The Way Things Used to Be by Denise Rednour

It used to be that each morning I would walk along the shore taking in the fresh air and listening to the sounds of the gulls and the boats departing for their days fresh catch. It was so relaxing and refreshing and you couldn't help but feel as one with nature.

Then, in the evenings after dinner, many a time my husband and I would either go for a leisurely drive along the coast or a walk down one of the beautiful piers. We'd walk holding hands and witness the dolphins playing joyfully in the moonlight and listen to the many fish feeding at the surface making feint "popping" sounds as they came up for air or a bite to eat. We loved to take our boat to Horn Island at night and just sit on the shore for hours. You felt as though you were the only two people on earth without a care and the beauty and peacefulness were unmatched.

Our beach was the center of our world; our relaxation when taking a walk, or our entertainment when we went fishing on the pier or invited and gathered with friends for a bonfire on the shoreline.

The beach was the perfect location for a wedding, viewing a meteor shower or eclipse, watching the holiday fireworks shows, or perhaps one of the many festivals such as the annual fishing rodeo or the kite festival, crab festivals, the Blessing of the Fleet, and beautiful events such as the Christmas boat parade.

Our beach is a way of life and for many, it's their livelihood. For generations, families have grown up here and their way of life is centered around the Gulf of Mexico. Not the side streets or the neighborhoods, but the beach itself.

I'm a middle aged woman now and it grieves me to think that all of the things I just mentioned are being taken away for generations to come....possibly forever. There will likely be no dolphin swimming in our waters, no fish for a little boy or girl to catch, no beautiful white sand beach to sun yourself and listen to the gulls while taking in the fresh air, no income to be made by the many fishermen, no tourism, no fishing charters, not much of anything will be the same.

There is a terrible fear that blankets the coast now. We are fearful for our health, we are fearful about the potential impact of a hurricane or even a tropical storm bringing oil many miles onshore. We are being lied to and shut out of actively volunteering to save our home.

Please pray for every person, every living being, and our very planet and ecosystem.

Facebook Briefly Disables 'Boycott BP' Page

Web Site Says Content Was Mistakenly Removed

HARRY R. WEBER, AP Business Writer
POSTED: 2:23 pm CDT June 29, 2010
UPDATED: 7:29 pm CDT June 29, 2010

HOUSTON -- BP PLC says it had nothing to do with Facebook's decision to briefly take down a page set up by users that advocates boycotting the oil giant over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BP spokesman Toby Odone told The Associated Press on Tuesday that BP did not complain to Facebook about the "Boycott BP" page that had been set up using the popular social networking site.

An attorney for the advocacy group Public Citizen said in a statement that the page, which boasts nearly 23,000 monthly active users, was shut down late Monday and restored early Tuesday.

Facebook says its automated systems disabled the profile of the page's administrator, which removed all the content that had been created. Facebook reinstated the content after determining the profile was mistakenly removed.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Biden visits gulf as storm approaches

Swells of between 4 and 6 feet have been hitting the beach in Port Fourchon, La., as Tropical Storm Alex pushes across the Gulf of Mexico. (Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times / June 28, 2010)


By Richard Fausset and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times
June 30, 2010


Reporting from Atlanta and Port Fourchon, La. — As storm winds pushed oil over booms protecting the Louisiana coast, Vice President Joe Biden made his first tour of the troubled gulf region Tuesday, assuring locals that claims filed against oil giant BP would be paid even if they exceeded the $20 billion the company set aside in an escrow account.

"That $20-billion fund, that's not a ceiling," Biden said. "BP is required to pay whatever it is [that] falls under their responsibility, whether it ends up being $25, $30, $40 or $50 billion."

The Obama administration pressed BP to create the fund this month, in what Rep. Joe L. Barton (R- Texas) called a "shakedown." That language was echoed in a statement by the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of conservative House GOP members. Biden denounced those comments soon afterward, arguing that the fund was meant to "take care of the immediate needs of people who are drowning."

With some of those desperate residents serving as a backdrop in Louisiana on Tuesday, Biden said: "Some of the guys behind me made some claims, and they've gotten partial payment. The concern was: Is this it? It ain't it. It ain't it. This is the beginning. This is not the end."

Although it was Biden's first visit since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 people, President Obama has visited the region four times and top administration officials have made repeated visits.

But the administration has been dogged by criticism that its response to the spill, which is spewing up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day, has been sluggish. In a story posted Tuesday on New Orleans news site WWL.com, St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro said that White House officials "need to be down here, not just for a photo op. Not just for a sound bite."

Biden's trip seemed calculated in part to shine a light on the magnitude of the federal response in the region, and also to address specific local concerns. In the morning, he toured the unified command center in downtown New Orleans, where half a dozen protesters stood outside in a light rain carrying signs that said, "Oil kills."

Later, Biden announced that federal agencies and the gulf states had agreed to uniform safety standards for seafood coming out of the gulf. The move came as fishermen have received mixed signals on food safety — in some cases, they have been cleared to fish only to find their catch deemed unsafe by the Food and Drug Administration.

"We want one single standard so y'all don't have to worry about where you fish, if you can fish, and when the waters are open, whether they're federal waters or state waters," Biden said.

The vice president arrived as the first major storm of hurricane season, Alex, pushed through the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, creating large waves that washed oil patches over booms as far as the Mississippi coast.

The storm became a Category 1 hurricane Tuesday night, the National Hurricane Center said. Meteorologists at AccuWeather said it appeared headed to make landfall near Brownsville, Texas.

Because of the rough seas, BP and the Coast Guard sent oil-skimming ships back to shore, the Associated Press reported. And in Washington, the State Department announced that the U.S. was accepting help from 12 countries and international organizations.

Earlier, on the Louisiana coast, oily storm-surge waves, 4 to 6 feet high, crashed onto Fourchon Beach, washing rust-brown oil over white absorbent booms and sandbags and onto the sand.

"They were not made to withstand hurricane-force winds," said Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Anne Marie Gorden, who is based in Atlantic City, N.J. "Mother Nature, in the end, just gets the best of you. You can't beat her, but we're sure trying."

At the shoreline, the wind whipped at the white protective suits worn by dozens of BP contract workers as they scooped oil and sand into plastic bags. Workers in Grand Isle, La., had to scale back some operations Tuesday, including sifting sand for tar balls. But in Port Fourchon, about 900 workers were attacking the latest wave of oil to hit shore. More were skimming oil from the water aboard about 120 boats along the 14-mile stretch of beach, a supervisor said.

"It just started hitting us overnight," said another supervisor, who asked not to be identified as he helped one set of workers suit up in safety gear as another team scrubbed down. "It came in real fast. We're just trying to keep up."

"We're going to feel the effects of Alex even this far out," said Coast Guard Senior Chief Kevin Edwards, normally based out of Staten Island, N.Y. "We're starting to see higher than high tides, which is making the response more difficult. We are making headway with what we can now. I'm sure it's going to get hit again, but we're trying to clear this while we can."

richard.fausset@latimes.com

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times

TS Alex: 3 rigs, 28 production platforms evacuated

Associated Press - June 29, 2010 9:44 PM ET

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The federal agency that regulates offshore oil and gas says Gulf of Mexico operators are evacuating platforms and rigs in the path of Tropical Storm Alex.

Eileen Angelico of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement says they are on the western edge of the gulf.

The bureau estimates that has halted nearly one-quarter of the Gulf's oil production and more than 9% of its natural gas production.

It says morning reports indicate 28 of 634 manned production platforms and 3 of 51 drilling rigs were evacuated Tuesday.

It says drilling rigs and containment vessels involved in the BP PLC oil spill response are continuing their work.

The bureau estimates March energy production from the Gulf at 1.6 million barrels of oil per day and 6.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Use of Chemical Dispersants is an Uncontrolled Experiment

Use of Chemical Dispersants is an Uncontrolled Experiment on the entire Gulf

May 27, 2010

Congressman Nadler's opening statement in a House Judiciary Committee hearing on liability issues surrounding the gulf coast oil disaster. The continued use of chemical dispersants has threatened human life and the health of the entire Gulf ecosystem.

A Louisiana parish official rescued an oil-covered bird from the water. But, getting the bird the help it needed proved to be a difficult task

A Louisiana parish official rescued an oil-covered bird from the water. But, getting the bird the help it needed proved to be a difficult task when he called BP's oiled wildlife hotline. (June 26)

Winds, tides pushing more oil ashore

Winds, tides pushing more oil ashore
By MARGARET BAKER - mbbaker@sunherald.com


PASCAGOULA -- Strong winds and higher tides pushed tar balls and mousse patties over the Pascagoula seawall today, resulting the temporary closure of a portion of Beach Boulevard.

"I went down there between 6:30 and 7 a.m. and there were some tar balls on the beach," Pascagoula police spokesman Doug Adams said. "By 11:30 (a.m.), there were tar balls on the road. We've had extremely higher tides and wave action because of the weather. More bad weather is expected tomorrow."

Police have temporarily shut down Beach Boulevard, from the Longfellow House to the Pascagoula Yacht Club.

Cleanup crews are removing the tar balls, Adams said, though he expects to see more of the gooey globs of oil on the Pascagoula beach and on Beach Boulevard on Wednesday when more bad weather moves in.
Read more about this story in Wednesday's Sun Herald.


Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2010/06/29/2297246/winds-tides-pushing-more-oil-ashore.html#ixzz0v6mjCLcR

Vice President to assess oil spill efforts in Gulf area

New Orleans, Louisiana (CNN) -- Vice President Joe Biden, on a visit to the Gulf area to assess efforts to stop the oil disaster, toured the New Orleans response command center, where he expressed appreciation to workers.
Biden toured the operations center with Coast Guard Rear Adm. James Watson, the federal on-scene coordinator.

"I just came to say thanks," the vice president told staffers at the center. "I appreciate it. You're probably missing out on vacation. My mother would say, 'God love you.'"
Following the tour, Biden planned to head to Pomes Seafood, a seafood wholesaler, and meet with local fishermen. Later, he plans to visit the Florida Panhandle region. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus was also in the area and was scheduled to tour the command center with Biden.

The vice president's visit comes on the 71st day of the spill that President Barack Obama has called the nation's worst environmental disaster.
BP said it is on track to reach its August deadline of getting a relief well down to the area where the oil is leaking in the Gulf of Mexico.

The relief well has reached a depth of 16,770 feet, but engineers plan to drill an additional 900 feet vertically before cutting in sideways, said Kent Wells, BP senior vice president of exploration and production.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to increase the containment of leaking oil. The next step is to bring in a third rig called the Helix Producer at the well, which would increase the containment by 20,000 to 25,000 more barrels per day, Wells said.

But powerful Tropical Storm Alex could derail the effort.

Alex was approaching hurricane strength early Tuesday and was located off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in the Bay of Campeche. It was moving to the north-northwest at about 12 mph, the National Hurricane Center said, but was headed away from the area affected by the oil spill.

If the storm's approach were to force the evacuation of the site, "there could be a break of about 14 days to take down the equipment and then bring it back," said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is coordinating the federal response to the disaster.

Researchers have estimated that between 35,000 barrels (about 1.5 million gallons) and 60,000 barrels (about 2.5 million gallons) of oil are gushing into the ocean every day.
As of midnight Sunday, 483,500 barrels (about 20.3 million gallons) have been collected, BP said. From noon to midnight Sunday, about 8,290 barrels (about 348,000 gallons) were collected through two containment systems -- the lower marine riser package cap and the Q4000 system, named for the vessel where the oil is funneled through a manifold and hoses.

But even with BP feverishly trying to contain it, more and more oil seems to wash up on the coasts of some Gulf states.

Connie Moran, the mayor of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, said she was going to have to close a beach in her town Tuesday.

"What we're seeing actually is minimal tar balls anywhere from a penny to half-a-dollar size. They are tacky," she said.

CNN's Allan Chernoff, April Williams, Patty Lane, Chuck Johnston, Brandon Miller and T.J. Holmes contributed to this report.

Photos From CNN of Oil Spill

GETTY IMAGES

Ibis with oil-stained feathers from the Deepwater Horizon spill sit on a barrier island in Cat Bay on Monday, June 28, near Grand Isle, Louisiana.

GETTY IMAGES

Absorbent material is seen in Cat Bay on Monday near Grand Isle.

GETTY IMAGES

A boat is stained with oil in Cat Bay on Monday near Grand Isle.

GETTY IMAGES

A boat uses a boom and absorbent material to soak up oil on the surface of the water in Cat Bay.

COURTESY GEOFF LIVINGSTON

Signs have cropped up criticizing BP around Grand Isle, including this one.

COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD

Scooped-up oil near Dauphin Island, Alabama, is peeled back to show the water trapped beneath.

GETTY IMAGES

Egrets with oil-stained feathers are seen at Cat Bay on Monday.

NASA MODIS VIA GETTY IMAGES

Oil leaking from the damaged Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico is seen from NASA's Terra satellite, using a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Saturday, June 26.

Ocean Springs Reopens Beaches After Brief Closing - WLOX-TV

Okay, this is not only ridiculous, it's frightening! They warn everyone the oil is coming ashore, then they close the beach, then they rescind what they said and say it's not oil and reopen the beach....people are going to get very sick. They seem to be doing this for the sake of tourism!!!! Unfortunately, people aren't always smart enough to know better and will take a news report as gospel that the water is safe!

Ocean Springs reopens beaches after brief closing Monday - WLOX-TV and WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

A Farewell to the Gulf of Mexico

A Mother and her children say "goodbye" to a dying sea turtle.

I encourage you to please share my heartfelt video with others and I appreciate your comments.




With deep sadness in the wake of the tragic Deepwater Horizon oil spill, I pieced together this video montage to bid farewell to the Gulf of Mexico as it was. If the Gulf ever recovers from this, it will not be in my lifetime. I wish the rest of the world could know exactly what we've lost. This is HOME, this is my HEART, this is tragedy beyond comprehension or words. That is why there is no wording....the photos and video speak volumes themselves....may God bless us all.

OCEAN of TRUTH

The ocean needs us...now more than ever. Please view this amazing film!

BP Slick Covers Dolphins and Whales.mov

I was sent a link to this video via Facebook earlier today (June 27th) and I urge you to watch. This truly shows the magnitude of this spill and I hope this video isn't removed before millions are able to view it....

Arrests For Filming Oil Spill, BY BP CONTRACTORS

May 20, 2010 — Journalists threatened with arrest by BP contractors for trying to film BP's mess.

Emerging reports are raising the question of just how much of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill journalists are able to document.

When CBS tried to film a beach with heavy oil on the shore in South Pass, Louisiana, a boat of BP contractors, and two Coast Guard officers, told them to turn around, or be arrested. "This is BP's rules, it's not ours," someone aboard the boat said. Coast Guard officials told CBS that they're looking into it. As the Coast Guard is a branch of the Armed Forces, it brings into question how closely the government and BP are working together to keep details of the disaster in the dark.

Video Credit To celtickev999:
http://www.youtube.com/user/celtickev999

BP Blocking Media Access? Great interview from gutsy reporter from New Orleans TV station Copyright : WDSU TV New Orleans 2010

The Secrecy Surrounding The Truth About the Oil Spill

Back about a week after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon, I began to realize that the leak was truly out of control and there was no end in sight for stopping it.

I'm a former Louisiana resident and have resided on the coast of Mississippi since 1987. I began to worry about how this would impact all of us then. I thought about the men who died on that rig first and it struck me that they were scarcely mentioned in the news reports. None of us even knew their names...why didn't they mention their names?

I began to volunteer wherever I found information in the newspaper. That was the only medium where I found anything.

Then I signed up for the Deepwater Horizon Response online...and volunteered there. I was told they would contact me when I was needed....to date...nothing!

I travel the 3 blocks to the beach almost daily. I've asked uniform workers where I might volunteer, they "don't know anything". I have aquaintences that have gone to work for BP for "paid" clean-up. They went to a week of training, then heard nothing for weeks. Then were called to come in but they clocked in and sat and then were sent home...with a full days pay!....still weeks went by. Now they are called to go out on a boat to "check the booms". Well, so far, everything seems okey dokey and they pretty much go for a boat ride to the barrier islands each day. They've even taken steaks, set up a grill and threw a bbq and went swimming in the Gulf waters! I've heard from them in the early afternoon sitting in a beachside lounge having a few beers....while yet getting paid a full days pay.
I won't go into the anger this makes me feel.

On three occassions, one I distinctly remember as being Memorial Day, I was on the beach and discovered dead turtles, dolphin and numerous fish.

As soon as I approached the dead dolphin, two young men approached me and asked me what I thought I was doing photographing a dead dolphin. I could only reply with the truth, "I'm documenting this tragedy, I'm a lifelong resident and it means something to me!"

They wanted to know if I worked for the press and I assured them "no". One then commented to the other, "I guess she can keep the photos then, huh". I took that to mean they might have comfiscated my chip or digital camera or both!

I walked on further down the beach and found two sea turtles that were still alive! I looked around and the only other person I could see on the entire beach had on a yellow vest. I hollared for help. He came rather slowly and I began telling him that we needed to get ahold of whoever was in charge of helping the turtles whether it was wildlife and fisheries or whoever. He said very sternly, "don't touch them miss, they might be carrying disease". I yelped back at him, "what, no, they've come in contact with the oil or dispursants, they're still alive, we have to help them!". He said he couldn't leave his post and I was not allowed to touch them. He said he would report the dead turtles. I reminded him very loudly that THEY ARE STILL ALIVE! He then thought I would feel better by reassuring me that they would necropsy them and determine if it was the oil or something else, but there was nothing either he nor I could do.

Shamefully, I was so stunned that I simply began to cry and walked in a daze back to my car. I came home and sat and blankly stared at the computer screen, not knowing what to say or do. Not having a clue who would care, who would listen.

I began to create a slideshow of the animals in peril put to music. I've made 4 so far and am working on more. I guess you could say it's my way of mourning what is going on here around me. It's the death of the Gulf of Mexico, of a way of life, of so very much life such as the endangered pelicans, the sea gulls, the gannets, the already endangered turtles, the dolphins, the crabs, the oysters, the shrimp, and....soon the people. It's the end of trying to rebuild and "renew" our coast from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. Some areas were actually beginning to look somewhat "normal" after she came through now 5 years ago. After a hurricane you can rebuild...you can reanimate a city by building anew. How do you rebuild an ecosystem??? How do you recreate life? How do you mourn for something that man is responsible for selfishly destroying?

I think I speak for all the "little people" as one BP creep so aptly described us when I say that we are all broken hearted. Whether we are oil workers, fishermen, or just coast residents who settled here for all the beauty we feel so blessed to have. It's like a beach vacation every day that we wake up and see the beautiful white sand beach so full of life... the dolphin swimming, the gulls chirping overhead, the children building sand castles or flying a kite, the sportsmen launching their boats for a relaxing day of fishing to bring home a nice meal for their families. We watch the shrimp and oyster boats launch early in the morning for their catches and we normally see the boats lit up at night on the horizon with the moonlight shining brightly on the water.

We have been very blessed that until today, there were only a few dead turtles, dolphin, fish and birds washing ashore and the tar balls have been here although sparsely for the last few weeks. Today we learned that the thick oil is on the barrier islands and entering the sound. Within a day or two, our beaches will look like those in Orange Beach, Alabama and now Pensacola, Florida. And to think that the marshes of Louisiana have been dealing with this for weeks!

In the days to come, there will surely be more unfortunate animals and more covering up by people being paid to do so. I will make every effort to film and get evidence of this happening because it's going on all along the coast from Louisiana to Florida. Stay tuned!

~ Denise

What Have We Done? - Deepwater Horizon Spill

Deepwater Horizon ~ BP is the Terrorist That Destroyed America

I made this movie out of concern for my home on the Gulf of Mexico faced with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Disaster. BP continues to lie about the enormity of the situation while our entire country and the entire planets ecosystem is under attack. This is a disaster of epic proportions and will effect generations to come. This was compiled on May 21st, just one month to the day since the explosion of the rig....I will do updates in the future. Please comment, I appreciate your time.

Nothing Else Matters