The State
Letter to the Editor
January 28, 2016
In response to the Jan. 19 letter, ³Drill for prosperity,² it is important to note that people who live on a beach with offshore drilling almost in their backyard, or those who frequent a beach close to such drilling, do not take kindly to the desecration of their beaches.
The end result is not worth it, and it doesn¹t matter if the rig is visible or 50 miles out at sea. Fishing is affected and the tides bring to shore gelatinous little globs of tar that are deposited there.
I grew up in Trinidad before offshore drilling started. You could walk the beaches for miles with no problem, except jellyfish that had washed up or stuff that had fallen from ocean cargo ships and drifted up with the tides.
Offshore drilling is done there now by major oil companies of the world, and the beaches of the southern coast of the island have become an unexpected hidden disaster zone. You now have to keep a bottle of kerosene at hand as you will be constantly using it to get the tar off the soles of your feet.
I would like all the folks who are all gung ho for offshore drilling to please spend a few days on the beach of an island whose economy depends on oil.
Aurora Meghu
Kempton Avenue
Charleston
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20160128/PC1002/160129399/1025/