As a citizen of this planet I am outraged by the oil pollution disaster currently unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico. The current situation reveals a mind boggling 8,750 gallons of oil spewing hourly from a deepwater fractured pipe. With a minimum of three months before any amelioration can be expected, an estimated 20 million gallons will enter into a fragile and highly interconnected ecosystem. This is the largest man-made environmental disaster to date and most shockingly of all, has failed to earn a place as front page news.

The Gulf of Mexico's loop current flows clockwise into the Florida current, where it merges into the Gulf Stream flowing Northeast off the Atlantic seaboard. If this oil reaches the Gulf Stream, which now seems likely, it may flow as far as Europe and even Africa. This will cause a mass killoff of marine life from plankton to whales on an unprecedented scale. It will cause the loss of thousands of jobs in the fishing, seafood and tourism industries from over 15 coastal states and Mexico. It will devastate an economy that is already gripped in the third year of a major recession.

The impact of this event can be foreshadowed by the Exxon Valdez disaster in Prince William Sound Alaska, now some 21 years ago. Recovered pockets of crude oil from the region show little evidence of any biodegradation. Fish stocks such as Herring, a prime forage fish for many high level predators (such as whales) have yet to show any signs of recovery. The cleanup effort alone cost 2.5 Billion dollars and most of those fisherman are now financially and emotionally broke. Is this what we can expect for a disaster far greater in scope, with no clear stop-gap solution to date?

I am outraged at our government for such inept oversight of a multibillion dollar offshore oil business and I am appalled at BP's failure to correct their incompetencies. Mostly I am disappointed at public apathy as this historic event has been relegated to page seven of our local paper. I am alarmingly confident that this will be the greatest man-made environmental disaster for generations to come and I urge everyone to get involved through petition, protestation or volunteerism. As my father used to say - "just do something."

Dr. Thomas Armbruster

President - SandyHook SeaLife Foundation