You know when you cringe.
In the dark.
Cursing the world from under your covers.
It’s the worst. So I threw off the covers and bought a plane ticket.
I had to go see for myself the Gulf of Mexico in all it’s black rainbow glory. The moment the rig blew and our tv’s and radio’s were playing the news story out with consistency, I knew I had to get down there and observe for myself. I have always liked seeing things firsthand and absorbing their energy to best understand a situation.
So on October 13th, nearly 5 months after the rig blew, armed with a few friends I drove down to Grand Isle, LA.
We also hit several other beach towns, south of New Orleans (East of Houma, the oil mecca of the Gulf).
D E S E R T E D.
I saw signs denouncing BP everywhere.
I saw faux cops, hired by BP, to patrol beaches and keep people off the sand and away from observing any oil washing up on the sand.
That’s right. BP HIRED FAKE POLICEMEN TO SIT IN CARS AT THE ENTRANCES TO BEACHES.
We drove up to a fish camp, parked our car and ran through the sea grass onto the beach.
The beach looked pretty clean.
Unless you stand in one place for a few seconds and then you notice your toes steeped in brown sludge.
Science Reports
A large portion of the 4 million barrels of oil that spewed from the BP/Deepwater Horizon E P I C F A I L (there are at least 20 instances of “fails” recorded by a University of Alaska Professor) are now at the bottom of the Gulf.
Al Jazeera reports that … The panel in Washington DC, the capital, said on Tuesday that BP, Halliburton and Transocean lacked a safety culture and that they need “top-to-bottom reform”. Additionally, BP is being blamed for a toxic sickness permeating those involved in clean-up crews.
“The crabs don’t look healthy. See all the dark spots and lesion looking things? That’s not normal,” Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia says.
I still feel really mad.
Having seen it up close. Having spent time with some really special people who are directly affected by this absolute tragedy. Having heard horror stories.
My only plan is to work tirelessly to make sure this doesn’t happen again, in many facets and on many avenues.
I want to make sure the Gulf gets rebuilt in the way that it deserves.
The news coverage may have waned but that doesn’t mean the oil spill is all clean now.
Far, far from it. Keep a close eye on offshore oil drilling permits.
(Obama’s White House just lifted the 6-month ban on off shore drilling in Gulf).
Keep a close eye on the scientific findings by the White House Independent Panel.
(Obama’s White House released 5,000 odd emails surrounding the spill, on Thanksgiving, when they thought no one was paying attention).
Want to lend a hand or open your wallet?
Click Here to visit the Gulf Fund.
On Kickstarter, there are several projects worthy of supporting:
An Oil Spill Film
The Bird Project Soaps
A Documentary, spanning 12 parts
Read the complete timeline of the Macondo Well explosion in Mississippi Canyon, here
Melissa Schilling
People are talkin', talkin' bout people