University of Virginia Library

The Slick

For the third time in three years Florida
beaches have been threatened with a thick
coat of greasy, sticky waste oil. An oil slick
which was about a thousand square miles
large floated to within a few miles of the
beaches along the State's northeast Crown.
Catastrophes of this sort have previously
resulted from unavoidable accidents or the
incompetence of several private businesses.
Had this oil have reached shore, the residents
could have thanked the United States Navy.

Florida officials have leveled charges
against the Navy for dropping over 500,000
gallons of crude oil in the Atlantic off the
Florida coast Monday night. The Navy
admitted that two of their barges dumped
waste oil, but claimed that such dumplings are
made on a regular basis about eight times a
year and usually consist of 90 per cent water.
According to the news wires, however, Mike
Wenzel, a Jacksonville waste oil dealer who
had tried to sell the oil, said his tests last week
of two barge loads of waste Navy No. 5 special
fuel oil at Mayport Naval Station showed an
exactly opposite ratio.

"They have a new system out there now
where they skim the oil off and the ratio is
about 90 per cent oil," according to Mr.
Wenzel. The Navy told him that they planned
to dump the black liquid off the coast
Monday.

The massive oil slick which had threatened
the diving areas off southern Florida had
come to endanger miles of valuable north
Florida white sanded beaches. If the oil had
come ashore, there would undoubtedly have
been millions of dollars of damage incurred
on that part of the state as a result. Of course,
there would have been tragic damage to some
of the world's most beautiful natural
recreational resources if the grime had hit the
coast.

We did not imagine that the Navy would
be able to match the Army's lack of concern
for the environment as shown by this
summer's nerve gas dumping, but it is
apparent that they have at least matched
Army's, incompetence. The fight against
pollution, both in the water and in the
atmosphere, will be an uphill one. We do not
anticipate private businesses to take
substantial action to clean up our dirty and
potentially lethal environment as long as their
short term profit margins are endangered (re:
auto industry). Leadership, and action by
example is so desperately needed, will come
from government if it is to come at all in this
nation. By the polluting and dangerous
actions taken by the Army and Navy, we
have grave doubts about whether any will be
forthcoming.