It is now a felony to take more photos of birds like this, wading through oil that broken booms have trapped in rookeries (Photo by Georgianne Nienaber)
See Georgianne Nienaber's piece at The Huffington Post.
The United States Coast Guard considers me a felon now, because I "willfully" want to obtain more photos like these to show you the utter devastation occurring in Barataria Bay, Louisiana as a result of the BP oil catastrophe. If the Coast Guard has its way, all media, not just independent writers and photographers like myself and Jerry Moran, will be fined $40,000 and receive Class D felony convictions for providing the truth about oiled birds and dolphins, in addition to broken, filthy, unmanned boom material that is trapping oil in the marshlands and estuaries. We don't have $40,000 to spare, and have had to scrape the bottoms of our checkbooks as is to hire boats to take us to the devastation the Coast Guard, under the direction of BP, does not want you to see.
Georgianne's post includes heartbreaking photos besides the pelican at the head of my post. She and Jerry, the photographer, risked what I was not willing to try during our visit to Grand Isle. The US Coast Guard seems to be taking orders from BP. BP should have control ONLY of stopping the oil from gushing. The clean-up should be under the authority of the government with the bills going to BP. Why won't the Obama administration wrench control of the clean-up from BP?
Today from our local paper, The Daily Comet:
COCODRIE — Crews made slow progress Friday cleaning up patches of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill that has reached the waters of Terrebonne Parish.
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An oil sheen described as light to moderate in density has been working its way through the passes of Terrebonne’s barrier islands. Weather difficulties made a new estimate of just how much oil is floating on inside waters sketchy at best, officials said.
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Oil was also visible in and around the passes and beaches of Lafourche Parish, where officials said some marsh areas near Fourchon Beach took on some oil.
“There was oil, and due to the surge from Hurricane Alex, the water was pushed beyond the barriers of the beach,” said Lafourche Parish government spokesman Brennan Matherne. “That storm really showed us how bad things could get if a storm gets any closer. This was hundreds of miles away, and the tide came up anywhere from three to four feet; that’s the significant part of this.”
All of Fourchon Beach is now covered with oil because the tide came up to its dunes and a protective levee nearby.
Kerry St. Pe, director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, who has been closely watching the spill’s local effects, said it appears Lafourche got the biggest local hit.
He confirmed that there has been a large slick on the upper part of Lake Pelto in Terrebonne Parish, just south of Cocodrie.
“What that means is they have a toxic substance that has moved into our estuary and it is probably killing marine organisms like juvenile shrimp, crabs, speckled trout,” St. Pe said.
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St. Pe said he expects to start seeing more birds turning up with oil on them in the Terrebonne and Lafourche waterways.
Terrebonne Parish is due south of us here in Thibodaux, in north Lafourche Parish. Grandpère and my son fish in the area of Cocodrie and Lake Pelto. Over 30 plus years of fishing, GP has seen the marshes disappear because of coastal erosion. Marsh islands which once had large trees growing on them are gone, and only the top half of the dead trees can be seen now sticking up out of the water. And now this assault on the marshes and God's creatures who inhabit the wetlands.
I've probably gone beyond fair use in quoting from my local paper. I try to follow the rules, but I hope that the powers at the newspaper are forgiving in the name of getting the word out as to what is happening locally. Ultimately, the powers are the New York Times, who owns the two local papers.
Map showing the position of Thibodaux in relation to the areas affected.
A closer view of the area affected
From the Lectionary today:
Romans 8:18-25
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Maps from Google Map.
I hate to be a lawyer about it, but the directive linked at HuffPost from the Coast Guard does not make it a felony to take pictures of oiled birds.
ReplyDeleteThere probably is a lot of equipment being deployed to clean up the beaches, some of which people might want to steal (even boom, for that matter. Nowt as queer as folk, 'n' all.) The order looks more like one trying maintain control of an area for purposes of cleaning and protecting, yes, the workers as well as the people (if that stuff is as toxic as it appears to be, walking around in it unprotected ain't such a good idea. And if heavy equipment is being used at all (trucks, anything), the fewer people standing around, the better.)
I'm not trying to sing the praises of BP (heaven forbid!), nor praise the clear efforts to control the imagery BP has used. But this strikes me as a fairly weak attempt at image control, if that's what it is. Unless the Coast Guard tries to arrest someone and claims published photographs violate this order, I think the problem here is a gross misinterpretation, not a flagrant trampling of the 1st Amendment.
Rmj, do be the lawyer. I'm assuming that Georgianne did not have permission from the Coast Guard to go where she went. Of course, it's not a felony to photograph oiled birds.
ReplyDeleteI understand that safety is a consideration, but it appears that the Coast Guard and local law enforcement agencies are targeting picture-taking rather specifically - as in the story of the off-duty deputy who was protecting the BP headquarters in Houma, La., far away from any clean-up operations, from a person taking pictures. It's quite disturbing to me that BP has any control whatsoever over clean-up operations. Stopping the gusher and paying for the damage should be the limits to their authority and responsibility. I attribute no good will to the corporation.
I don't believe that all the protective activity against pictures is for the sake for safety concerns or so that clean-up operations may proceed without impediment. In a good many instances, BP wants the documentation of the damage from the gusher censored. That's it. Plain and simple.
We've heard enough stories, anecdotal to be sure, of people being run away so that on our trip to Grand Isle, Tom was nervous about my taking pictures even in areas that were not off limits.
So many of the booms are not maintained, and they add to the damage by trapping oil in the marshes. The clean-up is a mess on the scale of the "help" response to the areas affected by Katrina and the federal flood, and that information needs to go out.
Georgianne may have hyped the felony angle a bit as an attention-getter. I thought that myself as read the article, but I'm grateful for the attention to the catastrophe and the debacle of the clean-up.
I could go on and on, say about BP forbidding workers to wear respirators that they purchased on their own after becoming ill, because it "looked bad", as though what they were breathing could be toxic. Where were the Coast Guard and OSHA then?
From miles away, I sometimes smell oil in my neighborhood when I'm outside. Maybe the fumes are making us all crazy.
Mimi,
ReplyDeleteThink of Santa Barbara and Alaska. Oil is the gift that keeps on giving.
And of Prince William Sound, Fred. Still giving there, too.
ReplyDeleteuggghhhh.... still dumbfounded about it all.
ReplyDeleteriding my bike to work.
Felony or no felony, BP couldn't make it more obvious they are doing whatever lies within their power to prevent the wider world seeing the extent of the damage.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to have been going on forever already, with no end in sight.
There is no sure end in sight. The relief wells, which are due to be operational in August, are not guaranteed to be 100% successful.
ReplyDeleteKyrie eleison! (on the pelican, et al. Not BP.)
ReplyDeleteBP should have control ONLY of stopping the oil from gushing. The clean-up should be under the authority of the government with the bills going to BP.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree.
Not that the guvment is always a whole hell of a lot better, but, at least, one assumes a minimum of good will, which I don't take for granted from the powers at BP.
ReplyDeleteHi Mimi
ReplyDeleteBeen swamped and did not see your post. It is a $40,000 fine and Class D felony conviction (for Willfully) going within 65 feet of any Unified Command Operation. Of course we will all willfully continue to do our jobs. This is very serious and the fact that your husband was afraid to take photos tells you something. Never in my life did I think this would happen here. Who is at fault? I don't know, but I do know that Thad Allen is lying through his teeth if he says LA officials told him they are worried about safety. He did say at a white house press conference that FLORIDA officials said something to him..but no one has come forward to confirm that. The directive is designed to keep media away from the mess BP has created in the Gulf. Check out Jerry Moran's latest here
http://nativeorleanian.com/bp-oil-disaster-from-a-pelicans-view/
BTW that is "my" Pelican you featured, and I am just teasing you, I honestly don't think "Credit" matters at this point.
Georgianne, I changed the credit on the picture to your name.
ReplyDelete