Federal Agencies Continue to Obstruct Oil Clean-up

When I started this site it was not supposed to be an activist site.  My intention was to use it to celebrate life along America's Third Coast, the Gulf of Mexico.  Now, I had meant to do the occasional piece to remind people that we have not yet fully recovered from the effects of Ivan, Katrina and Rita but for the most part I wanted to highlight Third Coast chefs and eateries while sharing a recipe now and then.  Unfortunately the events of April 20th have changed a lot of things.  The explosion was a tragedy, BP's response has been half-hearted and the federal government's response has been laughable.

Just one day after the President's lackluster address about the Oil Spill:
  • Orange Beach, AL mayor Tony Kennon warned that the Federal Government wants to take the first $5 billion of the $20 billion BP escrow account for "administrative fees."
  • Alabama officials are denied permission by the US Coast Guard to enact a plan that would prevent the oil spill from reaching the delicate estuary of Mobile Bay.
  • Louisiana officials reported to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority about the repeated obstructions from both BP and the federal government to protecting the state's coastal wetlands.  That included an order that day from the US Coast Guard for the state to remove barges carrying vacuum trucks that officials were using to suck oil out of the Gulf near wetlands and barrier islands.
  • A University of Southern Mississippi study reports that the oil spill will cost the state of Mississippi $120 million in tourism revenues this summer alone.
0 Responses