Are you on the gulf coast??

[Donna T.]

I'm sure this has come up on the board recently. I haven't checked for past threads. I just wanted to send a warm word out to my neighbors. Are ya'll o.k.? We are devastated. I had to hide today's newspaper from the kids.

 

We live in a coastal county. Our beautiful white beaches are now seeing impact.

 

Today's newspaper headline:

 

"WORST DAY YET: Thick Sheets of Oil Blanket Baldwin Beaches"

 

:crying: - Here is a picture from a few weeks ago. This same spot was among the first to see impact.

Edited June 13, 2010 by Donna T.

[Mom in High Heels]

Are you talking about Baldwin co. AL? My dad has a house there, but lives in Mobile.

[Donna T.]

Yep. We are in Baldwin County. I grew up in Mobile.

[lovemyboys]

I'm sure this has come up on the board recently. I haven't checked for past threads. I just wanted to send a warm word out to my neighbors. Are ya'll o.k.? We are devastated. I had to hide today's newspaper from the kids.

 

We live in a coastal county. Our beautiful white beaches are now seeing impact.

 

Today's newspaper headline:

 

"WORST DAY YET: Thick Sheets of Oil Blanket Baldwin Beaches"

 

:crying:

 

Breaks my heart to see our snow white beaches looking like this. We used to live there. The whole region is just recovering from the past decade's hurricane damage and now this.

 

Particularly infuriating that significant help was offered within a day or two of the initial explosion and a political decision was made to turn it down. :sad: :mad:

[celticmom]

I live on the MS gulf coast and have been avoiding driving near the beaches. My dd5 wants to go to tyhe beach now that the weather is hot and I have explained that they are most likely messed up right now and why. Unfortunately, an oil spill is rather difficult for a young child to understand.:(

I am not sure where the nearest unimpacted beach is and I need to be certain that there is no smell before I go anywhere near it since I am asthmatic.

[Donna T.]

Particularly infuriating that significant help was offered within a day or two of the initial explosion and a political decision was made to turn it down. :sad: :mad:

 

I didn't know that. I've sort of avoided the politics of this situation. I'm just sick about the environmental impact. Not to mention that we won't be able to enjoy the beaches this summer.

[KnitWit]

My parents just returned from a trip and came along the Gulf from Pensacola through Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, AL. They said it was sad to see the tar balls. They said some areas had STRONG smell and some didn't. Mom talked to some of the workers on the beach and they said it changes hour to hour depending upon the way the wind is blowing and the tides.

[athena1277]

I grew up in south LA and often went to the beaches along the Gulf Coast. A month ago we took a trip to Panama City, FL to the beach. It was beautiful. Manta rays swam by every day. I think of them and all the other amazing creatures that may not survive the oil. It's so horrible. And yes, it's a bummer that many people will not be able to enjoy the beach this summer, but at least people will survive the summer.

[lovemyboys]

I didn't know that. I've sort of avoided the politics of this situation. I'm just sick about the environmental impact. Not to mention that we won't be able to enjoy the beaches this summer.

 

Here's a quote from WGNO site:

New Orleans - More help is on the way, thanks to Dutch officials who are sending six sweeping arms to the United States to help with the oil clean up.

 

The high tech pieces of equipment are being shipped here this weekend by the Dutch Corps of Engineers. Jeff Admon is a mechanical engineer who for weeks has been urging BP to use these machines. In the thickest oil, the arm, which is attached to the side of a ship, can suck up 29,000 gallons of oil per hour. The oil can then be separated from water. Then, the oil goes into a compartment located in the hull of the ship, and gets taken back to shore. Admon says the arms have been used in other parts of the world, and have been very successful. "This equipment was used in two huge oil spills off the coast of Spain and France, the Prestige and the Erica...and they were also used in the '91 Gulf War" Admon says.

 

So there's renewed hope now that the equipment will be in place by next week....but Admon and others still wonder why it took so long to get them here. "If they would've listened to us from the beginning and they would've listened to this proposal and this offer from the Dutch government, maybe we could've contained a lot more oil and we wouldn't be in the situation we are today" Admon says.

 

And this:

Three days after the explosion, the Dutch government offered to assist the United States by sending ships equipped with oil-skimming booms. It also provided a plan for creating sand barriers to protect the sensitive marshlands of the Gulf coast.

 

According to Geert Visser, Consul General for the Netherlands in Houston “The embassy got a nice letter from the administration that said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’â€

 

Almost seven weeks later, the administration finally relented and agreed to accept partial Dutch assistance with the cleanup. The administration has not accepted Dutch ships, but has allowed the skimming booms to be airlifted from the Netherlands and deployed in the Gulf.

 

Part of the problem is the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, also known as the Jones Act. This act is a piece of protectionist legislation which requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. The provisions of this act make it illegal for the Dutch to come to our aid.

 

Geert Visser was noticeably confused by the administrations intransigence in refusing Dutch assistance, “What’s wrong with accepting outside help? If there’s a country that’s experienced with building dikes and managing water, it’s the Netherlands.â€

 

The government is also making it difficult for the Dutch to provide assistance in creating sand barriers to prevent the spilled oil from reaching the gulf shores. Van Oord, a Dutch company and Deltares, a Dutch research institute provided plans to build 60 mile sand dikes and the government rebuffed their offer of assistance. The government has now changed it’s tune and has accepted the plan, but the Jones Act prevents the Dutch from operating in America’s coastal waters.

 

The United States Maritime Administration could issue a waiver of the Jones Act limitations, and has done so several times in the past. Doing so, however, would subject the Obama administration to criticism from labor unions who demand protection from global competition.

 

 

:sad: :sad: :sad:

[elegantlion]

Here's a link to the news story about the oil. I am deeply saddened and angered by this situation.

[Amie]

Yep, we're here. I was hoping to take my boys to the beach one last time...before...who knows what...and how long will it be here...

 

I grew up here; it is very sad. I wonder how long it will be before my children get to see the beaches again as they once were.

[lovemyboys]

Early on they were burning off the oil around the rig area. Of course there are air pollution concerns with this. There was outcry about this -- before the extent of the spill and difficulty of a fix were understood, I think.

 

Sadly, I'm not sure what's worse as we see all the oil wash ashore.

 

And we won't know what difference the Dutch aid might have made.....

[Truscifi]

We are on the gulf coast of Fl, 1.5 hours north of Tampa. It hasn't hit here yet, but they are saying it could soon. We are hitting the beach every chance we get since we don't know what is going to happen. I think a lot of people still don't realize how far-reaching the effects are going to be.

[Donna T.]

Yep, we're here. I was hoping to take my boys to the beach one last time...before...who knows what...and how long will it be here...

 

I grew up here; it is very sad. I wonder how long it will be before my children get to see the beaches again as they once were.

 

Me, too, Amie. I woke them up early last Wednesday morning after watching the news on Tuesday night. We have a favorite spot where the oil was expected to show up on Thursday. They wouldn't even go! They said if they couldn't get in the water, they didn't want to go. I am thankful that I took a ton of pictures when we were there a few weeks ago.

[Jennifer in MI]

We are on the gulf coast of Fl, 1.5 hours north of Tampa. It hasn't hit here yet, but they are saying it could soon. We are hitting the beach every chance we get since we don't know what is going to happen. I think a lot of people still don't realize how far-reaching the effects are going to be.

 

This whole thing makes me SO angry. Why didn't BP have a contingency plan? Why can't SOMETHING be done? Urg.

 

We are going to be on Santa Anna Island at the beginning of July. I'm wondering how the beaches will be affected.

Edited June 13, 2010 by Jennifer in MI

[chiguirre]

We just got back from Galveston. There's no oil on the Texas beaches, it all flowed to the east. We saw lots of pelicans this time and we even saw little rays last week on Memorial Day. I'm very sorry for the situation in MS, AL and FL, and very grateful that we were spared the oil.

[Donna T.]

I'm very sorry for the situation in MS, AL and FL, and very grateful that we were spared the oil.

 

I'm glad you were spared also. Very sick and sad to see it here though. I can't stand to think about how it's going to be for Florida's pandhandle area. We know it's so much MORE than what we will see on our beautiful beaches. During our last time on the beach, we saw dolphins and rays right from the shore. They were stunningly beautiful. We ran down the coast following them for a long time.

 

I don't know if we'll ever have that opportunity again.

[Teresa in MO]

we went to Fort Walton beach last May. It was our first real family vacation. We absolutely loved it! We were planning on returning in late September, early October. I can't believe those white beaches will be ruined.

[lovemyboys]

We are on the gulf coast of Fl, 1.5 hours north of Tampa. It hasn't hit here yet, but they are saying it could soon. We are hitting the beach every chance we get since we don't know what is going to happen. I think a lot of people still don't realize how far-reaching the effects are going to be.

 

Appalachicola area?

 

Hopefully some of the remediation that's finally getting there will be of some help....

[MamaT]

I grew up in a little town on the Panhandle of Florida, Port St. Joe, and lived much of my life in Panama City (had two kids born there). Most of my family is still there. This whole situation is sickening to me. This is the first summer we aren't renting out a house on Mexico Beach because we don't know what we would find.

[lovemyboys]

Wow, I was flipping channels .... anyone see this?

 

Mike Huckabee has a show on Fox (:confused:): He's got inventors and scientists on who are showing their products for sucking up, drying up, and degrading oil with available products. Some reclaim the oil to reuse and can then reuse the product too. Amazing.

 

One guy just showed his product -- he's got a huge volume of the granular substance (don't remember -- 100 tons?) ready to go. He swept a white feather through the oil, yuck. Then he put the product on the oil slick and let it sit for a minute. When he whisked another white feather through it was virtually spotless and the "oil slick" in the little tank was gone.

 

Another guy is a former hairdresser from AL who uses hair mats to soak up oil. He's helped with coastal oil spills around the country.

 

Wouldn't it be great if some of these products can be put in place and really work???

[Truscifi]

Appalachicola area?

 

Hopefully some of the remediation that's finally getting there will be of some help....

 

No, we are a good bit farther south than that, although we typically vacation at St George every fall. We are planning on going to Savannah this year instead because of the spill. Of course, I was reading an article saying that depending on what happens with hurricane season now upon us, the oil could be headed up the east coast by then.

 

About the hair mats - they are already being used. Both my hairdresser and a friend who is a dog groomer are sending all hair clippings to some organization that makes them into mats that are being used to soak up the oil at the surface.

[lollie010]

Thanks for the gorgeous picture, Donna. I don't think many people know just how precious this area is. One of my all time best memories is of the sailing tour we took of Wolf Bay. At sunset we watched dozens of dolphins playing in the water. It was awe inspiring!

[lovemyboys]

No, we are a good bit farther south than that, although we typically vacation at St George every fall. We are planning on going to Savannah this year instead because of the spill. Of course, I was reading an article saying that depending on what happens with hurricane season now upon us, the oil could be headed up the east coast by then.

 

About the hair mats - they are already being used. Both my hairdresser and a friend who is a dog groomer are sending all hair clippings to some organization that makes them into mats that are being used to soak up the oil at the surface.

 

Yes this was the guy. He started this a number of years ago. He mentioned that there's also a woman in Calif. who makes pantyhose-buoy things full of hair that float and act as barriers.