"This is the biggest cover-up in the history of America,"

Gulf Oil Spill Still Fouling Louisiana Marshes

NOTE:  Why has the Main Stream Media been so silent on this issue?  My best guess is: They're Corporate Owned or Corporate Influenced.

HARRY R. WEBER | 01/ 7/11 06:50 PM | 

PORT SULPHUR, La. — Federal and Louisiana officials got into a heated argument Friday over the cleanup of oiled marshes during a tour of an area that remains fouled 8 1/2 months after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

State and Plaquemines Parish officials took media on a boat tour of Barataria Bay, pointing out an area where oil continues to eat away at marshes and protective boom is either absent or has been gobbled up by the oil. The heavily saturated area that reporters saw was 30 feet to 100 feet wide in sections. No cleanup workers were there when reporters toured the area.

The marshes are critical to the Louisiana coast because they protect the shore from hurricanes and serve as a nursery for Gulf sea life.

"This is the biggest cover-up in the history of America," Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser told reporters, gesturing with his gloved right hand, which was covered in oil.

Nungesser was accompanied by Robert Barham, the secretary of Louisiana's Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

As the two were answering questions from reporters, representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration interrupted to point out that a plan is being developed to clean up the marshes. They also insisted that the government has not abandoned the Gulf, nor has it lost sight of the fact that BP is a responsible party.

"Clearly there is oil here in the marsh but we are working as a team to find a best way to clean it up," said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Dan Lauer. "It's a high priority."

The two sides then got into a heated argument, with Nungesser using profanity.

"It's like you're in bed with BP," Nungesser told the Coast Guard and NOAA officials.

Lauer responded that he understands the frustration, but vowed that the cleanup would continue. "No one has ever said, 'it's over, we're going home,'" he said.

Nungesser has been a frequent and outspoken critic of the cleanup effort ever since oil from the April 20 accident began infiltrating the environmentally delicate Louisiana coast line.

Lauer and the NOAA official who tagged along on the boat tour, Scott Zengel, said a cleanup plan was being developed, though they gave few details. They also couldn't explain why there is no mechanism in place to keep the situation from getting worse nearly six months after the flow of oil to the sea was stopped.

A Coast Guard spokesman, Lionel Bryant, said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press that rushing to clean oil from fragile areas can cause more harm than good. He also pointed out that the treatment plan being developed must be approved by federal, state and local officials.

BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said in an e-mail that with the exception of the occasional tar ball, there is no evidence of significant amounts of oil from the blown out well reaching the Louisiana shoreline since the end of August. He also cited a Thursday letter from a BP official to Barham that says tests of 23 plots have been taking place for the past three months to determine a clean-up method that provides the biggest benefit. Cutting, raking, washing and vacuuming the oil-soaked marshes are some of the methods being tested, the letter said.

The explosion that destroyed the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers and, according to government estimates, led to more than 200 million gallons of oil spewing from a hole a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico. BP PLC disputes the figure, but has yet to provide its own.

Aside from the damage done to tourism when the oil hits Gulf Coast beaches, there are numerous environmental concerns. Among them is the damage done to the delicate reeds and grasses that grow in Louisiana's coastal estuaries. The marshes serve as nurseries for a variety of microscopic sea life – the bottom of the food chain that replenishes abundant Gulf  fisheries.

Also, the killing of marsh grasses contributes to a long-standing erosion of Louisiana's coast and barrier islands, the state's first line of protection against hurricanes.

The impact on wildlife also remains a concern. State officials said that in recent days six more birds have been recovered with oil on them. They said that noisemakers used to keep the birds away from the oil haven't been enough in some cases.

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Gulf Oil Spill: 10 Horrifying Facts You Never Wanted To Know

Gulf Oil Spill: 10 Horrifying Facts You Never Wanted To Know

posted by: Beth Buczynski 1 day ago

Despite promising efforts to stop the Gulf oil leak through a 'top kill' effort, a mind boggling amount of damage has already been done to this precious ocean ecosystem.

It can be hard to keep track of all the devastating statistics, quotes, and facts concerning this disaster, but it is essential that the public maintain a working knowledge of what's going on, both politically and environmentally.

As a people, we must demand change from both an oil industry that drills first and asks questions later, and the corrupt government agencies that let them get away with it. We must also realize that we have encouraged this sort of behavior through lifestyles that are addicted to oil, and an unwillingness to make sacrifices for a cleaner, healthier future.

Here are 10 of the most horrifying facts about the Gulf oil spill. Read them and let their gravity weigh heavy on your hearts and minds. Let them motivate you to take action so our planet never experiences this kind of manmade disaster ever again.

1. New estimates show the undersea well has spilled between 17 and 39 million gallons. These estimates dwarf those of BP, who claimed the spill had only released 11 million gallons to date, and mean that the Gulf leak is far bigger than Exxon Valdez, making it the worst spill in American history.

2. The National Wildlife Federation reports that already more than 150 threatened or endangered sea turtles are dead. And 316 sea birds, mostly brown pelicans and northern gannets, have been found dead along the Gulf Coast as a result of the spreading oil.

3. The Minerals Management Service, directly under the supervision of the Interior Department failed to impose a full review of potential environmental impacts of the BP drilling operation because preliminary reviews of the area concluded that a massive oil spill was "unlikely."

4. The Department of the Interior’s Office of the Inspector General released a report indicating that at one Gulf Coast office of MMS, agency officials attended sporting events on the dime of oil companies, stored porn on company computers, used cocaine and crystal meth, falsified inspection reports, and accepted "gifts" from "good friends in the oil industry." (Links via ProPublica). 

5. A significant amount of the oil slick is being drawn well to the south in the east-central Gulf of Mexico, meaning that it has been captured by the Loop Current. Oil in the loop is a hazard to the Florida Keys, (and entire East Coast) as well as areas of the west coast of Florida. Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico could also be at risk of exposure to the oil, which also could be drawn into the Gulf Stream through the Florida Straits, and perhaps northward to part of the Atlantic Seaboard.

6. As much as we'd like to forget it, the Gulf Coast is prime hurricane country, and if a storm blows in, the result could be devastating. The presence of oil could lead to a more powerful hurricane because crude accumulating at the surface could be raising the temperature of the surrounding water.

7. Transocean Ltd., the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig leased by BP, has been flying under the radar in the mainstream blame game. Because of past experience with Gulf Oil spills, Transocean decided to insure the Deepwater Horizon rig for about twice what it was worth. In a conference call to analysts earlier this month, Transocean reported making a $270 million profit from insurance payouts after the disaster.

8. Perhaps because it knows the possibility of remedying the situation is practically impossible, BP has made publicly available its laughable "Oil Spill Response Plan" which is, in fact, no plan at all. Besides mentioning the protection of Arctic wildlife (probably lifted directly from the Exxon Valdez plan), the plan does not include any disease-preventing measures, oceanic or meteorological data, and is comprised mostly of phone numbers and blank forms. Most importantly, it includes no directions for how to deal with another deep-water explosion in the future.

9. A large number of fishermen are becoming seriously ill - and many of them believe that the chemicals that BP is using in the Gulf are to blame. Local shrimpers in Louisiana are already predicting that it will be seven years before they can set to sea again.

10. Gambling websites are now placing odds on what species will be first to become extinct as a result of the oil belching from BP's ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico.

SIGN THE PETITIONS!

• Prevent Another Oil Spill: Rethink Offshore Drilling
• Tell President Obama to Stop Offshore Drilling!

Find full Care2 Coverage of the Spill here.