BP Oil Spill Report from Grand Isle, Louisiana

This past weekend of May 21-23, 2010 my better half and I went on one of our annual trips to Grand Isle, Louisiana. Despite coverage of Grand Isle since the oil spill we decided the best action was to go. Our trip was realized because the owner who is a friend has been unable to rent the beachhouse for weeks. After visiting the island we were both encouraged and disappointed.

Upon arrival in Grand Isle the drive across the bridge showed multiple rows of boom in the pass. The first line of boom was a large one with US Navy markings followed by several rows of the small orange boom. The heavy presence of National Guard and Military vehicles was reminiscent of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike. Blackhawk and oilfield helicopters regularly patrolled the beach along with the press.

After unloading the car and getting settled I took off over the new "burritos" that have been built to protect from hurricanes. Friday evening was encouraging as there was little oil on the beach and most that I found was smaller than the size of a quarter. There were vehicle and ATV tracks up and down the sand indicating a lot of traffic had been there earlier. Also at the high tide line were shovel and rake marks in the sand indicating that whatever had hit the beach had been removed. As the tide fell there was no oil being left behind or floating in the water.

There were people here and there at the camps, yet the traffic was light for this time of year. Many schools let out about this time and Grand Isle is packed to capacity, but not this year. Since the beach was closed we spent the weekend in the sun on the deck. It was still a good weekend with plenty of sun and no smell of oil in the air. The restaurants had no wait with the greatly reduced tourist population. The irritation of the trip was being caught between TV newsmen and environmentalists at dinner and forced to listen to non resident rhetoric with no experience.

Saturday the wind changed and the evening inspection showed a good deal of oil on the beach. The tar balls did not resemble those I had grown up with in Galveston in the '70s and '80s. What is on the beach is a caramel light sweet crude. There were small droplets that had settled in the sand and small patches that were on the surface. The oil did not go that deep into the sand and it appeared to be easy to shovel, something that cannot be said for the muddy and grassy marshes.

I was disturbed by the amount of Mexican Nationals that I saw as a part of the cleanup operation. One reason was the lack of communication that this includes, and the second reason was the locals that haven't been able to realize these jobs. Also disturbing is that four Mexican Nationals recently allegedly raped and killed a local woman as reported in the Houma Courier by Raymond Legendre on May 10,2010. The Mexican Nationals could be in danger in an area with a small town population that becomes more stressed by the day.

The trip to Grand Isle left me with a few answers and quite a few questions. The operations that were initiated by the State of Louisiana were visible and appeared to be successfully taking on problems as they came. The local government there, as in my home of Terrebonne Parish are on top of what is happening and are trying to attack the problem. The disconnect seems to be in the federal government and BP, as these large organizations are impotent due to procedure and size.

List of Sources
Raymond Legendre, Four Men Charged in Woman's Slaying, http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20100510/ARTICLES/100519962?tc=ar