So this is where we are… BP and the federal government would have us believe the oil is gone & we have been saved. Because Gulf Coast seafood passes the controversial sniff test it’s safe and healthy. The truth is- no matter what it smells like – most consumers, seafood buyers, and restaurants will not deal with it. Also, declaring seafood safe helps to limit BP’s liability for those who get sick eating the stuff. In terms of common sense, it is still unsafe to go to most of the beaches on the Gulf Coast & if a contracted employee dips his toe in the water they must be decontaminated, but somehow we are supposed to believe that our fisheries not only thrived in the oil, but are now a healthy dining option. This week I saw dispersed oil bubbling to the surface in our estuaries where we assume BP sprayed COREXIT. While a great number of fish & birds look healthy and are free of oil- hermit crabs & worms on oiled beaches are nearly all dead. Many worry about our fragile ecosystem & future generations of sea life on the coast. The bottom line is that fishermen will not be able to sell their product and very few people I know would feed Gulf Seafood to their children.
Photo by Ocean Springs, Ms. Crabber Lorrie Williams
Flight times & airspace are still restricted over the Gulf so there is no way to accurately tell what is still at sea. From the beginning BP bought up ads in most major newspapers and took reporters to places where oil had already been cleaned. Why would they now take reporters over oily areas of the Gulf? State and federal employees from the EPA, USGS, major universities, and other agencies still have a gag order and daily conditions of air and water safety are being withheld from the public. Now- scientists that do research for BP are kept from making their discoveries public for 3 years. The people of the Gulf feel they have been ignored and lied to since the well blew and nobody has much faith in anything reported in the news. It seems the media and the rest of the world is ready to move on and forget this ever happened. Well, it’s not just business as usual. It may look okay, but decreasing oxygen levels and massive fish kills still haunt the Gulf. They don’t have to live here and this does not have to happen again.
Let us remember it took almost a month for this stuff to roll in, and weeks ago there was a 200 mile “blob” of oil in the Gulf. I am assuming that we either have another month of oil coming to us, or record amounts of dispersants were sprayed when the Coast Guard and clean up crews left the Gulf for tropical storm Bonnie. Just as disturbing are several reports from fishermen that COREXIT was sprayed in and around estuaries. Boats cleaning oiled areas were called off of sites and returned to white bubbles where the oil had been dispersed. The good news is that the summer heat is great for breaking down the dispersed oil that floats on the surface, and storms will help the mess, but hurricane season may bring a tidal surge pushing whatever lies beneath past costal communities. What is scarier is we have no way of knowing how much dispersed oil is in our marshes and on the seafloor. This latest report about the loop current appears to be credible and may shed some light on the situation.
Let’s look at our problems before the storm and where we are now:
Coastal Restoration: If we only have 6 or 7 years to save our estuaries from washing into the sea let’s get the job done now. Without our estuaries the marine life in the Gulf cannot reproduce. Big Oil needs to redeem itself and show it has the best interest of the people. Have them pay for costal restoration if they are going to continue to make billions on what is underneath. And though politicians may profit from oil legislation and we need jobs – the state of Louisiana gets nothing for oil rigs after they are 3.45 miles out in the Gulf.
The Dead Zone in the Gulf from the waste and runoff of the entire country is a huge problem and should be addressed. But how did that become a national talking point and justification for the use of COREXIT? Because the Gulf is already a toxic dump it’s somehow justified to finish off the ecosystem? And please forgive me if I can’t give credence to reports paid for by the company that assumed responsibility for the leak.
Planning for the next spill: Simply put, there was no plan for this one. Drilling for oil is a risk we take to supply energy to an overcrowded planet. Right now our choices are to drill in the Gulf or send our jobs and money overseas. I believe moving rigs out of the Gulf only fixes symptoms of our problem. We need to see additional safety measures like relief wells, acoustic switches, and revised plans for dealing with future disasters. We have the right to safe water and clean air. Regulations for deep water drilling – and enforcement of these – should be stringent and universal throughout the world. While we continue to drill we must also actively peruse new clean energy technologies and consume less while conserving the oil we pull out of the earth.
This man made disaster has united folks from all walks of life. Those who work offshore also hunt and fish. They care about the environment as much as the volunteers who came here from all over the country to care for the wildlife. The one thing we want to ensure is that this never happens again. It ‘s apparent that our country is not divided by its own people, but by the media and politicians that run it. We give those who control us our money every time we fill up at the gas station, eat at a fast food restaurant, or turn on the television. Voting has become an exercise in choosing the lesser of evils and I’ve come to realize no matter who is in the Oval office we have little control over our own destiny. It’s time to unite the people of our state and take it back.
Oil drilling v. the Environment: Why should it be a competition?
I’m going to quote song lyrics by a podnuh who is currently a fireman in southeast Louisiana, and an essay written by a police officer from southeast Louisiana who for years has been taking photos on the Gulf Coast. Both men spend a lot of time on the coast and sincerely care about our state but have different political views. Both are sincere and tell reality of what we face.
lyrics from LIFT THE BAN by Mike Dean
“When you talk about banning drilling, you taking bout banning jobs
you mine as well starve us all, you mine as well drop the bomb
When a coal mine caves in you don’t shut em all down
You don’t ban airplanes every time one hits the ground
you see it on TV, and don’t it look like hell
give us the tools and the time & we’ll fix it ourselves
You turn your back just like you did
a few years ago when hurricane Rita hit
We looked around and all we saw was hell
we didn’t need government then and we don’t need it now”- MD
part of Henry Cancienne’s essay on the iconic photo of the Brown Pelican
“The photo of this distressed Pelican was taken by Charlie Riedel on June 3, 2010 on the eastern end of Grand Terre Island. The photo burns an image in my mind that will last until I take my last breath. Fingers are pointed in every direction as to whom is responsible for this ghastly photo and the events leading up to the ultimate fate of this bird. In my mind the answer is simple. We can view the responsible party each time we look in every mirror including mine.
We do not have a shortage of petroleum…What we have is a surplus of people consuming the limited resources of planet earth…Contrary to some popular teachings humans are not the most important form of life on the planet. This pelican and every other animal are equal forms of life to us. So as long as we think we are superior to the Pelican, we will continue to cause destruction to planet earth and all its life forms…. The ultimate and final casualty to our ignorance will be us.” – HC
So, what can we do? Well, unity is the theme, but preservation is the call. I’ve recorded the BP Blues with a major label that promises to give most of the money to nonprofits of my choice. I want to ensure history does not repeat itself. The plan is to help citizens set up independent air, water, and health monitoring in their own communities. We hope to join forces with the other Gulf states. Goals include long term health studies, restoring coastal habitat, and letting the world know what happened here. We are no different than people affected by the Exxon Valdez spill, the September 11 workers, or Indigenous peoples in the rainforest who no longer have safe drinking water at the hands of Chevron. We’re teaming up with documentary film makers and combining footage taken all over the coast to tell the story. Until we find another viable energy source the plan is to bring awareness & unite citizens who will push the oil industry to standardize safety measures for deep water drilling and preserve the Gulf Coast for future generations.
