Slices of America: BP/Deepwater Horizon Disaster - Oil Reaches Grand Isle

BP/Deepwater Horizon Disaster Oil Reaches Grand Isle May 22, 2010 / by Taylor Lasseigne Page 1| 2| 3| next page Approximate size and location of the oil slick on May 22nd, 2010. Image taken from NOLA.com. Slick sizes are based on flyover information and NOAA trajectories. A month after the Transocean/BP/Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes, burns, and begins to perpetually leak oil into the Gulf of Mexico, I walk onto the beach at Grand Isle, unprepared for what I am about to witness. In the first weeks of the disaster, I tracked the mass of oil on the internet. In the Gulf South, we're quite proficient at tracking events along our coast. Tidal fluctuations and strong winds pushed the tragedy north and east, painting the wetlands of Plaquemines, St. Bernard, and the Chandeleur Islands. As a native of lower Lafourche Parish, I couldn't help but think, "At least the oil isn't traveling west of the Mississippi River. At least the people of Jefferson, Lafourche, and Terrebone are safe." Then on May 7th the winds changed, and my moment of optimistic naiveté returned to haunt me - oil moved west of the river and into the aforementioned parishes. Today, the beaches of Grand Isle are officially closed to the public, but our team finds a way in. I am part of an impromptu oil sample gathering mission spearheaded by Andy Baker (Coastal Programs Assistant for the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation). Joining us are Dean Wilson (very committed activist for Atchafalaya Basinkeeper) and Christopher Esposito (background in Coastal Oceanography and currently a Masters Student of Coastal Sciences at the University of New Orleans). I'm tagging along with these environmental experts to document the day's work through photographs and GPS data. Andy Baker Christopher Esposito Dean Wilson Taylor Lasseigne Andy Baker reads the morning's headline, "Original Plans for Dredging Changed". enlarge image enlarge image With the oil coming ashore, Jefferson Parish sheriffs were trying to clear the beach. They were very nice to citizens while obviously increasingly desperate and forceful. On the right you see a Jefferson Parish deputy trying to explain the situation. They are obviously the foot soldiers on the ground representing the local interests. It was just hours after this that the Jefferson Parish sheriff's office began to commandeer BP's idle boats. Before we even reached the shore, we ran into Mrs. Louise Anne from Atlanta, GA (left) and Brenda Bertrand from Gonzales, LA (right). Both women, originally from Leeville, were in town for their 50th high school anniversary. Louise was very proud that all but six of her remaining Golden Meadow High School classmates were in attendance. She also noted, "We didn't cancel because of the oil. In fact, we had a great time on the island!". enlarge image enlarge image I thought we would spend most of the day looking for tar balls, when in fact the beach was littered with them. It was almost impossible to walk on the shore without stepping on a tar ball. The misplaced oil droplets were abundant and varied greatly in consistency and size. enlarge image enlarge image enlarge image Andy reports, "Part of it was solid and part of it dripped onto his my hand. The oil is weathering, being changed by the sun and water and waves as it comes ashore from floating in the Gulf. There are a lot of light hydrocarbons that are evaporating in the heat. In some cases, the tar balls really look like mud or clay. Actually last month on Ship Island we saw beached balls that WERE actually clay. This is not clay. It's somewhat mixed with sand and mixed with floating biological material, marsh and sticks and other things get mashed up in there. Some of them were like clay and some were less weathered." enlarge image enlarge image enlarge image enlarge image enlarge image enlarge image enlarge image enlarge image (left) There are hundreds of oil rigs very close to the shore. At night, the horizon lights up like a city on the water. Any one of them could have an accident, but it's much easier to contain in shallow water. The disaster is one hundred miles away from Grand Isle, but the extreme depth makes all the difference. (right) Sandpiper A caravan of officials whizzes by. enlarge image enlarge image The most appropriate description I've heard for this kind of tar ball came from an NPR correspondent who referred to them as "melted caramels". This is an appropriate comparison due to the color and texture. Liquid oil - Generally the more liquid and less weathered the oil is, the more toxic it's going to be and the more it will mix with sand and vegetation. This is an example of an emulsion - when two liquids are not chemically mixed but finely divided into droplets like mayonnaise. In this photograph, you can see several layers of weathered crude, including a light sheen on the water. Andy explains our presence to a Grand Isle policeman. Once he found out that we were interested in sampling the crude, the officer was very pleasant and allowed us to continue our observations. enlarge image Burned and light for a rock, but solid. The fires, or controlled burns, are changing the oil also. Andy Baker noted, "We found some of those styrofoam-like blocks that I'm sure were burned oil. The burning of the oil basically burns off the lighter hydrocarbons and leaves the asphaltenes, the heavier hydrocarbons, but they can only burn when they're on the surface and concentrated enough." enlarge image enlarge image More tar balls further down the beach. Andy indicates that this photo, "shows clumpy tar balls that are standing up, showing that they are solid and mixing with sand." If you didn't know better, you might think that the beach was littered with rocks. Oil covers washed up debris. enlarge image enlarge image These beach-goers came from New Iberia to rent a camp for the weekend. Bad timing. They didn't seem to care that the beach was closed. Dean Wilson, with the non-profit Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, met us just before noon. We convened at what is typically the Tarpon Rodeo Pavilion. Now, the pavilion acts as headquarters for BP, Jefferson Parish Deputies, EPA, national guard, and other government entities. Page 1| 2| 3| next page