Today Jonathan Henderson and I flew over the wetlands in Louisiana and along the coast from Timbalier Bay to South East Pass. What we saw contradicted what we have been hearing from BP, the unified command, the administration, and the press. From Little Lake to the beaches of Fourchon to Grand Isle to East Bay, there is considerable oil visible on the surface. Alarmingly, for as much oil as we were seeing, there were few clean up crews in site. Stretches of oil were floating just off the coast of Fourchon and there was not so much as a boom to protect the beach. GRN is concerned that reports of seventy-five percent of the oil being contained, dispersed, or removed fails to consider just how much oil is left in the Gulf. Even if it is true that only twenty-five percent of the oil that gushed from the BP Deepwater Horizon well is still in the Gulf, that still leaves over 1 million barrels of oil out there. And it continues to make its way toward the coastline, threatening everything in its path.With the well now capped and almost completely plugged, we are noticing a significant scaling down of the response to protect the Gulf Coast from the oil. We must continue to pressure state and federal governments to keep working until ALL the oil is cleaned up. We must continue to demand that BP is accountable for ALL the clean up and restoration of this unique and fragile ecosystem. Michelle Erenberg is the Campaign Organizer for the Gulf Restoration Network’s Gulf Future Campaign.
