Gulf of Mexico Has Long Been Dumping Site

This article states that the social ecology of the Gulf region has evolved into accepting environmental abuse and a passive resignation that the petrochemical industry in the Gulf Region is intertwined with its political and economic systems. The Deepwater Horizon oil/natural gas spill crisis, as perhaps the United States worst environmental catastrophe, according to this article is only one act of many over a 50 year period that has caused the Gulf of Mexico to become an accepted dumping group for environmental pollutants. If so, what will bring the Gulf back to a having a healthy environment and a resilient and sustainable social ecology? The following excerpt from this New York Times article provides the reader with a sense of the resignation, apathy, and lack of education within the Gulf coast citizenry of what they can do to be a part of bringing the Gulf back from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON Published: July 29, 2010 "...The gulf has changed, Mr. Pitre said: “I think it’s too far gone to salvage.” The BP oil spill has sent millions of barrels gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, focusing international attention on America’s third coast and prompting questions about whether it will ever fully recover from the spill. Now that the oil on the surface appears to be dissipating, the notion of a recovery from the spill, repeated by politicians, strikes some here as short-sighted. The gulf had been suffering for decades before the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20." For More Information: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/us/30gulf.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=homepage