Oil spill won't "harm people" says Exxon.

Won't "harm people" says Exxon. But these are not "accidents"

The EPA has given Exxon two months to clean up the oil spill from its ruptured pipeline alongside the Yellowstone River in Montana.  The usual games are being played between various committees in Congress and the EPA over the spill, why it occurred, how it occurred and most importantly, the clean up.

Exxon is "fully cooperating with the cleanup" says a company spokesperson with the first name Pius.  But what does it mean to "clean up" an oil spill?  We hear next to nothing about the effects of the BP disaster, one of the worst in history.  One of the reasons for that is they know very little I would imagine.   The effects on marine life might not be known  for  years as genetic damage manifests itself. But I cannot see how the sea bed is not layered with oil down in the gulf. One EPA official says of the Yellowstone spill that, "the rushing river will likely break up any oil that workers can't reach."  That doesn't really say much although it implies all will be well.  The oil gets broken up by water and goes away it seems, but I don't believe it.

As with the mine accidents and any disaster like the recent train--truck collision in Nevada, evidence of the potential for such a disaster appears only after the fact.  It turns put that this pipeline has "raised concerns" for a year reports say.  Last July, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration ordered Exxon to correct corrosion problems in the pipe the Wall Street Journal reports.  These agencies are most likely similar to OSHA, too few people chasing thousands upon thousands of miles of pipe and hazardous materials.

Exxon is already feeding the public a line.  The spill won't harm people and the ruptured section of the pipeline is free of oil the company said in press releases.  Federal laws are designed so that the company and government officials are supposed to work together on oil spills like these which keeps the most important details out of the hands, and minds of the population at large.  But one EPA official has refused to sign off on Exxon's press releases saying that they paint "too rosy" a picture.

So although "concerns" about the safety of the pipeline were raised over a year ago, concerns that Exxon says weren't a "factor" in the break, nothing was done.  Government moves slowly in these cases, there's no profit to be had.  It is important to note that we are hearing from Exxon as if it were a person.  "Exxon said", "Exxon won't" "Exxon believes that".  That's because corporations have the same rights as a person.  In this way, it is allows individuals to escape prosecution and possible punishment for their activity.  You can't put Exxon in jail.

The capitalist class will not develop more environmentally friendly sources of energy if there is not significant profit in it.  But these disasters are generally not accidents or "acts of nature".  They are the product of the free market, a result of conscious decision making on the part of individuals and groups of individuals who base their decisions on one prime objective, profitability.  And as things are, these disasters will continue unless dominant industries like energy are taken in to public ownership under democratic control and management of workers in the industry and all those associated with it as consumers, residents of communities that house such industries and the like.  In this way, the production of energy can be determined in a  planned, rational way as a social resource rather than a source of profit.