Disturbing Oil Sticking Around in the Gulf

On Thursday I traveled with a charter boat captain, a reporter from Channel 2 in Baton Rouge, and several NRDC colleagues and friends to see for ourselves the island where oil is literally bubbling up from the ground.

In Some Places All Appears Well

We cruised out of Myrtle Grove Marina past jack-up oil rigs, cleanup workers, and lots of boom, and made our first stop at a small island that is a nesting ground for pelicans and other birds. The island was still ringed with oil-caked boom, which several pelicans were perched upon as though it were a natural part of their environment. It was encouraging to see these birds seemingly at ease, and would have been simple to ride away from the island with the quixotic thought that everything was okay. But I couldn’t shake the thought that many of them might have toxins inside their seemingly healthy bodies. Or that heavily oiled birds—unable to feed or regulate their body temperatures—had probably died and sunk into the waters all around us.

But Surprises Greet Us Elsewhere

We then made our way out to the other island, anchoring carefully offshore and wading our way onto the beach. As we walked around things here also appeard normal—as they certainly would on the flyovers we’ve seen so often on the news lately. But then we noticed a hard and dark substance that looked a lot like coral. The charter boat captain turned over a small piece of the muck, revealing the oil-colored interior and a consistency like playdoh (though likely more toxic).

Oil Remains Just Below the Surface

Farther inland on the island we observed a small pond with rainbow-colored banks, but otherwise clear water.

When a shovel was placed into the bottom of the pond and the sand overturned, a bloom of oil sheen quickly spread from the disturbed area.

Pollution Is Persistent, and We Must Be Too

Although some might wish to hand the task of cleaning up the rest of this mess over to mother nature, a quote from a person who helped coordinate the response to the Valdez spill should give us all pause. As Mead Treadwell said in 2006—17 years after the spill—“We thought, or at least I thought, as one of the decision-makers that nature was going to take care of the issue. Nature hasn't.”

Mother nature is indeed capable of incredible resilience, but we cannot wash our hands of this mess yet.

To view all photos and a video from our tour in part of Barataria Bay visit the set on flickr.

Comments