000 pounds of tomatoes, herbs and greens annually.

It would take a traditional outdoor farm 5 acres, or 50 times the land area, to grow that much food.

“We’re replacing food that’s being grown in Mexico or California and shipped in,” said Penny McBride, a Vertical Harvest co-founder. “We feel like the community’s really ready for a project like this. Everybody’s so much more aware of the need to reduce transportation, and people like to know their farmer and where food’s coming from.”

In 2013, FarmedHere opened its vertical farm in an abandoned warehouse in the industrial Chicago suburb of Bedford Park. The farm, which was the first of its kind to receive USDA national organic certification, has been successfully distributing its produce to an extensive array of grocers within the Greater Chicago area, including Whole Foods, Mariano’s, Shop & Save and Pete’s Fresh Market.

FarmedHere reuses 97 percent of its water, uses no herbicides or pesticides, and takes advantage of indoor growing technology to create optimal-tasting plants.

“The plants have better nutrients, better growing conditions, and actually we can tweak the taste with lighting and with nutrients, with temperatures, with turning lights on and off at certain times of the day and with humidity,” said Paul Hardej, who founded FarmedHere with his wife, Jolanta.

“We have conducted a lot of blind tests with the best chefs in Chicago, and we found our products to be a winner.”

Contacts: AeroFarms, aerofarms.com; Vertical Harvest, verticalharvestjackson.com; FarmedHere, farmedhere.com.

EarthTalk is produced by Doug Moss and Roddy Scheer and is a registered trademark of Earth Action Network Inc. View past columns at earthtalk.org and email questions to earthtalk@emagazine.com.


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