Return Trip to Site Where Oil Coming From Unknown Source Was Found Off Grand Isle

 Emulsified oil 1/2 mile due south of Grande Isle on March 21st 

On March 21, I returned to Elmer's Island and Grand Isle, where the day before I photographed oil and oil sheen washing into Caminada Bay . The Coast Guard confirmed that there was oil on the water on March 21, but still hasn't identified the source. By Monday only a small amount of sheen and foam could be found. Some of the oil had already been cleaned off the beach, some was skimmed, but a lot of what I saw yesterday had already made its way into Caminada Bay, a rich estuary. About half a mile due south of Grand Isle, we encountered  a plume of emulsified oil. Plumes were reported by Jefferson Parish officials during flyovers the day before. Also off shore, we spotted a young dead dolphin, adding to the high number already reported this year by New Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.


This new oil spill raises many questions: What is the source of the oil and is it still leaking? How much of it is there? Could it be connected to the BP disaster? Is it a good idea to restart deepwater drilling? Are the regulators regulating? Why are the polluters often not fined the maximum allowed and why do regulators let some code breakers get away without any penalty? And what is causing an unusually high number of young dolphins to die?  The answers are still up in the air, but the Coast Guard, NOAA and private citizens are all busy trying to get the facts.

Dead young dolphin found floating in the Gulf, cause of death undetermined, adding to the abnormally high dolphin mortality  rate this year. 

Emulsified oil 1/2 mile due south of Grande Isle on March 21st

Boom put out on March 21st across the cut leading into Caminada Bay, an rich estuary. Oil washed through the cut on March 20th. See video clip of oil getting in 

Emulsified oil 1/2 mile due south of Grande Isle on March 21st 

More Oil Washes Up on the Gulf Coast as One Year Anniversary of BP Disaster Appoaches

Wildlife and Fishery Agents Check out Oil off Elmer's Island 

The mayor of Grand Isle, LA, held a press conference Sunday afternoon to say that reports of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, which started circulated on Friday, are heartbreakingly correct. Oil was spotted by fishermen, residents and members of OnWingsOfCare.org, a non profit organization who flew over what they described as a slick 100 miles long by 12 miles wide on Friday. 

On Sunday morning, the Coast Guard still hadn't confirmed there was oil in the Gulf so I took a ride down to Grand Isle to see for myself. Finding the oil was easy. It took ten minuets by boat headed to the cut in Caminada Bay where Grande Isle and Elmer's Island almost come together. Oil was rolling in with the tide. I spoke to Wildlife and Fishery agents who had no doubt it was oil. It smelled like oil, looked like oil and felt like oil. Coast Guard were on the Elmer's Island beach, which is still closed to the public. A clean up crew seemed to be inspecting the situation, rather than cleaning. Later on Sunday the Coast Guard acknowledged that oil is washing up on Elmer's island, Grand Isle and Port Fouchon, but discounted reports of oil further up the coast; it is silt from the Mississippi River, according to the Coast Guard.

Where the oil is coming from is unclear at this point. If more is on the way and just how much was leaked, no one seems to know. Coast Guard Commander John Burton suggested the source could be oil that was released for 4-6 hours on Saturday while a drilling site was being plugged, but the investigation is ongoing.  After conducting tests, the Coast Guard said the Gulf waters are within acceptable pollution limits. But the fact is more oil in the Gulf is washing up on the coast less than a year after the BP oil spill. That didn't stop some beach goers from swimming and fishermen from fishing. "Call it Island Apathy," a long time resident said.

Click here for video of oil washing into Caminada Bay and here.

Grand Island beach with oil in the water

 Oil of Elmer's Island 

Cut leading into Caminada Bay where oil rolled in on 3/20/11

Boat passing through oil off Elmer's Island

Oil on the beach at Grand Isle

Oil on trash on the beach at Grand Isle

People swim on Grand Isle beach despite new oil washing up

Coast Guard's Reversal On Press Restrictions

The Coast Guard has reversed its restriction on the press!

I just received an email from the Joint information Center: "NEW ORLEANS -- National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen today announced new procedures to allow media free travel within the 20-meter boom safety zones if they have followed simple procedures for credentialing, and provided they follow certain rules and guidelines."

The Coast Guard's about face comes just after I finished writing my latest blog entry. It is important for everyone to know what the Coast Guard did and why it was wrong. For a while I thought I was living in a police state run by corporate interests, which added to the horror of the BP oil disaster. I embrace the Coast Guard's reversal.

I went out with wildlife and fishery agents on July 3rd to get around the new restrictions. As of June 30th, you have to keep 65 feet away from booms or cleanup vessels. We inspected two protected rookeries, Cat Island and Queen Bess. Absorbent boom full of oil washed up on the shore of the islands. I saw only one boat with two men working on fixing the boom at Queen Bess Island. Could it has been that BP private contractors wanted the 4th of July off, just likemost federal employees? If I were handling BP's PR, I'd put cleanup crews on overtime andmake sure bird rookeries were cleaned up. A more effective way to stop the disseminationof images of dying creatures might be to stop the oil from getting to the birds' habitat in the first place. And then there'd be no need to take away the media's first amendment rights.

The pictures that most damage BP's image are those of oil-stained animals. Those pictures cause President Obama problems too. He had to answer to his daughter who is worried about the pelicans, he pointed out while addressing the press on his second visit to Louisiana.

The BP oil spill, the largest, most disastrous spill in United States history, affects us all. That, and the First Amendment, is why restrictions on the press should challenged. We as a society should not let corporate polluters, in this case BP, in cooperation with the government control the media. It's true that the Joint Information Center, run by BP and the Coast Guard has provided many opportunities to the press, but that does not give them the right to make independent reporting difficult via regulations disguised as public safety rules, or by using intimidation tactics, turning away journalists at every pass as documented many times by those covering the story.

Read here about the Coastguard's media liaison's connection to BP's PR agency http://www.huffingtonpost.com/georgianne-nienaber/coast-guard-media-liaison_b_635209.html.
Listen to what Billy Nungesser has to say about the new restrictions here-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-twfQwTr6LE&feature=player_embedded
listen to Anderson coopers outrage about the media restriction here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyUjgRfOdDg&feature=player_embedded

Restricted zones, joint information centers, decontamination areas, embedded media: Am I in a war zone or Louisiana? New restrictions on the media make it almost impossible to properlytell the story. So much for transparency. Despite all the dispersants that have beendumped into the Gulf of Mexico, the oil washes up opaque. BP has chosen to spend $50 million on PR while leaving the birds on major rookeries in danger. Protecting our national resources should not become a political battle. Should we turn to BP's hired hack reporters to get our news? See BPs blog here To those who try to defend the new restrictions I say, gooutside with a camera, step back 65 feet from your subject ( an estimate of how far the boom keeps you from your subject beofre the new rules went in effect) then step back another 65 ft and see what kind of picture you get. After you do that, see if you can get Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen to disclose which officials asked him to enact these "safety measures." (Thad Allan is off the hook with the call for him to reveal that information since he has given he retracted his 65 ft rule)

To see a new photo essay I created on the oil disaster on The Atlantic's site click here:http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/07/images-bp-doesnt-want-you-to-see/59369/

images: top, me on Long Beach in Mississippi
bottom- boom that had been around Cat Island floating in Barataria Bay/ Absorbent boom full of oil washed onto Cat Island by Hurricane Alex

BP Oil Leak Update In Pictures

Politicians and BP officials who assure the public all that can be done is being done to protect and clean up the Gulf Coast might want to reconsider such statements. That is not what I have seen. Brown pelicans on Queen Bess Island are living dangerously close to splotches of oil stuck inside and outside the boom meant to protect the island. Many of them have been rescued by wildlife and fishery officials, while countless others have died. The cleanup effort ramps up when VIP's are around; other than that, the cleanup and containment effort is sporadic at best. Last weekend, Christopher Hernandez of Grand Isle called members of the press down to show them around the day after 600 workers were bussed in to clean the beach for Obama's visit. Post-Obama, the cleanup crews numbers dwindled and their work hours were almost nonexistant.

For a multi-media story for the Atlantic featuring Chris and his take on BP controlling the media on Grand Isle, Also check out a photo essay for the Washington Post on the Pointe au Chien Indians I have updated my set on Flickr and it will continue to grow.

Images- top to bottom -A reporter puts his hand in an oil patch on the surface of Barataria Bay/Sign on Grand Isle, where BP's oil spill has shut down the fishing industry and washed up on shore/Brown pelican covered in oil on Barataria Bay off the coast of Grand Terre Island/ Chris Hernandez, Street Superintendent of Grand Isle, on Grand Isle beach/Baby tern stuck in an oil patch on Grand Isle beach, rescued by Chris Hernandez/ Pelican, being cleaned at Fork Jackson in Buras Louisiana/ Living quarters for cleanup workers on a barge stationed in Lake Barre/ Jake Billiot, a Pointe-au-Chien Indian, in front of the place of business where he used to sell shrimp in Point aux- Chene. The shrimp season was canceled on May 30th due to oil from the BP leak contaminating the waters. Jake has been a fisherman his whole life. Jake signed on to work for BP putting out boom since no other work is available to him