Argo Merchant Oil Spill

Photo Source: NOAA In 1976, the Argo Merchant ran aground off Nantucket, introducing more than 7million gallons of fuel oil into local waters. Shorelines and beaches were savedby prevailing currents that swept the oil out to sea. In April 2003, a bargeheaded toward the Canal Electric Station leaked tens of thousands of gallonsof fuel oil into Buzzards Bay. This much smaller spill soiled shorelines, killedwildlife, closed beaches and shellfishing beds, and harmed the local economy—justimagine if the next big spill is in the wrong place.

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Facts on Oil Reliance
See Contributor’s Guide below.

Visions of Oil Reliance
See Contributor’s Guide below.

Contributor’s Guide
The Argo Merchant spill is but one indicator of the risks faced by local communities due to regional reliance on foreign supplies of oil. Data, information, art, and photos are sought that address topics such as the ones listed below:

Facts on Oil Reliance

• Local electricity, heating, and transportation uses
• Fuel transport
• Argo Merchant, Bouchard, and other spills
• National security implications
• Your ideas?

Visions of Oil Reliance

• Steaming tankers and plodding barges
• Engines and furnaces
• Fouled waters, soiled beaches, and endangered wildlife
• National defense
• Capital flight
• True costs
• Your ideas?

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Dirty Roof

Conventional asphalt shingles are
the cheapest roofing material around but, as is usually the case, there is a cost: They are manufactured using petroleum by-products and, once they reach the end of their useful life, they must be landfilled as construction debris or “downcycled” as road materials or in other low-value uses. Credit: Houston Advanced Research Center

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Current Vision

Green Roof

Thatching represents an attractive and sustainable roofing solution. This thatched roof, gracing a barn in Yarmouthport, transforms an invasive wetland plant (Phragmites sp.) into a useful, biodegradable shelter.

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