Uncovering the Truth

January 10, 2011…almost 9 months after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Long after the majority of the world has turned their attention to other stories, the disaster continues along the Alabama Gulf Coast. I have been documenting the spill and recovery since it happened and today was as bad as I have seen it along the Alabama coast since it first began washing ashore. It’s just 60 degrees cooler so the oil is hardened instead of liquified. The crude oil smell was present and seeing tons of hardened crude oil along the beach was heart-breaking and maddening.

With powerful winter wind and waves, oil that sank to the bottom (NO…it did not evaporate or get consumed by oil-eating microbes) is being washed ashore. Large chunks of it are washing up on the beach at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge between Gulf Shores and Ft. Morgan, Alabama. In addition, oil that washed ashore during the summer that wasn’t cleaned up, was buried by sand. The powerful surf is uncovering thick layers of it.

As I walked along the beach with my cameras hanging heavy on me, my heart grew heavy as well. How many people will actually see the images I am posting? How many have forgotten the catastrophe that is STILL happening? Where is CNN and Rachel Maddow? FOX?? Anybody? Local news?

I saw a total of 5 birds on the mile stretch of beach I visited today. Five birds in a national wildlife refuge. They included one sanderling, one willet and three herring gulls, one of whom was sick and couldn’t fly even though he tried several times to get air-borne. There were a few pelicans flying offshore…over the caramel-colored foamy water. The smell…that horrible smell of hot diesel…was strong in places. No wonder wildlife is, for the most part, avoiding the beach. Hopefully they have gone far away from the toxic waste dump formerly known as a wildlife refuge.

My prayer has been that what has been hidden and covered-up by BP, Transocean…our government…WHOEVER has been lying will be exposed for the world to see! The Gulf is angry today and rough…and spewing the toxins pumped into Her and dispersed into Her back out into the world for everyone to see.

Keep the information going…share these images and these findings with everyone you know! Let the truth continue to be uncovered.