An oil spill you've never heard of could become one of the biggest environmental disasters in the US
你从未据说 过的石油泄露 可能成为美国最年夜 的情况 灾害 之一

▌ 部门 素材起源 于CNN，世界播团队翻译

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil tragedy commanded the nation's attention for months. Eleven lives were lost and communities around the Gulf of Mexico ground to a halt under hundreds of millions of gallons of oil. Yet, lurking underneath the fresh disaster, an older spill was spewing ever faithfully forth: A leak that began when another oil platform was damaged six years earlier.

2010年，“深水地平线”石油灾害 引起了全国数月的存眷 。那次事宜 共造成11人丧生，墨西哥湾邻近 的社区在数亿加仑的石油下陷入停留 。然而，埋伏 在这场新的灾害 之下的，是一场更老的泄露 ，它如实地在喷涌而出:六年前另一个石油平台被损坏 时，泄露 就已经开端 了。

The Taylor oil spill is still surging after all this time; dumping what's believed to be tens of thousands of gallons into the Gulf per day since 2004. By some estimates, the chronic leak could soon be larger, cumulatively, than the Deepwater disaster, which dumped up to 176.4 million gallons (or 4.2 million barrels) of oil into the Gulf. That would also make the Taylor spill one of the largest offshore environmental disasters in US history.

经由 这么长时光 ，泰勒石油泄露 仍在澎湃 彭湃 ;自2004年以来，天天 都有成千上万加仑的原油流入墨西哥湾。据一些人估量 ，历久 的漏油量可能很快就会跨越 深水患 难，后者向墨西哥湾泄露 了多达1.764亿加仑(合420万桶)的石油。这也将使泰勒泄露 成为美国汗青 上最年夜 的近海情况 灾害 之一。

In September, the Department of Justice submitted an independent study into the nature and volume of the spill that claims previous evaluations of the damage, submitted by the platform's owner Taylor Energy Co. and compiled by the Coast Guard, significantly underestimated the amount of oil being let loose. According to the filing, the Taylor spill is spewing anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 gallons of oil a day.

本年 9月，美国司法部提交了一份自力 研讨 申报 ，对漏油的性质和数目 进行了研讨 。这份由该平台所有者泰勒能源公司提交的、由美国海岸保镳 队编制的申报 称，此前对丧失 的评估显著 低估了泄露 的石油量。据文件显示，泰勒公司的石油泄露 天天 从1万到3万加仑不等。

As for how much oil has been leaked since the beginning of the spill, it's hard to say. An estimate from SkyTruth, a satellite watchdog organization, put the total at 855,000 to 4 million gallons by the end of 2017. If you do the math from the DOJ's filing, the number comes out astronomically higher: More than 153 million gallons over 14 years.

至于漏油开端 以来有若干 石油泄露 ，今朝 还很难说。据卫星监控组织SkyTruth估量 ，到2017岁尾 ，这一数字将到达 85.5万至400万加仑。假如 你从美国司法部的文件上钩 算，这个数字是天文数字:在14年里跨越 1.53亿加仑。

Dr. Oscar Garcia-Pineda, who authored the DOJ's commissioned analysis, declined to comment to CNN, citing ongoing litigation.

美国司法部委托进行的剖析 申报 的作者奥斯卡加西亚皮涅达博士以诉讼仍在进行动 由，谢绝 对美国有线电视消息 网置评。

A community called to action

一个号令 年夜 家行为 起来的社区

The Taylor spill started when an oil platform belonging to Taylor Energy was damaged and sank during a mudslide caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. However, it wasn't until 2010, after the BP oil spill, that people really started to notice something was wrong. According to local activists, the warnings didn't come from the Coast Guard, the government, or any oil company. They came from people around the Gulf community who simply saw it with their own eyes.

2004年，泰勒能源公司的一个石油平台在伊万飓风激发 的泥石流中受损并沉没。然而，直到2010年英国石油公司漏油事宜 后，人们才真正开端 意识到问题出在哪里。据本地 运动 人士称，这些警告并非来自海岸保镳 队、当局 或任何一家石油公司。他们是来自海湾社区的人们，他们只是用本身 的眼睛来不雅 察。

Marylee Orr is the executive director of the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN). She says in 2010, people conducting aerial surveillance near the BP oil spill started to notice another shape, a shadow of an oil slick adjacent to the main spill that didn't seem to match up.

Marylee Orr是路易斯安那州情况 行为 收集 的履行 董事。她表现 ，2010年，在英国石油公司石油泄露 邻近 进行空中监督 的人们开端 留意 到另一种外形 ，即主泄露 邻近 的浮油暗影 ，似乎与主泄露 不相符。

"They said it couldn't have been coming from the BP spill, and sure enough, it wasn't," she told CNN. "It was coming from the Taylor Well."

“他们说它弗成 能来自于英国石油公司的漏油事宜 ，果真 ，它不是，”她告知 CNN。“现实 上它是从泰勒井打来的。”

Orr says it was difficult for the community to get answers as to what was happening with the spill. Local organizations, including LEAN, began conducting flyovers of the area, compiling data and pressuring Taylor Energy for answers.

Orr表现 ，对于社区来说，要想知道漏油事宜 的本相 是很艰苦 的。包含 LEAN在内的本地 组织开端 对该地域 立交桥进行治理 ，以收集数据，并向泰勒能源公司施压，请求 其给出谜底 。

"We had to do a lot of research ourselves to find out about it," she says. "How long is it? How wide is it? These are the things we struggled with. I feel like our organization, and other folks and other organizations, made it an issue."

她说:“我们必需 本身 做年夜 量的研讨 能力 发明 这一点。”“有多长?它有多宽?这些都是我们奋力抗争过的工作 。我认为 我们的组织，以及其他组织，让它成为了一个年夜 众所存眷 的问题。”

"In 2010, nobody really knew. And maybe no one would know now, if there weren't citizens and non-profit organizations who were just trying to be good stewards," she says.

2010年，没人真正知道。也许如今 也没有人知道，假如 没有国民 和非盈利组织，他们只是在尽力 做一个好的治理 者。

In 2012, LEAN, along with the Apalachicola Riverkeeper and several other Louisiana environmental organizations, filed suit against Taylor Energy, kicking off years of litigation between activist organizations, the oil company and various government entities. Taylor settled the lawsuit with LEAN, et. al in 2015.

2012年，利恩与阿帕拉契科拉河务公司以及路易斯安那州其他几家环保组织一路 ，对泰勒能源公司提告状 讼，开启了维权组织、石油公司和各类 当局 实体之间长达数年的诉讼。泰勒在2015年与LEAN等人和平解决了该诉讼。

Taylor Energy liquidated its oil and gas assets and ceased production and drilling in 2008. CNN has reached out to Taylor Energy for comment and has not received a response.

泰勒能源公司在2008年清理 了其石油和自然 气资产，并停滞 了临盆 和钻探。美国有线电视消息 网已经接洽 泰勒能源公司请其置评，但尚未收到答复 。

In a 2015 complaint filed in relation to the joint suit involving LEAN, Taylor Energy claimed the sheen at the site of the Taylor spill was "residual" and "there is no evidence to suggest" an ongoing leak. The company also claimed it had been fully compliant with US Coast Guard regulations regarding the spill.

2015年，泰勒能源公司就涉及LEAN的结合 诉讼提告状 讼，称泰勒漏油现场的光泽是“残存 的”，“没有证据注解 ”正在产生 泄露 。该公司还表现 ，它完整 遵照 了美国海岸保镳 队有关漏油的划定 。

A statue commemorating the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation, the charitable extension of the now-defunct Taylor Energy Company.

一座纪念帕特里克·f·泰勒基金会的雕像，该基金会是现已倒闭的泰勒能源公司的慈善延长 。

A problem floating right under the radar

一个在雷达下漂浮的问题

John Amos, the founder of SkyTruth, says the Taylor oil spill is a problem that's been well-known to people in the area for years, but for some reason or another hasn't managed to stay the national conversation.

SkyTruth网站的开创 人约翰·阿莫斯表现 ，泰勒石油泄露 是这个地域 多年来众所周知的问题，但不知什么原因并没有在全国规模 内引起普遍 存眷 。

"This is one of those dirty little stories that has been hidden for too long," he tells CNN. "That's the problem with these chronic, slow-moving things. They don't slap you in the face like the BP oil spill did."

“这是那些被隐蔽 了太久的邋遢 小故事之一，”他告知 CNN：“这就是这些慢性的，迟缓 移动的器械 的问题地点 。他们不会像英国石油公司漏油事宜 那样狠狠扇你一耳光。”

SkyTruth has been compiling the Coast Guard's data on the Taylor oil spill for years and using simple math to estimate the volume of oil being released.

SkyTruth多年来一向 在收集海岸保镳 队关于泰勒石油泄露 的数据，并应用 简略 的数学办法 来估量 泄露 的石油量。

The way it works, Amos explains, is that companies who are responsible for significant spills report the spill to the National Response Center, which is operated by the Coast Guard. The company then submits mandatory reports from regular aerial measurements of the spill, which appears to the naked eye as an iridescent sheen on the water.

阿莫斯说明 说，漏油事宜 产生 的方法 是，负责重年夜 漏油事宜 的公司将漏油申报 给由海岸保镳 队治理 的国度 应急中间 。然后，该公司从按期 的空中测量数据中提交强迫 申报 ，在肉眼看来，泄漏 的石油在水面上出现 出彩虹般的光泽。

To get a general idea of how much oil all of these measurements account for, Amos and his team combine the measurements with the estimated minimum thickness the oil needs to be to cast such a sheen. That number, they decided, was one micron: One one-millionth of a meter.

为了年夜 致懂得 所有这些测量值所占的油量，阿莫斯和他的团队将测量值与估量 的最小油厚相联合 ，看哪种数值能发生 如许 的光泽。他们最后决议 ，这个数字是一微米:一米的百万分之一。

That one tiny, almost infinitesimal amount, expanded over thousands of feet and years of leakage, balloons to catastrophic proportions. In December 2017, SkyTruth put the composite estimate of the Taylor oil spill at 855,000 to 3,981,000 gallons.

那渺小 的，几乎无穷 小的量，在数千英尺和多年的泄露 中膨胀，膨胀到灾害 性的水平 。在2017年12月，SkyTruth将泰勒石油泄露 的综合估算值定为85.5万到398.1万加仑。

That estimate, Amos says, is almost assuredly too low.

阿莫斯表现 ，这种估量 几乎来讲其实 是太低了。

"The key weakness in our estimates is they are based on the reporting from the company," he says -- reporting that the Department of Justice has said was extremely under-representative.

他表现 :“我们估量 的重要 弱点是，这些数据是基于该公司的申报 。”美国司法部曾表现 ，这份申报 的代表性异常 低。

Amos is familiar with Department of Justice's commissioned report and says the analysis based estimates of the Taylor oil spill on satellite imagery, as opposed to Taylor Energy's submitted reports. The discrepancies were severe. Some of the resulting measurements of the oil leakage were 17 times larger than Taylor Energy's initial estimates.

阿莫斯对美国司法部的委托申报 很熟习 ，他表现 ，与泰勒能源提交的申报 恰好 相反，这份申报 是依据 卫星图像对泰勒石油泄露 的估量 进行剖析 的。这些差别 异常 严重。对漏油的一些测量成果 比泰勒能源公司最初的估量 凌驾 17倍。

An impact that's hard to measure

这种影响很难权衡

While the numbers clearly show the Taylor oil spill is approaching, if not exceeding, the volume of the BP oil spill, that doesn't mean the environmental impact is the same.

固然 数字清晰 地注解 ，泰勒石油泄露 正在接近，假如 不跨越 英国石油泄露 的量，那这并不料 味着对情况 的影响是一样的。

Oregon governor outraged at offshore drilling

俄勒冈州州长对近海钻探觉得 恼怒

"This is oil that's leaked out slowly and steadily over time, so the impact on the environment is very different," Amos says. "One of the vexing things about the Taylor spill is that the consequences of this have been kept under wraps. There hasn't been much public or political pressure to do the research to figure out what the damage is from a long-term, chronic leak."

阿莫斯表现 :“跟着 时光 的推移，石油会迟缓 而稳固 地泄露 出来，是以 对情况 的影响是完整 分歧 的。”“关于泰勒漏油事宜 的一个令人懊恼 的工作 是这件事的效果 是保密的。今朝 还没有太多的" 或政治压力请求 他们进行研讨 ，以找出历久 、慢性泄密造成的伤害 。”

There are other impacts to consider as well: Impacts on corporate accountability, regulations and transparency in the oil industry and the viability and risks of offshore drilling, to name a few. At a time when the White House has expressed interest in expanding offshore drilling and various states have put forth strong plans of opposition -- such as Oregon, where Gov. Kate Brown has just announced a plan to ban offshore drilling along Oregon's coast, the Taylor oil spill is poised to remain a painfully relevant, if not overdue, touchstone.

此外，还有其他一些影响须要 斟酌 :好比 对企业义务 、石油行业的监管和透明度的影响，以及海上钻探的可行性和风险。在白宫表现 有兴致 扩展 近海钻探的同时，很多 州提出了强烈的否决 筹划 ,好比 俄勒冈州州长布朗凯特方才 宣告 了一项筹划 , 制止 在俄勒冈州沿岸进行近海钻探。泰勒石油泄露 事宜 仍将是一个苦楚 的话题，即使没有过时 ，也将成为一个苦楚 的试金石。