Aaron Viles

After official reports of oil hitting Raccoon Island in the Terrebonne Barrier Island chain, we jumped on a plane with a photographer and a VIP in tow to document the containment efforts, and the wildlife at risk. We spotted what looked like blobs of oil threatening the amazing brown pelican and roseate spoonbill rookery that …

BP Oil Drilling Disaster: Tim Robbins Joins GRN on Flyover of Threatened Rookery Read More »

As BP’s oil drilling disaster continues to pump an estimated 210,000 gallons of their crude into the Gulf of Mexico, nearly 3 million gallons have now fouled the marine ecosystem of the Gulf.Weather finally permitted another monitoring flight with Southwings, so yesterday morning pilot Tom Hutchings, photog Matthew White and I took off from Biloxi …

Oil Hits Chandeleur Chain: 14 Days After – View from Above Read More »

Both addressed this slow-motion nightmare this weekend, with Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder taking a moment from a blistering set at Jazz Fest to offer a similar thought for BP execs, “Send your sons and daughters to clean up your fu@#ing mess.”And this afternoon, President Barack Obama visited Venice Louisiana, where most of the work …

BP Oil Drilling Disaster: Pearl Jam & the Prez Read More »

GRN’s board member, and coastal Mississippi-based environmental attorney Robert Wiygul, pointed out to us, that BP’s federally registered plan for the development of this oil field included, and required, no plan to deal with the worst-case scenerio (such as the one currently threatening the North Central Gulf’s coast and communities). An AP article inspired by …

BP Oil Drilling Disaster: Documents Show BP Had No Plan Read More »

We’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. We understand the nature of this slow-motion tragedy inspires a sense of helplessness, and we want all interested parties to be a part of the necessary solutions. One quick and easy thing to do is to take action and ensure the lessons of this disaster are learned …

BP Oil Drilling Disaster: Volunteers Should be Trained, and Have a Plan Read More »

photos courtesy AP.As the oil is pushed ashore by strong winds, booms are showing their limitations. We’re glad to see federal military resources being brought to this slow motion tragedy, but we’re going to need more help, as this fragile ecosystem is hammered by the river of oil, still uncontrolled, coming ashore. Looking at the …

BP Oil Drilling Disaster: Spill Comes Ashore, Booms Ineffective Read More »

We can see it from space, and we can smell it from New Orleans.

Our friends at Greenpeace captured some images of cleanup at the surface of the oil plume, which has been revised upward to a flow rate of over 200,000 gallons a day. Finally some cleanup is being done, but with weather conditions anticipated to get worse, unlikely this will be able to continue. Unsure if attempts …

BP Oil Drilling Disaster: New Shots from the Sheen Read More »

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry admitted tonight that the BP oil drilling disaster is pumping over 200,000 gallons of oil a day into the Gulf. Given that the rig sank on the 22nd, we can now estimate that somewhere close to 1.5 million gallons of oil have been released into the Gulf. This spill …

BP Oil Drilling Disaster: Spill 5 Times Worse Than First Thought Read More »

It was just two days before Earth Day, and a few weeks after President Obama’s call to increase drilling in off-shore areas, when an oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, 45 miles off of Louisiana’s coast, near the Breton and Delta National Wildlife Refuges.Tragically, it appears that 11 missing crewmembers have been killed. …

BP Oil Drilling Disaster – Help Protect Marine Wildlife Read More »