gulf oil spill

Laurel Lockamy thought she had seen the worst of the oil disaster last summer when waves of oil and tar patties washed onto her beach in Gulfport, MS, taking a major toll on the local tourist industry.

Sea turtles continue to wash ashore along the Gulf, forcing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to scramble and figure out what is causing the spike.

In the Gulf, record numbers of dead baby dolphins are washing onto the shores of Mississippi and Alabama, creating frightening spectacles for families and their kids prowling the beaches. Tourists are bewildered by scientists slicing tissue samples from the lifeless baby mammals.

In the Gulf, the temperature is rising. The magical spring season should soon bring warm waters teeming with life back to the region’s marshy bayous and sandy shores.  

Just when you thought BP couldn’t top former CEO Tony Hayward’s ham-handed statements last summer, it appears the giant oil conglomerate still has the mojo to make gulf residents’ blood boil.

A version of this blog first appeared on the Neiman Watchdog website

I have worked and lived with the people of the bayou in Buras, LA, for the past six months.  But when the BP well from hell was capped in mid-July, the media ran for the exits as fast as they stormed the bayous in early May. They've barely looked back.