Editorial: Finally, the news is good

OPINION: There's good news, at last, for the hapless wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico, and the beleaguered communities along the gulf's lengthy coastline.

After flowing for 85 days following an explosion on the oil rig Deepwater Horizon, the flow of crude oil spewing into the waters of the gulf has been stopped, temporarily at least.

Not surprisingly BP, the oil giant which has been battling to stem the flow for months, and other stakeholders, including the United States government, have responded with caution. There have been too many hopes for a solution to this massive environmental disaster crushed in the last 12 weeks for anyone to get ahead of themselves.

But at least, at time of writing, there had been some respite from the gushing of crude oil into the sea, buying time for BP to try to effect a permanent solution. And buying time for those engaged in the clean-up, of beaches, birds and anything else affected, to make some inroads into a problem that has been growing worse by the day.

Communities whose livelihoods largely depended on tourism along the gulf coast will doubtless take some time to recover. Sun-bathing on oily beaches has yet to become a popular pastime, but at least, if the leak stays plugged, there is the prospect of an improvement in conditions and the return of tourists somewhere down the line. This summer may be a write-off, but there's always the promise of next year.

Of course, everyone will be backing BP to make the fix permanent, and fervently hoping there are no damaging leaks before a permanent solution can be put in place. So while it has rightly been criticised up to now, the company will have the backing of all those in desperate need of an end to the disaster.

It's cruelly ironic for the British company then that this positive news should come at the same time as an announcement that the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee is to investigate the release last year of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi. He was sent home to Tripoli, reportedly at death's door from cancer, but is still alive a year later.

The investigation is to cover actions by BP, Associated Press has reported. It said the company had acknowledged it lobbied the British government over the transfer to Libya of Megrahi, concerned at its potential impact on an oil drilling deal it had with Libya.

Of course, this situation has no connection to the oil leak, but it is known many Americans were unhappy about the release of Megrahi, the only person thus far convicted of the bombing of a Pan-Am airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

BP seems destined to remain in damage control mode for some time to come in the USA. A permanent solution to one of history's worst environmental tragedies might become a winner on more than one front for the oil giant.

- © Fairfax NZ News