Oil Spill Desperation

This will be a short post just to update our situation which took a turn for the worse. When I turned on the news this morning they were covering a protest in Bayou La Batre, a fishing community in Mobile, by quite a lot of shrimpers. They were blocking cleanup boats from getting out into the coastal waters. One man was arrested. They were protesting the fact that even though they signed up for the Vessels of Opportunity at the start of this, they had never been called to work. The problem is that out-of-state people from all over the country, recreational boaters, and sailboats were being hired. Very few of the local fishermen and charter boats have been hired.


These local fishermen know these waters like we know the layout of our homes. They know the currents, the depth of the water at various places, and all the places that are dangerous. They are all self-employed and not eligible for unemployment (at least I don’t think they are). They don’t have a way to make a living and feed their families. BP had promised them that they would be hired. BP doesn’t have much credibility here.

Our local employment agencies have only been able to place a few people on the cleanup. An agency out of Texas is doing almost all of the hiring. There are a lot of Texas people working here on the cleanup.

Reality is this thing will not be stopped before late August and probably September, if they are lucky with the relief well and divert the oil. Other countries require that relief wells be drilled along with the main well. The United States does not require that.

In addition to that the blade being used to cut the pipe today kept getting stuck causing delays, and allowing even more oil into the ocean.  Just a few miles off shore you can put a fishing net into the water and bring up oil the consistenty of cornbread batter. The tar balls are washing up on the beaches.  These tar balls are sticky and can collect objects in the water such as medical waste.  It just gets better and better.  DRILL, BABY, DRILL.

I sure am hoping for some good news to post soon. Please pray for these people who have lost their ability to make a living. These are people who have fished these waters for generations.