Oil Spill In Mississippi

After 58 days of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the damaging effects on the wildlife, marine life, environment and people daily becomes clearer. With an estimated 2,030,000 to 3,480,000 barrels of oil currently headed to shore, and oil still pouring at a rate of 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day, the threats it poses to all in its pathway grows more grievious by the moment. The oil spill in Mississippi means the loss of jobs, the loss of food and the loss of an entire culture and lifestyle. It means birds, fish, mammals, plant-life, marine life and seafood industrial life have become casualties of big oil greed, indifference to safety, flagrant refusal to follow guidelines, as well as their total disregard for citations and warnings.

Before the oil actually reaches the beaches of Mississippi, some of the destruction caused by the oil has been reaching shore. Oil drenched birds, turtles and fish have washed ashore, some alive and suffering from breathing oil or sick from eating their natural prey covered in oil. Many others past the point of being helped. Efforts to clean and help heal these creatures are underway in Mississippi, but then comes the problem of where to release them back into the wild – where are they safe from the oil?

The oil has reached Jackson County, Mississippi at the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and Petit Bois Island. At the Grand Bay NER Reserve, booms were laid trying to protect the Bayou from oil infiltration. This area is a protected marine environment of 18,000 acres. Currently waters at the reserve are reported open to the public with some waterways blocked by booms. Boaters are advised not to cross the booms. Fishing in the tidal waters at the reserve is prohibited at this time. Cleanup is in progress, just as it is at Petit Bois Island where emulsified oil, mousse, tar balls and other materials have been washing ashore since last week.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast beaches, casino ships, schooner sailing of the Mississippi Sound and tourist industry also stand to suffer devastating effects from the oil spill. Recovery from Hurricane Katrina is still ongoing. The oil may stop some of that recovery in its tracks as there is clearly a new danger threatening the existance of the coast and all of life (plant or mammal), that call it home.