Citgo was provided with 250,000 barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
That is, the Federal government lent them the oil to refine into other products so that you and I can go motoring around during the summer and ensure that there is plenty of business at places like Diamond Head in South Carolina and also to make sure that our pizza and hamburger industries are kept healthy and strong.
What’s good for Ronald McDonald is good for America.
Then Citgo spilled nearly 50,000 barrels of oil into the Calcasieu Ship Channel in Louisiana.
There was little wind and sunny weather allowed some of the spill to evaporate. The rest sank to the bottom of the water.
David McCollum, a spokesman for Citgo said this, "If you have to have a spill, this is the weather you want."
That’s what he said.
If you have to have a spill.
When was the last time you had to have a spill?
The oil came from storage tanks along the shipping channel. Rain seems to have caused a failure of the pumps Citgo uses to keep rain from causing a failure.
Louisiana isn’t bothering to sample the seafood from the area.
The state said, "The most prudent action is not to consume dead fish, fish with oily residue or a petroleum odor and fish harvested directly from the oil spill-affected waters."
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is intended for the defense of our nation.