The ongoing administration-wide response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (via CCA)

The Coastal Conservation Association provides a Gulf Oil Spill media room — a nice supplement to all the other reports and news outlets out there. Read more »

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill off Gulf Coast

As the focus and prayers of North America increasingly turn towards the people and environment deeply affected, BP oil continues to spill into the Gulf of Mexico out of three leaks and pushes ever closer to the fragile and unique coastal ecosystems on the Gulf. Agencies and volunteers alike are fighting to contain and limit the disaster. President Obama, speaking in Louisiana, recognizes “that we’re dealing with a massive and potentially unprecedented environmental disaster” (watch).

NOAA Map of Gulf Oil Spill

Most have probably already reached Mr. Obama’s conclusion — especially those in affected Gulf communities. Chris Williams (@FishHappens), a Pensacola, Fl. resident and professional redfish fisherman who fishes coastal waters all around the Gulf, expresses the devastation facing local Gulf communities in the wake of this spill.

“It’s a feeling of despair more than anything else. Knowing that there’s a real possibility that the fishing here will never be the same again in our lifetime.”

Chris reminds us of the Exxon Valdez spill (1989) where there’s still oil and oil-related damage two decades later — the gravity of the long-term damages from oil spills is abundantly clear.

People who make a living on the water, Chris says, look at the spill wondering “‘What the heck do we do now?’ It’s detrimental to the whole community.”

This is especially evident in places like Pensacola where a majority of the community’s economy is based upon fishing and tourism — which go hand in hand with each other. “If we get oil on our beaches, the tourism is going to die. If tourism dies, the fishing dies. All the charter boats, everything, it all goes with it. It’s monumental.”

What is the next step for those so personally affected by the disastrous spill?

“If they can get the well capped and stop the flow of oil the next step is just clean up and see how it goes. It’s all hands on deck here,” he says. “Everybody’s just waiting for the Coast Guard to say ‘Let’s get on this and start cleaning everything up.’ Because right now none of the civilians are allowed to go out and deal with a catastrophe such as this. We have to wait for the Coast Guard and proper authorities to tell us ‘Hey, this is what you need to do. This is the training you have to have. Let’s get out there and get all this cleaned up and let’s proceed with the future.”

Currently, volunteer efforts are primarily in the ‘sign up’ stage. “But there are some training things out there that the Coast Guard has issued for people [see below - Ed]. That way people can go get certified in their training if they need to or want to.” The Coastal Conservation Association reports 2,000 volunteers are trained and ready when the word calling them into action comes.

The community is very ready to mobilize itself.

“When we had Hurricane Ivan hit us, it was detrimental. Within hours, everyone in the community was running around and helping get this place back together because we’re used to it. We’re used to dealing with hurricanes every year.” For communities with so much perseverance and will power, the oil spill is an entirely different beast: “With the oil factor, we’re not used to that. So, we’re still coming together. We just have no idea what to do. And when I say ‘we’, I mean everybody.”

“Being that I’m a board member for the Western Shore Chapter of the Alabama CCA it’s kind of our job to get everybody together, let’s get organized and get life back to normal. We’re trying the best we can to get organized as fast as we can.” Chris continues on the role of volunteer organizations: “We’re not here to give orders, we’re here to help and we want everybody to help with us. Most people don’t know where to get started and we’re an outlet to say ‘Hey, come to us, we’re going to help you get started cleaning this up because we all need it — it’s for the betterment of our community as a whole.”

When asked if he can begin to fathom a return to normalcy, Chris says, “I honestly have not even began to think about when everything’s going to go back to normal. I just want the oil to stop coming out of the ground. From there, let’s work on a cleanup effort. And once the cleanup effort begins and we see how long it takes to clean up the first areas, we can estimate how long the timeline’s going to be. Just a rough guess: I guarantee it’ll be another ten years at the least before anything’s normal again.” For a town still feeling the intense effects of Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina, it’s beginning to feel like “one thing after another,” says Chris.

Everyone certainly hopes progress is made soon. As unfortunate as the Tennessee floods are, the increased water pouring into the Gulf may help push oil further from the shoreline, says Chris. “I don’t want anything to happen to anybody up there, I truly believe that that’s a terrible disaster — an unforeseen disaster that’s not something you can plan for. It’s unbelievable the amount of water flowing through those states up there and the damage that it’s causing . . . but in lieu of that, it’s going to be beneficial for us on the shoreline to push the oil further away from land. I mean, that’s our only option right now. But it’s just sad to see another disaster happen like that.” Furthermore, BP claims progress is being made on containment domes, with the first one potentially installed Tuesday. Let’s hope this is a start.

In the meantime, what can we all do?

“Really, just keep us all in your prayers. It’s going to take everything we have to make this community back to normal. And it’s a pretty sad day, it really is, so just keep us in your prayers that’s all we can ask. If you’re willing to come down and help, and help us get our lives back together we’re welcome to have you.”

Our most sincere thoughts and well-wishes are with the Gulf communities and ecosystems as we wish for a thorough and expedient mitigation of this disaster.

For information on getting involved please see below.

Fetha Styx would like to thank Chris Williams for his time and efforts.

Important Contacts:
Report oiled shoreline or request volunteer information:
(866)-448-5816

Submit alternative response technology, services or products:
(281) 366-5511

Submit your vessel as a vessel of opportunity skimming system:
(281) 366-5511

Submit a claim for damages:
(800) 440-0858

Report oiled wildlife:
(866) 557-1401

Further Volunteer Information:
Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana

Alabama Coastal Foundation
251-990-6002

Mobile BayKeeper
251-433-4229

Mobile Bay NEP
251-431-6409

Further News Updates:
White House Updates America on Federal Response to BP Oil Spill
CCA Louisiana
NOAA Latest News (updated daily)