I had just finished writing the Partner's Message for this month (titled "Agents of Change"), when I found myself lying awake in the middle of the night, my sleep interrupted by a waking nightmare I was having. I realized that I needed to speak out on a different, more pressing topic-- and that I needed to ask for your help.

Like many of us, I have been following the news, hoping-- actually rooting for Big Oil this time-- that they would succeed in their latest efforts to stop the free flow of crude oil still surging into the Gulf of Mexico after the Deep- water Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank in 5,000 feet of water nearly a month ago.  As of this morning, BP was claiming yet another 'significant success', in that they were now capturing "double the amount" of the leaking oil (compared to what they had been siphoning up earlier in the week). According to BP however, that "doubling" still only amounts to 40% of the estimated crude which continues to gush unchecked from the shattered wellhead-- meaning there's likely an additional 1,500,000 gallons of new oil flooding into one of the most diverse and sensitive deep-sea habitats on the planet-- every 24 hours. Nearly one fifth of the Gulf of Mexico's US waters have now been banned for fishing until further notice.

Aside from that mind-numbing reality, the part of this drama that has really upset my ability to sleep, is the decision (with EPA approval) for the unprecedented deep water injection of a dispersant-- Corexit 9500, as a primary strategy for dealing with the offending oil, which researchers have now detected in vast subsurface plumes floating deep within the Gulf's waters.  This is a serious mistake.

Corexit 9500 is a solvent-based product originally developed by Exxon, and is one of the most biologically toxic dispersants available. While this approach may temporarily spare much of our country's Gulf coastline, dispersant use will not remove the oil from the water. Instead, we will be adding hundreds of thousands of gallons of additional petrochemical pollutants to the water (Corexit 9500 is four times as toxic as the oil itself ). Dispersants merely break up the oil into such fine particles, that the targeted crude will now become thoroughly mixed into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico-- and beyond.  This will allow the whole toxic brew to be ingested by every water-dependent plant and animal that manages to survive (which ultimately includes us); from the coral reefs, which are the foundation of the Gulf's biological richness; to the intertidal salt marshes and oyster reefs; to the Blue-Fin Tuna and Gulf Shrimp, which end up on our grocery store shelves; to the deep water Sperm Whales, native to the Gulf, which have already been designated as a high risk for extinction.

Why BP would employ the use of dispersant is obvious, as its large-scale application will significantly reduce the amount of shoreline cleanup for which the oil giant can be held responsible. The downside of this tactic however, is that we will be seriously worsening the contamination of our own waters-- while leaving ourselves little chance of ever clearing these toxins from the oceans upon which we so intricately depend.

While still problematic, if the oil is at least allowed to "stick together", and eventually rise to the surface, we stand half a chance of being able to see the mess, in order to clean it up (see CWRoberts YouTube video). On the contrary, the use of dispersants for this type of man-made environmental disaster, will invariably result in the poisoning of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as its adjoining international waters-- for centuries to come.

I urge everyone (who's had the patience to read this far), to sign the petition at the link below, urging Congress to act immediately to halt the use of dispersants as a solution to the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe.

Please take a moment to add your name to the list.    Thank You.

> STOP DISPERSANT USE IN THE GULF NOW