BP is FAILING at Clean-up–Let’s Clean Our Own Beaches!

I called in these oil blobs to the NWR staff and the toll free hotline for oiled shoreline from the beach at Bon Secour NWR just before 12 noon on Friday, June 4th. I waited until I was toasted by the coastal sun for somebody to show up to clean it but had to leave to rehydrate and cool off…literally and figuratively.

The synopsis: The NWR folks were there within 40 minutes of me calling them. They assured me someone was coming to clean it up. Over 1 1/2 hours later a scout crew from BP arrived. These two guys said they had to check it out and then their supervisor would check before sending a crew. When I asked about the length of time for anyone from BP to respond they said they had been at lunch. Oh…that explains it!

When I checked the beach again at 5.45pm NOBODY had cleaned up the large blobs of oil. NOBODY!

I chatted with local News 5 reporter and cameraman at Fort Morgan yesterday. They documented BP’s failure to send workers on the beach after waiting 6 hours for cleanup for the marsh grass at Ft. Morgan point. Did anybody catch the footage? I watched the news and never saw it. Are the local higher-ups squelching information? Why would they do that?

The mayor of Orange Beach gave a fluffy little speech yesterday morning at the First Friday gathering at Lulu’s on the Intracoastal Waterway. He said BP was doing a great job. LOOK IN YOUR BACKYARD MAN!! DO NOT BE AFRAID TO SPEAK AGAINST BP!! They have to give you your pittance.

So if BP is not going to do the cleanup that needs to be done, why the heck aren’t we out there cleaning our own beaches? We can research the safety precautions, take necessary environmental cautions and get the oil off the beach…at least now. Eventually I fear our beaches in Alabama will look like those in Louisiana….thick, huge mats of oil. But before then….we need to stand up and do this work! Every bit of oil that stays on the beach gives shorebirds, crabs and humans longer exposure to it. We need to be our own heroes!