When energy is the problem, oil can no longer be the solution

Our last day in New Orleans was a productive one, and the people that we were able to meet with today clarified many of the issues that we have discussed thus far.  Throughout this weeklong expedition we have heard a variety of different perspectives on the oil spill, and today’s experiences helped tie everything together for us. 

In the morning we met with Professor Mitch Crusto, who teaches environmental law courses and specializes in environmental management at Loyola School of Law.  Having been exposed to some fairly extreme views on both sides of the oil spill debate, Professor Crusto’s objectivity on the topic was a welcome change.  In describing the history of the oil industry in Louisiana and the corporate culture that opens the door for disasters like the BP spill, Crusto reiterated many of the concerns that had been voiced by the groups we met with earlier in the trip.   What made Crusto’s remarks compelling, however, was his analysis of the problem and the possible solutions moving forward.

At the root of the BP spill is Louisiana’s reliance on – and America’s addiction to – oil as the primary source of energy.  In Louisiana, the oil industry is a primary economic driver, employing a substantial portion of the state’s population and contributing heavily to state tax revenues.  A desire to reign in oil companies by enacting tougher environmental and safety regulations is always met with hostility by those who value the economic benefits that the industry provides.  Indeed, oil is a practically indispensable component of Louisiana’s economy.   If the state will not regulate the oil industry for fear of economic repercussions, how do we avoid environmental disasters in the future?

Moving away from the status quo is even less likely to come from the industry itself.  The corporate culture of profit maximization with little regard for safety or environmental protection will not change without outside pressure.  To date, oil giants like ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP have been able to avoid serious repercussions even when their blatant disregard for the law leads to environmental catastrophe.  When money is the bottom line, oil companies have no incentive to change their patterns of behavior, and as Professor Crusto and others have suggested, it is foolish to think that a company like BP will “learn from its mistakes” when the risk-taking philosophy that led to such mistakes still reaps profits over the long-term.  An even greater problem with liability is the potential for BP to reorganize their corporate structure to limit its liability under certain bankruptcy outcomes.

So if the state cannot exert control over oil companies and the industry itself is unlikely to reform, can the federal government step in?  The overwhelming answer seems to be “no,” as oil interests and economic doubts seem to drown any serious attempts to move away from the lax standards and regulations that led to the current disaster.  Congress has been perpetually unable to find sufficient support for legislation that would curtail the reckless practices of oil giants like BP, and without tougher standards to enforce, agencies are left with little power to regulate oil companies.

The bleak outlook of internal, state, or federal intervention is somewhat disheartening, but it is not the end of the story.  The message we heard from Professor Crusto and from a number of different environmental groups was that alternative energy sources are the key to solving the problems associated with the oil industry.  In the case of Louisiana, state policies create strong incentives for industries like oil to take root in the state.  But these same policies are equally friendly to other industries, as exemplified by the recent launch of a wind turbine manufacturing plant.  As one environmental activist pointed out, the gradual phasing out of the oil industry does not have to be an economically crippling ordeal if other more sustainable and productive industries are allowed to take hold.  If growth in the wind, solar, and geothermal sectors can help offset a decrease in oil production, the economic stranglehold that oil has on the state will be weakened.   

This day was a great bookend to the trip and incorporated all of the major topics we had discussed throughout our journey.  We are looking forward to taking everything we learned and experienced from the delegation and putting it into our upcoming presentation.

Denial on Grand Isle

While we have had the opportunity to speak with a variety of different stakeholders regarding the BP spill, today’s trip to Grand Isle was really our first chance to see some of the areas that were hardest hit by the disaster. Grand Isle is a small town built on one of the outermost barrier islands in southeast Louisiana, boasting beautiful beaches and a traditionally strong fishing industry. Due to its exposed location and its proximity to the Deepwater Horizon site (only 80 miles away), Grand Isle was one of the first places where oil came ashore. The effects of the spill on Grand Isle are in many ways a microcosm of the broader impacts of the disaster upon the entire gulf region, and by visiting this area we hoped to get a better feel for the effects of the spill “on the ground.”

The drive out to Grand Isle is scenic to say the least; Highway 1 snakes its way through bayous, from one barrier island to the next. As we grew closer, the influence of the fishing industry became more and more apparent. Fishing boats were moored along the waterways that lined the highway, and hand-painted signs advertised fresh seafood for sale. Here we saw the first indications of the turmoil that the oil spill has caused. Murals, signs, and paintings blasted the federal government and BP, and vividly portrayed the plight of local fishermen. As we approached Grand Isle, the protest signs became more frequent (and more colorful and creative). In the community itself, billboards satirically advertised property in areas where the spill drastically depreciated value.

Apart from the signs, the impacts of the spill were most evident on the beaches. Grand Isle’s beaches were among the most popular in the state, featuring long stretches of gorgeous white sand. Because of Grand Isle’s media coverage, BP has expended considerable time and money in cleaning beaches, but evidence of the disaster is still clearly apparent. Many of the once-immaculate beaches on the east end of the island remain closed, fenced off and guarded by officials. From the few vantage points we found, mountainous piles of oil-stained sand stood in stark contrast against the white grains, and a light sheen is still visible where the water meets the sand. A few fishermen still cast from the piers, but the beaches are mostly empty.

The current condition of Grand Isle emphasizes the real-world impacts that the oil spill is having on wildlife and community members. The area is obviously very unique – both ecologically and economically – and the negative effects of the oil are difficult to stomach. Seeing the dirty sand, protest signs, and docked fishing boats adds another dimension to the story that we receive through various news outlets. This overwhelming feeling cannot be conveyed through traditional media sources and our visit to Grand Isle further connected us with the affected community.

Changing Tides Pt. 2: How the Spill is Re-Shaping Local Communities

for part 1 see post below

While VAYLA-NO does what it can, there are some issues that local families are facing that cannot be ameliorated. One immediate problem is that even when families receive claims funds - which not all families have yet - the funding comes in monthly cycles. The Vietnamese fishing families of Versailles are used to cyclical revenue streams dependent on season. Long droughts in income followed by large revenue increases during peak-season are common. Relying on unchanging claims checks from BP has forced families to change how they purchase necessities. It is difficult for many families to cope with these economic changes. Some large payments that would normally be made when money is coming in fast, such as boat repairs, cannot be made with the minimal, but constant, claims payments.

Another, deeper problem is that the economic hardship is forcing Versailles to change cultural traditions. Fishing has been the occupation of many of the local people long before they emigrated from Vietnam. Their history is intertwined with the industry; it is part of their heritage. A closure of fishing grounds quickly becomes more than a loss of revenue or work; it becomes a loss of identity. A young man named Erik said that his father has already taken his fishing over to Texas rather than find other employment or rely on checks from BP. If fishing in Louisiana remains unreliable his father will move back to Vietnam to continue his fishing tradition there. The long-term impact on the fishing industry in the Gulf is still not known. Even though some fishing grounds have been re-opened it is important to remember that it took two years after the Exxon-Valdez for the pink salmon and herring fisheries in Prince Charles Sound to collapse. The herring industry has still not recovered.

While some community members in Versailles struggle to hold onto their fishing heritage, others are aware of the need to look for new prospects. A restaurant owner said that if business did not pick up she would have to close down within six months. There are some creative plans in the community to help diversify the economy. On the empty fields we visited there are plans to start a multi-acre community garden. This would allow families to grow additional food for their families as well as allow some members to sell produce outside of Versailles. There is also a push for youth who work on fishing vessels to go back to school. Without a job, and sensing that the fishing industry may not always supply for them, a few have quit the decks and headed back to the books to create new opportunities.

One theme that has hung over our trip is uncertainty. When will the oil be cleaned up? What are the health effects going to be? What about the dispersant? When will you get back to work? “I don't know” everyone says. Versailles is feeling this uncertainty as well. The only sure thing is that the community will face changes and hardship for some time to come. Coming away from our visit to Versailles we were impressed with the amount of community work being done but uneasy about the future of many of its people. We can only hope that people keep in mind that these sort of effects are being felt by Versailles and similar communities all along the coast. Let's not forget that the effects of the BP disaster are far from over.

"Give us a hurricane and we'll deal with it. Give us an oil spill, and we have no idea where to begin."

Since we arrived in New Orleans we have been able to hear many different perspectives on the Gulf Oil Spill.  Today we heard yet another perspective, this time through the eyes of Shannon and Cesar from the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.  The Bucket Brigade is an environmental health and justice organization that works with communities directly affected by oil refineries and chemical plants.  Their mission of clean air, justice, and sustainability is accomplished through assisting in community relocation efforts, organizing for legal action, and advocating for better water permitting laws.  A big part of what the Bucket Brigade has been doing since it was established as a non-profit in 2000 is done through the use of EPA-approved air quality testing buckets.  There are currently around 35 buckets being used by community members that reside near refineries and plants in the state of Louisiana.  The community members can easily take air quality samples at any time and are able to monitor the pollution themselves.  In this way, the Bucket Brigade is able to give a voice to local residents and has empowered them to reduce pollution and protect public health. 

 

The crisis map is the Bucket Brigade’s newest project.  Through text, phone apps, twitter, and their website, residents submit reports of the impacts of the oil spill.  Reports range from health impacts and sightings of affected wildlife to sightings of oil and reports of odor.  The crisis map is able to track the impacts of the spill in real time and is documenting the story of the spill from the residents that experienced it. 

There were 17 operating refineries in the state of Louisiana in 2008, representing 12.1% of the country’s operating refineries. So what exactly are some of pollutants being daily deposited into the Louisiana air from these refineries and what risks do they present to inhabitants of the state? Benzene, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, Ozone 3, lead, and particulate matter are just a few to start with, each contributing to a host of disease processes including respiratory, hematological, immunological, neurological, reproductive, developmental, and genotoxic effects and has been linked to increased prevalence of cancer. Louisiana currently ranks 2nd in the nation for Benzene pollution and cancer mortality and 4th in the nation from hazardous air pollution from petrochemicals.

Representatives from the Bucket Brigade emphasized the fact that relatively few studies have been conducted to measure the long-term impacts of refinery pollution and oil spill-related hazards on human health. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is in the process of organizing a long-term study to research the health impacts of workers involved in the gulf cleanup, and Tulane plans to study the impact of the spill on the health of women and children. 

As the dust settles on the sensational coverage of the spill- political harangues eloquently launched in the shadow of an election year, soupy brown oil covered herrings and sea turtles splashed across National Geographic, and generations of fishermen scrambling for work to support the livelihood of their families- it is imperative that priority also be given to ensuring the future health of the human population in the Gulf. The region is in dire need of more mobile health clinics and legitimate toxicologists, but funding and action plans have yet to be solidified. Perhaps BP's remediation will offer future healthcare funding for those impacted by the spill, but as for the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, accepting BP's support is not an option. 

Learn more about the Louisiana Bucket Brigade:

http://www.labucketbrigade.org/

Changing Tides Pt. 1: How the Spill is Re-Shaping Local Communities

Standing in a field not far from the bayou, our group stared out at acres of land affected by the oil spill. We were in a neighborhood outside of New Orleans called Versailles; a community of eight to ten thousand located twenty minutes east of downtown.  Only a square-mile in size, the community is tight-knit.  While this neighborhood is physically removed from the oil creeping onto beaches along the coastline the effects of the spill have managed to seep into the local community. The crabgrass in the field was still green and there were no pools of viscous petrol or wallowing tarred birds – the symbols the media associates with this disaster.  “Normally there would be soccer games or other community activities going on out here” said Hoang Hoang motioning out to the fields and parking lots which stand empty.  

Hoang is an active member of the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans (VAYLA-NO), a local youth group that focuses on social and environmental justice through youth empowerment.  Since the BP disaster, community activities have decreased according to Hoang, “We are now too busy working on other things” he said, “and the money and attention have turned from the normal things we do.” His sentiments echoed those of John from the Lower 9th Ward, who has witnessed the funding and interest in local bayou restoration wither in the past months.

Hoang and the other members of VAYLA-NO have indeed been busy since the spill.  Versailles is a predominantly Vietnamese community and many of its members are involved in the fishing industry.  Many of the men work in the shrimping business on their own boats and the business sector rests upon restaurants that rely on accessible and desirable seafood.  When fishing grounds were closed down by the federal government a few weeks after the oil began spewing in late April these jobs and this economy came to a halt. The families that relied on them began the confusing process of filing claims with BP to get reparations. 

One of the greatest difficulties these families faced was a language barrier imposed by the reparations process. At the beginning of the process forms were released only in English, disadvantaging first and second generation families from Vietnam who may not have a strong grasp of the language. The youth at VAYLA-NO have been working in conjunction with two other community non-profits, VIET and CDC, to help translate these claim forms for their parents and other community members.  From the beginning there have been problems with getting these forms translated not only into enough languages but also enough dialects for the intricacies of the legal documents to be fully understood by the claimants.   The member of the Department of Homeland Security who spoke with our group acknowledged this as a problem and said that it is an ongoing process.  For families in need of immediate financial support to get by, the government response has been too slow and communities like Versailles have relied on local groups like VAYLA-NO to ensure the security of their way of life. 

"Mother Nature Don't Take Sides"

    Mother Nature Don’t Take Sides


    Rising early to begin the second full day of the journey, the Seattle University students were greeted by eighty degree weather and Darryl Malek-Wiley, a Sierra Club employee bearing doughnuts; is there a better combination? He led us to the much-publicized 9th Ward neighborhood where we had the opportunity to get first person accounts of the social and environmental effects the oil industry, Hurricane Katrina, and the BP disaster have had on the community and the neighboring ecosystems.

After arriving at our work site for the day, one of the first people we met was a lifetime resident of the 9th Ward who is dedicated to restoring the area while also improving its sustainability. While he spoke he emphasized the fact that, “nature don’t take sides” explaining how Katrina may have been the impetus for disaster but it was the series of mistakes made by engineers, business people, and government that exacerbated the damage. We listened to his vivid accounts while clearing overgrown paths that would be the foundation of refurbished park trails. This insightful conversation was the perfect transition into a key component of our trip: service. We contributed to an ongoing restoration project in the coastal wetlands; armed with machetes, trash-bags, sunscreen, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The current weatherization and restoration projects as well as the enthusiastic and welcoming people we met highlighted the resilience, dedication, and hope that the city of New Orleans embodies. We were thrilled to be able to experience and contribute to the restoration of this area.

                                                                                                                                 

   
     As a city, New Orleans holds a presence.  This presence can be described as lively, strong, and most definitely, resilient. We have been focusing our trip on the BP Oil Disaster, but in order to grasp the effects that the spill has generated we have closely observed the lasting ecological and social implications that Hurricane Katrina left in her wake.
     Something we learned from our day with the Sierra Club was the strength of the people who are organizing and fighting for their city. The Sierra Club headquarters of Louisiana is run by three paid staff, and in Darryl’s effort to describe the challenges they face he states that, “the problem is…well there are just so many problems”. The community members and social activists of this city hold a shared vision of a healed New Orleans and they work towards this each day by overcoming seemingly insurmountable challenges. Some of the most powerful examples of this compassion are:

• After two years of closing the 9th ward neighborhood (one of the areas that was significantly devastated by Katrina), the city eventually allowed residents to return home. Within the 9th ward the state refused to open or give the financial funding to a vital aspect of the community: the neighborhood school. To re-open the school, residents literally broke the gates and began rebuilding their education without consent or assistance of the city government.

• The 9th Ward dealt with the threat of contaminated soil being laid over land where houses had been washed out. The residents demanded to have this sediment tested for contamination before it was deposited. The test results showed high concentrations of heavy metals. The community’s diligent efforts to defend the health and well-being of their neighbors protected families from these harmful substances.
• A major task that is being taken on by organizations like the Sierra Club is restoring coastal wetlands. The Sierra Club brought us to a 4 acre wetland site that is a small portion of the 30,000 acres they hope to eventually restore. Sites like the one we saw have deteriorated in the past decades due to the miles of man-made canals for industrial expansion. This particular canal was where the surge from Katrina entered in and consequently broke the levee of the 9th ward. These efforts to restore wetlands is crucial in upholding the city in a environmentally damaged region.

    John, a voice of activism and long-term resident of the 9th ward, gave of us some sound advice…

“We can’t help what mother nature done, but we can fix what we done.”

John

Booms, Boats, and Insider Trading

 A bleary eyed crew of Seattle University students began the day in much the same way they would at home: with a fresh cup of coffee. We had arranged an early meeting with an official from the Department of Homeland Security who had been stationed at the Unified Command Center on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain since late April, soon after the rig sank. He spent two hours briefing us on everything from the early response, to the BP Deepwater Horizon’s distress signals, to the current status of the remediation process.

 Here are just a few of the key points we gleaned from this informative conversation:

•   We began by first discussing the containment efforts by BP and the government. This complex topic included a breakdown of the timeline from the initial responses to the distress calls and the difficulties faced assessing the situation in the first days when sediment stirred up by the rig was impeding visibility of the remote operated vehicles (ROVs). The DHS official admitted that the boom, which was a focal point of the media throughout the 24/7 coverage, was primarily a cosmetic solution that did not have much success sequestering oil.
•   Our conversation then turned to details of the “vessels of opportunity” hired by BP that employed local fishermen, shrimpers, and what would become anyone with a boat to collect oil with booms and skimmers. Any boat over thirty-five feet in length was compensated $2,500.00 a day plus fuel costs. A more modest compensation of $1,700.00 was given to boats under 35 feet in length plus fuel costs. This ad hoc contracting was important as it allowed fishermen to earn a wage while their primary means of income were inaccessible due to fishery closures and oil encroachment on habitat. However, as the fisheries reopened and these people began to return to work, they found that it was more and more difficult to turn a profit due in part to concerns of hydrocarbon contamination in the seafood.  We will be speaking to members of the fishing and shrimping community later on in the week to examine what this process was like from their perspective.

•         After this assessment of the ecological and social effects of the oil disaster, we began a deeper discussion of the national implications of both the spill and containment attempts on financial markets. As mentioned before, many national and local entities were involved and working at the Unified Command Center. However, a somewhat unexpected agency turned up proving to hold high stakes in the issue surrounding the eventual containment of the oil. Anticipating the potential for improper gains in stock trading, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set up shop at the UCC to monitor all correspondence and communication within the command center to ensure there was no insider trading being leaked from within the central hub of command.

Obviously much more was covered in this lengthy conversation, but so as not to overwhelm audience, we will be discussing many other issues that arose during the conversation in posts to follow. This account was delivered candidly, and with first hand experiences of many aspects of the clean up efforts. While many have criticized the efforts of the Unified Command throughout its tenure, it is important to remember it was staffed by dedicated individuals working 16-20 hour days for over three months as these tragic events unfolded.

Prelude

On Tuesday, October 5th, 12 Seattle University students embarked on an educational trip to New Orleans, Louisiana for the purpose of creating a photojournalism project aimed at enlightening the public on the impact of the BP Gulf Coast Oil Spill. The trip was envisioned by four passionate Environmental Studies undergrads : Lauren Ressler, Ian Siadak, Carey deVictoria-Michel, and Carli Redfield, and business student Phil Paine, weeks after the oil spill occurred last spring. Other participants include Environmental Law students Marcus Lee and Alec Osenbach, business students Makio Pastolero and Talia Marino and Community/Public Health Nursing graduate students Stefanie and Mary Margaret Thomas.

Over the course of the week, Seattle University students will be partnering with the Sierra Club, Vietnamese American Leaders Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Loyola Environmental Club, Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organization, and YALL: Youth Alliance Louisiana Leaders. We have several educational and volunteer meetings planned for this exciting trip including meeting with the leaders of the EPA command center with the Department of Homeland Security, meeting with representatives from British Petroleum, working on a Sierra Club restoration project, meeting with members of the Vietnamese-American fishing community, working on a wetlands restoration project, and co-hosting a 10/10/10 work party event with students and professors from Loyola University, engaging in various clean-up projects around the city and raising awareness for utilizing the city’s new bike paths. The overarching goal of our group for the week is to gain a dynamic understanding of the current and future impact of the spill by engaging multiple perspectives: local and federal government, British Petroleum, industry workers, environmental activists, and community members. We look forward to absorbing the rich culture New Orleans has to offer and returning to the Pacific Northwest to share the many insightful lessons we will have learned. Stay tuned for daily updates on the status of our trip…