From NOLA.com:
Orange-colored oil from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill has washed up on the western side of North Island, the northenmost sliver of the Chandeleur and Breton Island chain.The already fragile chain of barrier islands off the coast of Louisiana, the Chandeleur and Breton Islands, battered and broken by hurricanes, get another hit. Pardon me, while I mourn for this and, no doubt, for worse to come.
"On a small section of the northernmost island, we could see a pretty significant buildup of oil," said Times-Picayune photographer John McCusker, after an aerial tour of the spill this morning. "It's not inundated, but oil has definitely reached the island."
St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro confirmed there was oil on Freemason Island, which is about a mile west from the middle of the crescent of the Chandeleur chain. He also said there are reports of birds covered with oil.
....
"The heaviest oil has not reached the Chandeleurs and Breton Sound, though," he said. "It breaks up from a heavy glob to a sheen."
Earlier Thursday, a BP executive told Louisiana officials some oil had reached coastal islands last night.
Counterlight had it first.
Is it perhaps good the heaviest oil is not there?? ... Not quite sure what is being said with this bit.
ReplyDeletealas, poor birds though.
ReplyDeleteCathy, of course, if the heavier oil, which I'm told is somewhat like tar, comes, it will be worse. But, as you say, poor birds and all living creatures.
ReplyDeleteI understand that Louisiana's own Senator Landrieu still champions the oil companies and off-shore drilling.
ReplyDeleteI understand that these companies provide high paying jobs in a place where they are few, but really now. We can't destroy the tourism and fishing industries for the sake of job creation in the oil industry.
Sad... sad. That is the type, 'It's here,' one does not want to see.
ReplyDeleteCounterlight, the dilemma is that most of the well-paying jobs in south Louisiana are with the oil companies or oil service companies. If only we had politicians who would exercise leadership to push Louisiana as the place to develop technologies for new, greener sources of energy.
ReplyDeleteNo, oil slicks are not what we want to see here, Caminante.
This is so tragic and so wrong. So wrong.
ReplyDeleteThis is heartbreaking and, unfortunately, it is going to worse.
ReplyDeleteWe lived in coastal NC and were closely tied to the commercial and sport fisheries for over thirty years. NC has long been in the sights of petroleum companies and others willing to exploit these wonderful barrier islands. The spectre of this has always been in my mind. I grieve that this is happening in LA. It is so wrong.
ReplyDeleteamyj
My prayers are with you all there who are living this disaster already...and all of God's creation that is being destroyed for craving for oil.
ReplyDeleteOh. Please know you are not alone in grieving this. We are all grieving --howling.
ReplyDeleteWe grieve with you.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the prayers and consoling words.
ReplyDeleteAs I'm sure Amy will agree, around the barrier islands are prime fishing waters, which means that not only are fish present in abundance but also the smaller sea creatures that fish feed on, and the dolphins, porpoises, sharks, sea turtles, etc., etc, etc., which feed on the fish - abundant life, in other words, which is bound to be adversely affected by the oil.
Well, the unthinkable has finally happened. It is enough to make us all cry. What is really so irksome is that it could have been avoided if they had installed one simple safety switch. In retrospect, it would have been cheap at the price, in more ways than we can ever count.
ReplyDeletegrieving for you and praying that the countermeasures -- against all probability -- work...
ReplyDeleteBoocat, BP should have installed the switch, but drilling in the water will never be safe. Drilling on land is not safe. Near our small farm in New Roads, a gas well blew out, and shook the grounds for six weeks for miles around until enough mud could be injected to control the blowout. And that was on land. Things go wrong, and working deep underwater is incredibly difficult.
ReplyDeleteCrimson Rambler, thank you. I'm afraid that the fix will be a long time coming, but I hope I'm wrong.