- Title: USA: Louisiana coastline struggling with oil
- Date: 24th June 2010
- Summary: PORT SULPHUR, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 23, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OILED MARSHES WITH ABSORBENT BOOM CLOSE UP OF ABSORBENT BOOM SATURATED WITH OIL PIECES OF BOOM FLOATING IN OILY MARSH NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION REPRESENTATIVE WITH GLOVE ON CLOSE UP OF GLOVE COVERED IN OIL WITH CRAB (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAIME MATYAS, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION, SAYING:
- Embargoed: 9th July 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVA3I7R97IR2R52SWJJ2G848W4A2
- Story Text: Although the impact of oil in Louisiana may not be as obvious as white sand littered with tar balls, the Bayou shoreline is facing exposure to thousands of gallons of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico every day.
The marshes of the Louisiana Bayou are home to hundreds of species and unique ecosystems that are now facing destruction from oil. Oil booms and absorbent material line some of the marshes in an attempt to keep the worst of the oil away. Some of the sludge has gathered in pockets, coating plants and animals in a sticky brown.
One pocket had more than five booms completely saturated with oil overlapping upon themselves. Thousands of little crabs dotted the absorbent booms moving slowly under a thick coat of oil.
Jaime Matyas of the National Wildlife Federation was shocked on Wednesday (June 23) by what she saw in the water. The absorbent booms are "filled with crabs sitting on top trying to escape this oil," she said.
"We scooped them up in our hands and they are completely sticky and covered. Normally you couldn't catch them, they move so quickly and they are slow as if you are trying to run as though your feet were stuck in molasses."
About 12 miles from the shore is a small island that is home to thousands of birds. Pelicans and spoonbills are among the species that come to the mangroves to nest. The island has been surrounded with oil boom in an attempt to keep the nesting areas clean. Birds that should be white appeared to have a yellow tinge to their wings. Several pelicans struggled to take flight.
The spill caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig is still pouring oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
Oil giant BP suffered a setback in the clean up process on Wednesday when an undersea robot crashed into the containment cap system that channels leaking oil to a ship from the well on the seafloor.
A team of U.S. scientists estimate the leak is spewing between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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