Clearing the Water On Alabama’s Gulf Coast a Formidable Task
Posted: Monday, August 30, 2010
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
Although it appears the BP Deepwater Horizon oil well is now permanently sealed, and much of the unsightly blobs of oil in the marshes and along some beaches are diminished, the water is still polluted according to Casi Callaway, executive director of the Mobile Baykeeper.
Mobile Baykeeper is an environmental group with over 4,000 members, all with a common interest in preserving and protecting the beauty, health and heritage of the Mobile Bay watershed. Our priorities are clean water, clean air and healthy people along with responsible government and a healthy economy. We need your help to accomplish our mission! We need active members who share our vision and understand the importance of protecting the very thing that makes our home so unique and exceptional the Mobile Bay watershed. (Mobile Baykeeper).
Ms. Callaway reports that lifeguards on the coast are "testing" the safety of the water by "seeing what it feels like". She disagrees that this is a satisfactory way to test the water, and adds that even though the dispersants used by BP have broken up the oil to the degree that it is virtually impossible to clean it up. The beaches and the water appear to be in good shape but by dipping a white towel in the water, it comes up yellow.
These women's organizations which largely formed after Hurricane Katrina, report that even though they have had 6,000 volunteers for the clean up effort, there is little more they can do due to dispersants. They also warn that no one knows what the long term effect will be to human or sea life health. These organizations, the Water Keeper Alliance, comprised of 200 organizations one of which is the Mobile Baykeeper, also monitor the runoff waters of the various rivers which flow into the gulf.
They report that, prior to the oil spill, their greatest concerns were those of contamination in rivers from industrial wastes and other such pollution. They now, not only are monitoring and testing the beaches and beach water, but also the marshes and tidal shoreline. Alabama has 53 miles of beaches and 600 miles of tidal shoreline.
One of the greatest concerns and with little actual knowledge of the extent of damage, is the shallow waters and marshes which is the breeding ground for fish, oysters and shrimp as far as commercial sea life, plus turtles and other such members of the ecosystem.
Wilma Subra, a microbiologist/chemist, who has been fighting BP in the courts and with government regulators, says the decisions made by BP have significantly worsened the human and environmental health impacts. She reports that the chemicals used in the dispersants are highly toxic and that some workers who were in close contact with them have reported headaches, nausea, dizziness and breathing difficulties but were hesitant to mention them to BP for fear of losing their jobs.
And so, the mystery goes on. The final amount of damage may take months or even years to accurately determine. Not much good can be seen from this catastrophic incident, except the fact the federal government has given assurance that safety regulations and investigations will be strengthened.
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