Guest Opinion: Ranker & Dicks Comment on Puget Sound’s “Slow” Oil Spill
From the Seattle Times
By Kevin Ranker and David Dicks, Executive Director of Puget Sound Partnership
Special to The Times
As the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history unfolds in the Gulf of Mexico, it’s tempting to rest comfortably on our success avoiding a similar calamity here in Puget Sound.
Our success, so far, is not the result of good luck. The state has vigorously worked to prevent oil spills, providing a rapid-response system, stringent oversight of oil companies, and a tugboat dedicated to rescuing distressed ships before they crash and spill hazardous cargoes.
The bad news is, even though its glistening waters look pristine, Puget Sound is in a crisis most of us don’t see: a slow-moving spill of millions of gallons of petroleum and chemicals carried by stormwater.
Our famed Northwest rain, which washes our homes, driveways, roads and parking lots, picks up oil from car leaks, toxins, pesticides, fertilizers and bacteria from pet waste and livestock.
(To read the full opinion piece, go to seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2011906378_guest20ranker.html
