Spilling Over from Powering a Nation on Vimeo.

Nearly 200 years ago, Andrew Jackson joined forces with Jean Lafitte and organized a volunteer force of Native Americans, Baratarian pirates, Southern militia, and free men of color. Defending their homeland, this diverse group of out numbered citizen warriors defeated the British Army in one of the most decisive victories in our nations history. Our country is now fighting a man made disaster. But this is not only about the Citizens of the Gulf Coast. Our fight is to preserve the human right to clean air and water. This is not just a fight for the Gulf and the Coastal states, but for the entire planet.

Issues that divided us in the past became trivial compared to losing our way of life. Citizens shot video, organized town hall meetings, showed up at public hearings while others posted their interviews on the Internet and came together on social networking sites. Scientists and film makers have spent their own money to get down here and many did without the necessities of life to make sure the debacle was documented.

It’s been a real struggle for people who live on the coast. Not only a fight for their own health or that of the creatures of the Gulf, but there is another battle raging. This is simply for the truth. How can we find a solution if we don’t know the severity of the problem? Tests that the EPA, NOAA, and the feds are responsible for show it’s safe out there, but those toxicity tests not paid for by our federal government or British Petroleum tell a much different story…. Here’s some footage from a trip we took a few weeks ago near Biloxi, Ms.. Does this water look safe? Do these people deserve to be sick? If the seafood is safe, why do fishermen bear the liability of their contaminated catch?

Last Saturday was September 11th. WTC first responder Richard Skinner, Alaskan fishermen, offshore workers, and Coastal warriors from Florida, Mississippi, & Alabama met in New Orleans to share their concerns about seafood safety, public health, the ecosystem, wildlife, the federal government, and the future. After sharing our stories, scientific research, and varying opinions at Tulane University we set out for the Chalmette Battle Field. Once the boat trip was done we prayed together (with my Mama) for those that lost their lives on that ominous day and the 11 that died on April 20th .

Finally, it was time to enjoy ourselves. Clarence “Tadpole” Henry, Sassafrass, Bruce Dagrepont, The Frishberg Family Band, MJ NUNEZ, Mike Dean, Kevin Sehkani, CJ Armstrong, and the Drew Landry band put on a show at Tipitina’s in the Quarter. It was nice to cut lose after such a serious gathering… But a few days after New Orleans many of the scientist and labs that conducted testing for our friends received threatening calls from the Federal Government asking if they had permits to gather samples (water & wildlife). Also, doctors were discouraged from giving tests that would link oil and dispersant to human health issues.

The truth is that some places are better, but some are much worse. A podnuh of mine from Empire, La. reported a 7 mile long slick a few days back while unprecedented  fish kills hit that same area… Wildlife and Fisheries have already said the fish died of natural causes , but the fish (evidence) were immediately removed – worse, hermit crabs and worms (that’s fish food) are no longer alive on Grand Terre Island. Many other places out of the public eye have never been cleaned and share the same fate.

Off Horn Island, Mississippi (see Gulf of Toxicovideo above)  - another group of concerned citizens were arrested for taking samples of dead oysters on board. Their camera was confiscated and they were treated like criminals. And now those who dig in public beaches are also subject to arrest while fishermen are left without jobs local clean-up crews are being replaced by out of state contractors. I’ve talked to folks who have had cameras taken by authorities and  seen fish kills, dispersed oil, and tar balls collected as far north as New Jersey.  When will BP and the Government tell the American Public what we are faced with? How long will it take the Gulf to recover? What will be the lingering effect of dispersed oil with Hurricane season ramping up? The Gulf is still a no fly zone, a production rig blew a few weeks ago, they haven’t proven that the well was ever capped, it was never proven the seafloor stopped leaking, and reports of planes spraying COREXIT still come in daily from fishermen. Oil is still all over the Gulf, in the marsh, and on the seafloor. Why are they not out there with barges pumping that toxic waste off of underwater canyons? Why is it not the burden of BP to prove to us that it safe? What real effort has government made to ensure the health of it’s citizens?

Could it be our once great republic is now for the Corporations by the Corporations? After a summer of BP using the federal government to lie to the American people, the Obama Administration is being sued by a group claiming the feds hid oil spill flow rates. Their concern is ,”the administration took, and is still taking, steps to falsely minimize public perception about the extent and severity of the BP spill.”.  After 3.45 miles Louisiana doesn’t make a dime off of the oil that fuels our nations economy, yet our state bears most of the environmental risk with a myriad of pipelines while BP holds the cards with 60% of the jobs in the Gulf and most of the oil that fuels our military. Worse, this is about cheap labor, not safety, and surely not the environment. The moratorium aimed at deep water drilling has stopped permits for all depths in the Gulf while our country lends Mexico a Billion dollars a year to drill in Gulf waters. Also, China will soon have fisheries on our abandoned rigs and oil wells in Cuban waters.

What we lost here is not just the integrity of our Government, and faith in our leaders, but our ability to be self sufficient. A fisherman could feed his family and pay his bills with his catch, and when the seasons were fruitless go to work offshore. In November, we have the power to change things. Not merely to jump on the other side of the political isle, and let the powers that be continue to divide us. This is a chance to decide where we want our country to go and look for a way to get there.

Thanks to the folks that gave up their lives to let others know what was happening in the Gulf… and checked their Politics at the door. From Conservative right wingers, hippies, lesbian liberal leftists, independents, bird watchers, Native American fishermen, oil rig workers, blue hairs, broke musicians, cattlemen, activists, half-breed commies, NRA members, ogars, housewives, hunchbacks, and environmental wackos. It is evident that this country is not divided by it’s own people, but by those that profit from our existence.

Our goal is to preserve our Gulf and assure this never happens again, anywhere. The way this has been handled is disrespectful to the 11 men that died on April 20^th. We owe it to them to make it a safer place to work and a healthy place to live. Never again should we let any corporation put profit over safety. The fishermen that spent this summer cleaning the mess also deserve their lives back. Also, the creatures that died didn’t deserve this. As Dr. John said “Shellfish ain’t selfish, they Shellfish”.