As the six-month anniversary of the worst American maritime oil disaster approaches, people along the Gulf coast continue to struggle with its aftermath. Many feel uncertain about their future and abandoned by the media and politicians focused on their election campaigns this fall.
So in early October, local community groups and environmental organizations decided it was time to join together and come up with a plan that calls attention to the ongoing environmental, economic and public health threat posed by 200 million gallons of BP crude that still threatens America's greatest fishing ground and life sustaining delta estuary.
Altogether, 46 national organizations and Gulf coast community groups gathered at the historic Beckwith Camp and Conference Center on Alabama's Weeks Bay determined to come up with a call to arms. Nearly 100 people broke into four groups to hash out the major public issues confronting public health, marine life, coastal environment and communities impacted by this disaster.
Although attendees came from diverse backgrounds and represented a wide array of interests, they shared a common goal. The Gulf was their lifeblood, and it has been threatened by oil like never before. No one knows what its ultimate impacts will be, but everyone knows its impact will be felt far into the future. So the group, including fishermen, environmentalists, community leaders and social workers, sat down to come up with a common set of principles. There is strength in numbers. Without a common voice, fighting BP and government officials who seem bent on burying this disaster will be a losing battle.
"We have to make ourselves heard with one voice: The oil is still here and so are we," said Cynthia Sarthou, executive director of the Gulf Restoration Network that organized the conference.
So after three days of intense group discussions, with nighttime breaks of campfire music and storytelling, the groups all came together with a unified vision for the future to set the agenda for the future cleanup and restoration of the Gulf. These are the guiding principles that all groups -- from Asian Americans for Change/Gulf Coast Alliance to NRDC to the Waterkeeper Alliance/Save Our Gulf -- believe must happen in order to make the Gulf whole again and sustain its future.
The Obama administration's Mabus recovery plan is a good start toward moving the country in the right direction to save the Gulf and its treasured wetlands and fisheries. But it will not take place without the involvement of local groups who can take the initiative and be directly involved in plans to restore the Gulf.
Below are the guiding Week's Bay Principles that local groups say will assure the Gulf is cleaned up, made whole and restored in a way that is sustainable for generations to come.
Community Recovery
1. Growing and diverse constituencies of Gulf residents and organizations recognize that the future of their livelihoods depends on Gulf restoration. 73 percent of voters in Gulf coast states support comprehensive coastal restoration.
2. The people of the Gulf coast whose way of life and livelihood has been most affected by the BP disaster must have a seat at the decision making table.
3. Recovery and restoration efforts must create tens of thousands of new jobs and provide economic opportunities to local communities, particularly disadvantaged and distressed communities.
4. Recovery must put our communities to work restoring the Gulf and building a healthy economy -- leading America into a renewable energy future.
Public Health
1. Tens of thousands of response workers, community members and tourists have been exposed to oil and dispersants. There is a lack of health care providers who are trained to identify and treat chemical illnesses. We need the Center for Disease Control and National Institute of Health to provide our local health-care departments with the training and resources to provide the needed health care.
2. There are still millions of gallons of oil and dispersants in the environment -- while officials tell us that the water and air are fine, people continue to be concerned and report health symptoms. We need federal funding for independent, ongoing and long-term monitoring of our water, soil and air across all affected areas so we can be assured if and when the environment is clean.
3. The Gulf Coast provides 86 percent of the U.S. shrimp harvest, and 56 percent of the U.S. oyster harvest -- and we need better evidence that it's safe. Current monitoring is inadequate and does not test for toxic heavy metals or dispersants. It does not protect our children or our most vulnerable populations. We need the Food and Drug Administration to set monitoring standards that can guarantee the safety of the food we harvest and eat.
Coastal Restoration
1. The BP disaster is only the latest, most visible evidence of environmental destruction that has been ongoing in the Gulf for decades.
2. The government must act now to restore our coastal wetlands. A healthy Gulf is a prosperous Gulf crucial to storm protection, fishing, recreation, seafood and tourism -- the cornerstones of the Gulf culture and economy.
3. 80 percent of the coastal wetlands lost in our country are lost in the Gulf coast. For example, Louisiana loses a football field of wetlands every 45 minutes, and 40 percent to 60 percent of that is attributed to oil and gas activity. BP and the oil and gas industry must pay their fair share for coastal restoration.
Marine Recovery and Resiliency
1. The first step to recovery of the Gulf marine ecosystem is to identify all sources of past, present and future environmental degradation, including fully understanding the long-term impacts of the BP oil disaster. Specific restoration initiatives, both short- and long-term, must be implemented to address all sources of marine injury.
2. Robust monitoring programs that fully disclose process and results, as well as access to impacted areas, are critical for ensuring effective restoration.
3. In order to restore the entire Gulf ecosystem, it is essential that the offshore environment receive its fair share of attention and funding for recovery. Specific funding sources for this work must be provided immediately.
4. Everything possible must be done to prevent offshore drilling disasters. Reforms in policy, regulations, oversight, and enforcement are urgently needed to prevent more drilling disasters and to guarantee rapid, non-toxic and non-destructive response and cleanup when accidents do occur. Policies must be implemented that transition the Gulf region to a clean, renewable energy economy.
Also oil drilling restrictions were just lifted because the oil companies crossed their hearts and hoped to die if they so much as nicked a manatee.
With BP oil spill, God takes 2-1 series lead over New Orleans
http://www.thechicagodope.com/2010/10/17/with-bp-oil-spill-god-takes-2-1-series-lead-over-new-orleans/”
I propose that Gulf industries get involved with the establishment of inland fishery development. The world has economic demand for healthy and as nearly-natural food supply as we can generate. If our prior source (Gulf) is no longer available, due to this attack by the petroleum industry on our food supply, we shall have need for inland fishery development by the folk who understand what is healthy for these creatures.
If we can overcome the acidification and pollution problems of our oceans, we can implement programs to "re-seed" the oceans from the inland fisheries and hopefully restore the thriving nature of our beautiful planet.
I believe we have adequate resource, but suffer a sickness in how we all perceive "necessity". We need to overcome our sick perceptions, and in so doing shall solve our sick problems.
Do scientists not count as officials? A recent fishing forcaster found a plume of oil 5 miles long 15 feet under the water. Also most of the oil has found to have coated the ocean floor.
http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/
Then BP came in with 30,000 workers and covered the oiled beaches over with clean sand and VOILA: whitebeaches!
magically disappear after the hole was plugged! This mess has been swept under the rug by those
in charge. We have countless things to be very concerned about that are not being addressed.
Thank you, Gulf Restoration Network, for trying to keep these important issues in the forefront.
Maybe, maybe just one day soon we will get serious about addressing our dependence on oil. I have been waiting since the '70's for something to change. I guess we'll dump that one on President Obama too...he'd better get busy he's not moving fast enough to address all the problems that have been kicked down the road for him to handle...
Of course President Obama is not perfect in this situation, but darn you people cut the man no slack. Then when he tries to put in place a moratorium to make sure other deep water wells are safe, the Gulf Coast governors go crazy (except Florida). It is not the country's fault that Louisiana has competing industries, fishing and oil, and cannot resolve their conflict of interest. What do you want President Obama to do? Additionally, he got $20 billion from BP and darn if the republicans didn't bash him for that, call it a "slush fund" and apologize to BP.
So, your comment is meant to place the blame for years and years of allowing the oil industry to run rough shod over this country on President Obama. Epic economic failure on republican's watch passed onto this President. Epic oil industry deregulation (by looking the other way) causes history making oil spill left to this President by the party of apologists to the oil industry.
Get off the hate maybe you can think more clearly because your comment absolutely leaves out the facts. Then again ODS does that to you. Good night.
I think Obama so trusts big government and is so inexperienced, he had no idea what he could do to help get big government out of the way and speed up processes to start cleaning up. And when he went after the oil company and forced them to spend time and energy defending themselves from him when they should have been 110% focused on the well.....it just again showed his inexperience.
Of course President Obama is not perfect in this situation, but d@mn you people cut the man no slack. Then when tries to put in place a moratorium to make sure other deep water wells are safe, the Gulf Coast governors go crazy (except Florida). It is not the country's fault that Louisiana has competing industries, fishing and oil, and cannot resolve their conflict of interest. What do you want President Obama to do? Additionally, he got $20 billion from BP and d@mn if the republicans didn't bash him for that, call it a "slush fund" and apologize to BP.
So, your comment is meant to place the blame for years and years of allowing the oil industry to run rough shod over this country on President Obama. Epic economic failure on republican's watch passed onto this President. Epic oil industry deregulation (by looking the other way) causes history making oil spill left to this President by the party of apologists to the oil industry.
Get off the hate maybe you can think more clearly because your comment absolutely leaves out the facts. Then again ODS does that to you. Good night.
Of course President Obama is not perfect in this situation, but d@mn you people cut the man no slack. Then when tries to put in place a moratorium to make sure other deep water wells are safe, the Gulf Coast governors go crazy (except Florida). It is not the country's fault that Louisiana has competing industries, fishing and oil, and cannot resolve their conflict of interest. What do you want President Obama to do? Additionally, he got $20 billion from BP and d@mn if the republicans didn't bash him for that, call it a "slush fund" and apologize to BP.
So, your comment is meant to place the blame for years and years of allowing the oil industry to run rough shod over this country on President Obama. Epic economic failure on republican's watch passed onto this President. Epic oil industry deregulation (by looking the other way) causes history making oil spill left to this President by the party of apologists to the oil industry.
Get off the hate maybe you can think more clearly because your comment absolutely leaves out the facts. Then again ODS does that to you. Good night.
The lunatics whose voice is becoming increasingly deafening, are also determined to crush our hopes and dreams. What they have started is a dangerous revolution and are unaware of the old saying that revolution devours its own children.
I don't hear you complaining about the millions Bush/Cheney and their cronies from the oil industry. It is easy to blame somebody else for your woes but at some point Louisiana needs to ask itself what is most important to them fishing or oil...and stop blaming others. That is one crooked arse state...
Might want to see who supported the 'Oil Pollution Act of 1990'.