（第５回）メキシコ湾原油流出事故から１年

Remembering the Gulf Oil Spill, One Year Later
メキシコ湾原油流出事故から１年

こんにちは。
今日の話題は、メキシコ湾原油流出事故の話題です。
昨年の４月２０日に発生したメキシコ湾原油流出事故ですが、現在はどのように
なっているのでしょうか。

それでは、単語から
[Words]
explode 爆発する
flame 炎
offshore 沖合の
pour 流れる
micro-organisms 微生物
dispersant 分解剤
Greenpeace 環境保護団体のグリーンピース
sediment 沈殿物
wetland 湿地
water column 水柱
shoreline 海岸線
civil action 民事訴訟
moratorium 一時停止


それでは、放送を聞いてみましょう。

[Sound - Web]
http://www.voanews.com/templates/mediaDisplay.html?mediaPath=http://voanews.com/MediaAssets2/learningenglish/dalet/se-itn-oil-spill-anniversary-22apr11.Mp3&mediaContentID=120512439

[Sound - MP3]
http://voanews.com/MediaAssets2/learningenglish/dalet/se-itn-oil-spill-anniversary-22apr11.Mp3

[Transcript]
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Last year on April twentieth the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig
exploded in flames in the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven workers were killed.

Oil continued to spill from a damaged well head on the sea floor until
July. It was the worst offshore oil spill in American history. Officials
estimate that nearly five million barrels of oil poured into the Gulf.

Today, the surface of the water looks much like it did before the
disaster. Natural micro-organisms in the water helped eat the oil and
clean up the spill. Workers also used chemical dispersants to break up
the oil.

But John Hocevar, a marine biologist with the environmental group
Greenpeace, says most of the oil is still in the Gulf.

JOHN HOCEVAR: "It's in the water. It's on the sediment. It's on the sea
floor. A lot of it is washed up into the wetlands. It is still there. It
is still being eaten by marine life today."

Tar balls continue to wash up on beaches. And animal rescue teams still
treat oil-covered dolphins, turtles and other creatures.

Lisa DiPinto is with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Ms. DiPinto says the effects of such a huge spill could have been much
worse. She says tests show that fish and shrimp from the Gulf are safe
to eat.

LISA DiPINTO: "The seafood safety testing that I have seen has indicated
everything is looking good."

But she says the recovery of the Gulf is far from complete. The full
effects of the oil spill may not be known for years.

LISA DiPINTO: " We are looking at things we've probably never looked at
before as the result of an oil spill. So we are looking at things in
the offshore deepwater environment, as well as up through the water
column and all along the shorelines."

BP agreed last year to put twenty billion dollars into a fund to pay
fishing boat owners, workers and other people affected by the spill. BP
is the British-based energy company that operated the well and leased
the Deepwater Horizon from the rig's owner, Transocean.

In December the federal government announced civil action against BP,
Transocean and other companies connected to the spill.

Observances of the first anniversary took place along the Gulf of Mexico
on Wednesday.

The spill led the Obama administration to halt deep-water drilling in
the Gulf. That moratorium ended in October. But the government has given
very few permits since then. Oil and gas companies say new rules prevent
them from moving quickly to increase production.

Administration officials say they are preparing new rules that will do
more to enforce safety and let drilling operations continue. The Gulf of
Mexico provides about thirty percent of the oil produced in the United
States.

President Obama says crews have made progress in cleaning up the spill,
but the job is not done. He says his administration will do "whatever is
necessary" to protect and restore the Gulf Coast.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. You can download
transcripts and MP3s of all of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com.

You can also find captioned videos of Special English reports at the VOA
Learning English channel on YouTube. I'm Steve Ember.


どうでしたか。
それでは、記事に関しての質問です。
(Q.1) どの位の量の原油が海に流出しましたか。
(Q.2) 湾の魚やエビについてどのような調査結果が出ていますか。
(Q.3) いつ、海底油田掘削の一時停止期間が終わりましたか。

(A.1) 500万バレル近いと見積もられています。
(A.2) 湾の魚やエビは食べても安全だという結果が出ています。
(A.3) 昨年の１０月


(Q.1) How much oil has leaked into the Gulf?
(Q.2) What do tests say about fish and shrimp in the Gulf?
(Q.3) When did the moratorium to halt deep-water drilling ended?

(A.1) Nearly five million barrels of oil leaked into the Gulf.
(A.2) Fish and shrimp from the Gulf are safe to eat.
(A.3) October in 2010.

いかがでしたでしょうか。
事故から１年が経ち、表面上はずいぶんと落ち着いた様子ですが、まだ事故以前
のような状況には程遠いようです。

それでは。
また次回。
See you next time.