VOA标准英语2010年-Fragile Indigenous Gulf Tribes Face Un

The native people of the Louisiana bayous are turning to other indigenous¹ groups that have had to deal with oil industry disasters.

Louisiana's Mississippi delta² is home to several indigenous tribes that have been living on these bayous for thousands of years.

But decades of oil and gas exploration have severely³ altered their way of life. Now, with the BP oil spill casting an even darker cloud over their future, the people of these bayous are seeking advice from other indigenous groups that have dealt with oil industry disasters, from Alaska to Ecuador.

Crisis decades in the making

About 100 people attended a recent forum⁴ in Dulac, Louisiana to discuss the crisis caused by the BP oil spill. Already, most of the fishing grounds that this community depends on for food and work are closed because of oil contamination.

Inside the building, plastic tables and chairs were arranged in a massive square, as dozens of indigenous people from five countries took their seats.

"It just didn't start with this big BP spill. It's been going on for decades and decades and decades," said the host of the forum, Thomas Dardar, principal chief of the United Houma nation.

Louisiana's wetlands have been deteriorating⁵ steadily⁶ since the 1930s as a result of the canals dug by the oil companies.

Oil and gas extraction have also caused the land to sink in some places, but nothing of this magnitude has ever hit the Gulf⁷ coast and residents here are worried about what it means for a people who live off the land - and the water.

Tribal⁸ council Representative Lora Ann Chaison is upset that her community may never be able to fish or shrimp⁹ in the Gulf again.

"I have a hard time dealing¹⁰ with this and so I don't know the answer," she told the group. "I don't know if anybody knows the answer but I know that no one can get a straight answer."

 
VOA - D. Weinberg
Marine¹¹ biologist Riki Ott (holding microphone) has been studying the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill for the last 20 years.

Lessons from the Alaskan coast

These communities are looking to people like Riki Ott to give them a straight answer about how the oil will affect them.

Ott has a PhD in marine biology and makes her living commercial fishing in Alaska. She has been studying the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill for the last 20 years.

"The morning of March 24, we woke up with a tanker¹² wreck¹³, 11 million gallons [40 million liters], we were told. The oil industry under-estimated, made it smaller than what it was, and we have the same thing is happening here," said Ott. "We have this contingency¹⁴ plan that the industry has that says how they are going to clean up after an accident, and we all see here the same as Alaska. It works a lot better on paper then in practice."

When the spill first washed ashore¹⁵ on Alaskan beaches, Exxon told the natives there would be no long-term harm from the oil. Ott says that was not true.

"And we said we would wait until the pink salmon¹⁶ eggs grow up to become adults, they have babies and their babies grow up to be adults. Four years we waited. Four years, the whole eco system collapsed¹⁷," she said. "The herring collapsed. The salmon. Everything that ate the herring, the whole ecosystem¹⁸ collapsed in four years."

According to Ott, the herring population has still not recovered to the level it was before the spill. "Scientists say it will take 50 years for the oil to leave our beaches and another one hundred years for the clams¹⁹ to come back."

A lawsuit²⁰ against Exxon was appealed up to the U.S. Supreme²¹ Court, and the company ended up paying $507 million - about one-tenth of the original jury award - for damages to the environment and local economy.

 
VOA - D. Weinberg
Luis Yanza, lead plaintiff of the largest environmental lawsuit in history, shares his experiences with Louisiana natives.

Ecuadorean experience

Of all the people who attended the forum, perhaps no one has more experience fighting oil companies than Luis Yanza. He is the lead plaintiff in what is now the largest environmental lawsuit in history.

In the early 1960s, Texaco began drilling for oil in the remote Amazon rainforests of Ecuador.

By the time Texaco left the Amazon in 1992, it had admittedly dumped more than 56 billion liters of toxic²² waste directly into the streams and rivers of the Amazon. Today, more than 30,000 indigenous people have been affected²³ by the contamination. Chevron²⁴ purchased Texaco in 2000, and if the court rules against them, they could be forced to pay up to $27 billion in damages.

The company declined to be interviewed for this story. It claims that the responsibility for cleanup lies solely²⁵ with Petro Ecuador, the Ecuadorian oil company that was a partner in the consortium that owned the wells.

Documenting the damage

Both Ott and Yanza attended the forum, not only share to their stories, but to provide concrete advice for these communities on how to deal with oil contamination.

Yanza stressed the importance of keeping track of the harm done by the oil.

"People need to document the damages and to do it independently, with independent scientists, credible²⁶ scientists because, at least in Ecuador, when you go to court the decision needs to be based on evidence. You have to prove damages otherwise a company can evade²⁷ its responsibility."

Residents like Brenda Dardar Robicheux are worried about the aspects of their culture that no amount of money can replace.

"Lousiana is paying the ultimate price for what the world enjoys, for what the U.S. enjoys. The Houma people, all of us living along the coast of Louisiana, are paying the ultimate price," she said. "So I think it's very important that we speak in one very united voice and stand up for our rights as indigenous people no matter what country we represent, what area we represent because our very existence, our very way of life is being threatened."

There are still many unknowns regarding the long-term effects of the spill but, for the United Houma nation, this is likely the beginning of decades of cleanup and litigation that will determine the fate of a fragile community on the brink²⁸ of survival.
 

1 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

2 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

5 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

6 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

7 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

8 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

9 shrimp   

n.虾，小虾；矮小的人

参考例句：

• When the shrimp farm is built it will block the stream.一旦养虾场建起来，将会截断这条河流。
• When it comes to seafood,I like shrimp the best.说到海鲜，我最喜欢虾。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

12 tanker   

n.油轮

参考例句：

• The tanker took on 200,000 barrels of crude oil.油轮装载了二十万桶原油。
• Heavy seas had pounded the tanker into three parts.汹涌的巨浪把油轮撞成三载。

13 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

14 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

15 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

16 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

17 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

18 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

19 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

20 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

21 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

22 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

23 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

24 chevron   

n.V形臂章；V形图案

参考例句：

• He wore shoulderstrap rank slides with sergeant's chevrons.他佩戴标示级别的肩章，上面有中士的V形标志。
• The chevron or arrow road sign indicates a sharp bend to the left or right.V形或箭头路标表示有向左或向右的急转弯。

25 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

26 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

27 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

28 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。