BP's oil continues to wash ashore in Louisiana
A new wave of oil from the BP disaster washed ashore along the Louisiana coast late last week, coating beaches and polluting interior marshes.
About 16 miles of beach in Plaquemines Parish south of New Orleans were fouled with massive black oil slicks and tar balls as big as 12 feet in diameter, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. Dead fish were also seen in the affected areas.
The oil sightings were confirmed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries as well as by environmental advocates.
"I was down there on Thursday," said Jonathan Henderson, an organizer with the Gulf Restoration Network (GRN). "It's there."
In a posting to its Facebook page, GRN raised concerns about the story's placement in the Times-Picayune: It ran on the last page of the sports section.
"If the reappearance of the oil were to happen anyplace else in the country it would be a national headline," GRN said in a comment to its Facebook post.
The news about oil washing ashore in Louisiana comes as researchers at the University of Georgia report finding patches of oil on the Gulf floor that are believed to be from the BP disaster. Some of the patches were several centimeters thick.
The UGA researchers are doing additional work to determine how much oil is present and to evaluate the rates of microbial breakdown. They're also doing testing of the seafloor at other sites to better understand where the oil from the spill is ending up.
About 16 miles of beach in Plaquemines Parish south of New Orleans were fouled with massive black oil slicks and tar balls as big as 12 feet in diameter, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported. Dead fish were also seen in the affected areas.
The oil sightings were confirmed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries as well as by environmental advocates.
"I was down there on Thursday," said Jonathan Henderson, an organizer with the Gulf Restoration Network (GRN). "It's there."
In a posting to its Facebook page, GRN raised concerns about the story's placement in the Times-Picayune: It ran on the last page of the sports section.
"If the reappearance of the oil were to happen anyplace else in the country it would be a national headline," GRN said in a comment to its Facebook post.
The news about oil washing ashore in Louisiana comes as researchers at the University of Georgia report finding patches of oil on the Gulf floor that are believed to be from the BP disaster. Some of the patches were several centimeters thick.
The UGA researchers are doing additional work to determine how much oil is present and to evaluate the rates of microbial breakdown. They're also doing testing of the seafloor at other sites to better understand where the oil from the spill is ending up.
Tags
Sue Sturgis
Sue is the former editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.