Gulf Oil Spill: Cancellations and Worry Along the Coast

NEW ORLEANS -- Bearing out many peoples' worst fears during a month of heightening anxiety, thick oil is now coming ashore on stretches of Louisiana's gulf coast, especially the barrier islands. In some cases, the toxic sludge has also entered the inner salt marshes that nurture so much of the Bayou State's marine life, and thus its seafood industry.
Patches of oil can be found from the Louisiana's eastward Chandeleur Islands, due south of Biloxi, Miss., to Marsh Island, due south of Lafayette, La. (Both sites are National Wildlife Refuges.) Measured in a relatively straight line along Interstate 10, which connects Lafayette and Biloxi, the partial damage extends some 200 miles. Given the irregular arc of the coastline, however, the area affected is far greater.

The long-term effects of the oil spill are generally considered disastrous, despite British Petroleum's efforts to minimize both the gravity of the situation and the amount of oil that continues to leak. Serious short-term effects have already been felt by commercial fishermen. Some have been forced to stay in port for the past several weeks, while those who can still work are under strict territorial limitations imposed by state and federal officials.

Against this bleak backdrop, another important industry is now threatened: tourism.

On Grand Isle -- some 70 miles due south of New Orleans, although much farther by road -- city officials have closed the gulf-side beach. The year-round population of Grand Isle is approximately 1,700, but this figure swells dramatically during the summer. Fishing is a key attraction, and many annual piscatorial events are affected. The New Orleans Electrical Association's 2010 Fishing Tournament, scheduled for June 4 - 5, has been cancelled. It may be rescheduled for September 17 - 18, but "keep in mind that we still may have an issue four months from now if things don't drastically improve," the association's website warns.

The Offshore Marine Organizations' Cajun Tropics Fishing Rodeo, also scheduled for June 4 - 5, has likewise been cancelled, and replaced with the less exciting option of a crawfish boil. There has also been talk, including some premature announcements, that Grand Isle may have to cancel its renowned Tarpon Rodeo – "Established in 1928 – The Oldest fishing tournament in the United States!" No official decision has been announced yet, however. For a seasonally oriented town that thrives on vacation rentals, guided fishing trips, and the like, an oil drenched summer will spell economic catastrophe.

A similar scenario prevails in the small town of Jean Lafitte (named for the pirate who helped Andrew Jackson beat the British in the Battle of New Orleans.) The annual Jean Lafitte Seafood Festival, slated for July 30 - August 1, has been cancelled to allow officials to concentrate on "containment and recovery," says Mayor Tim Kerner. Such 10-week lead time underscores the gravity of the situation. No oil has reached the town so far, but its proximity to Barataria Bay has many concerned.
"It's a real shame to cancel the festival," said Jean Lafitte resident Beatrice Robin, "because a lot of the proceeds go to $1,000 college scholarships for graduates of Fisher High School." Down for three years on the heels of Hurricane Katrina, the event only resumed activity in 2009.

As the oil inexorably advances, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and other officials are clamoring for the immediate construction of an 80-mile, six-foot-high sand berm combined with the reinforcement of existing barrier islands. The federal government has yet issue a permit for this vast engineering project, with its estimated cost of $350 million, and many local leaders are frustrated by what they see as bureaucratic dithering in the face of dire emergency.
"We've been saying now for 16, 17, 20 days, 'Let us pump the sediment'," to obtain sand to build the berm, says Billy Nungesser, the president of Plaquemines Parish. (In Louisiana, parishes are the governmental equivalent of counties.) The massive berm would "keep the majority of the oil on the outside [of the marshes]," Nungesser asserts, adding, "if we don't have the permit by next week, we'll start doing it ourselves."

"I tell you, they got to give us a permit," echoes Grand Isle Mayor David Carmadelle.
Floyd Robin of Jean Lafitte, Beatrice Robin's husband, is a veteran commercial fisherman. "The Coast Guard is doing nothing, sitting watching TV with their legs cocked up," he says. "This oil spill is taking my livelihood. If the tide brings the oil in here, we're out of business for 10 years. And if the oil goes from here up to the Harvey Canal, it will go into the Mississippi River and could threaten New Orleans' drinking water, unless they keep the canal closed to shipping.

"We Cajuns are very independent," Robin adds. "We don't wait for other people to help us, we do things ourselves. Besides being a fisherman I'm a welder, a plumber, an electrician, a jack of all trades. But you can't stop the tide."

Despite some vocal, high-profile support for the proposed berm, opinions vary regarding its effectiveness. Leonard Bahr is a former LSU marine sciences faculty member and coastal policy adviser to Louisiana governors, and current editor of editor of the environmental blog www.lacoastpost.com. He calls the project the "sandy Band-Aid."

In addition, Bahr paraphrases coastal geologist Dallon Weathers in citing several serious problems: the proposed location and geometry of the berm ensures rapid erosion, the trench left at the dredge site will modify wave patterns and rob sediment from the coastal system for years to come, and, most notably, the proposed sand berm won't be ready to help with this oil spill, nor will it last for another one.

But with no solution from BP while oil continues to flow, a mood of desperation suggests trying almost anything.