VOA常速英语2015--路易斯安那修复墨西哥湾水域（在线收听）

路易斯安那修复墨西哥湾水域

GRANDE ISLE, LOUISIANA— Five years ago, technicians capped a well in the Gulf of Mexico that had been spilling oil for 87 days, polluting beaches, estuaries and fishing zones along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coastline. Earlier this month, the British company judged responsible for the disaster, BP, agreed to pay $18.7 billion to coastal states.

That money will help fund restoration projects, but full recovery could still take many more years.

Nearly 70 percent of the shrimp consumed in the United States has traditionally come from the Gulf of Mexico. However, large areas were closed to fishing after the oil spill, and seafood distributors had to look elsewhere.

美国消费的近70%的虾一般都来自墨西哥湾，但在漏油事件后，大部分地区已经关闭，海鲜批发商只得寻找其他货源。

Coastal fishing zones are now open, but the owner of Blanchard Seafood, said many of his former customers never came back.

沿海捕鱼区现已开放，但布兰查德海鲜公司老板说他以前的很多客户已经不再回来了。

“We are probably losing, I would say, probably $20 million a year worth of sales,” he said.

“我们一年可能损失2000万美元的销售额。”

Blanchard is still angry at BP and said oil companies in general are lax about maintaining equipment in the Gulf.

布兰查德海鲜公司仍对BP公司感到愤怒，称很多石油公司在墨西哥湾都懒于设备维护。

“We fix our stuff to get ready for next season, but they don’t fix nothin’. They just let it sit out there until it deteriorates to nothin’ and just keep the profit — keep the profit and don’t care about the environment," he said.

“我们让员工为下一季节做准备，但他们什么都不做，只是坐在那里等着情况恶化，然后继续挣钱，根本不关心环境。”

Port Fourchon, a short drive from Blanchard’s operation on Grande Isle, has one of the country’s largest oil and gas operation centers.

在格兰德岛上距离布兰查德海鲜公司捕鱼区不远处的福尔雄港有该国最大的石油和天然气开采中心。

While the energy industry has had a clear impact on Louisiana's natural areas, it is the state’s most important source of jobs and income. Refineries and storage facilities line the Mississippi River in the state capital, Baton Rouge.

尽管能源业对路易斯安那州的天然气区域构成明显的影响，这里仍是该州最重要的就业和收入来源。在州首府巴吞鲁日，沿着密西西比河沿岸排列着炼油厂和仓储设施。

Kyle Graham, head of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, "if you look at the permits that are issued for oil and gas activity, in the near shore, the ones that the state issues, they now require mitigation activity and for all of the fill material to be beneficially utilized.”

凯尔·格雷姆是路易斯安那沿海保护和修复当局负责人，“如果看下本州为石油和天然气开采而发布的许可，在近海区域，这些许可要求进行修复活动，要求充分利用这些充填材料。”

He said the state’s share of the BP settlement money would allow Louisiana to address specific problems.

他说该州从BP协议中分得的赔偿将使得路易斯安那州得以解决具体的问题。

“As we continue to learn more about the effects of this spill, there is money there that we would be able to utilize to come up with a restoration action,” Graham said.

“随着我们对漏油事故影响了解的加深，这些资金将被用来进行修复行动。”

Visitors are returning to the sunny Louisiana coast to fish and swim in Gulf waters. Although tourists are attracted to the scenery on the Gulf Coast, there are many effects from the BP oil spill deep under the water that are not so noticeable to the naked eye.

游客们回到路易斯安那墨西哥湾阳光海滩上捕鱼和游泳，尽管旅游者们被墨西哥湾的美景吸引来，在水面深处，BP漏油事故的影响却是肉眼不那么容易看到的。

Multiple scientific studies have found oil and other chemicals on the sea floor of the Gulf and in the shells and flesh of various aquatic species.

多项科学研究表明，在墨西哥湾的海底和各种水生物的壳内和肉体内仍有石油和其他化学物质。

Opinions on how serious this is vary, but Graham said a full recovery would require more studies and more work.

人们对这一情况的严重程度意见不一，但格雷姆说，要实现完全的恢复，就需要进行更多的研究和做更多的努力。