At least 11 oil spills have crippled parts of Trinidad and Tobago, coating miles of beach with crude as the state-owned energy company scrambles to control what's being called one of the country's worst environmental disasters.
Petrotrin, Trinidad's state-owned oil company, first responded to an oil spill near La Brea on Dec. 17, according to a report from the Trinidad Guardian. Over the past month, the company has confirmed at least 11 spills and was slapped with a $3.1 million fine from the country's Environmental Management Authority last week, which the company's president, Khalid Hassanali, called "harsh."
Here's where it gets weird.
The pipeline responsible for the first of the leaks at Petrotrin's Point-a-Pierre facility, which resulted in an initial spill of more than 7,000 barrels, may not have undergone any inspections for the past 17 years, according to a confidential report commissioned by the company and obtained by the Trinidad Guardian.
Lol . . . . . sigh . . . . .
The Gadfly begs forgiveness dear readers for his mordant chuckling. He simply just has to laugh, because The Gadfly's reserve of tears have dried up and besides -- crying about it is a useless endeavor.
And ain't it absolutely cute how the oil company president, Khalid Hassanali, was whining about the $3.1 million dollar fine for his company's 11 spills over the past month, saying that it was "harsh" punishment. To which The Gadfly would summarily respond, "umm no you greedy, worthless piece of shit -- 'harsh' would be your money-grubbing, oily ass dangling from a hangman's noose for despoiling such a beautiful natural environment with your toxic sludge - so stfu before we reconsider your judicial retribution."
The Gadfly isn't harboring all of his invective for Sheik Hassanali though. Swinging by the neck in the warm tropical breeze alongside of him would be every politician, oil industry official and company officer responsible for the fact that the ruptured pipeline apparently has not been inspected in the past 17 years. The Gadfly has water pipes under his home which seem to burst every 4 or 5 years, and these fuckers somehow are of the belief that oil pipelines last for eternity?
But then, how can you blame them right? We here in America have pretty much set the benchmark for deregulation idiocy, and it is not out of the realm of probability that they were simply following the U.S. lead in putting profits before public health and safety and environmental preservation. Because as we all know, corporations are people, and special people at that. In fact, they are so special that anyone attempting, or even proposing to monitor and oversee their activities are labeled enemies of liberty, FREEEEEEEEDOM! and the American way of life.
If the religion of Jeebus is to be believed in the literal sense, there simply are no fire pits in the depths of hell hot enough for these bastards to roast in -- in The Gadfly's humble view.
----TFG
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