MMBG arrived in Mobile Thursday, May 13, with a truckload of primarily animal clean-up and rehab supplies for animal rescue facilities The first shock was that there were no officially sanctioned and supported animal rescue facilities. We knew that Suncoast had been instructed not to get involved with animal rescue in Alabama, so clearly something was off, but NO permitted response was not what we expected to find.
Visits to BP established management areas made a couple of things clear. Priority projects in Mobile Bay are protecting fisheries and tourism income, and corporate control and filtering of news.
Hotels were protected by BP buying up all the motel rooms in the area. Nobody in most of them…but the hotels had the income, so they’re satisfied. Fishermen were hired to help with containment and cleanup, so they have income. And the booms are set specifically to keep tar off tourist beaches and out of fish nursery areas. Other animals, including birds, turtles, otters, etc, are considered low priority by the BP disaster management team.
In addition to containing oil, BP has another priority - containing information. BP has tightly and systematically restricted information about the extent of the spill and the extent of its consequences.
Most of the volunteers setting booms work for contracted companies based out of New England (thus no locals with local loyalties are involved - these guys are contract workers loyal to the company). Volunteers have been told NOT to try to help set booms. Donated hair booms aren’t being used.
Since the hotel rooms are all booked, few visitors will come to see what is going on, and none are likely to stay.
At every work area, questions about spill damage and response are referred to BP’s public relations staff. And no, information about who to call and talk to is not available.
At the Mobile Bay Ferry, and employee said he “couldn’t” talk about what he had seen, and when questioned specifically, said he was under a gag order.
The MMBG staff observed oyster shells and dead man-o-war stained with oil on the beaches at Fort Morgan. A few tar balls and flecks of oil were seen, but no widespread oil coverage on the beach. At the tide line there was a row of many dead minnow-sized fish and a few medium and large dead fish. The “scenic ocean view” included 26 oil rigs.
Supplies were left with the director of the Gulf Coast Zoo, which is located within a quarter mile of the coast, but deliberately excluded from cleanup and prevention activities. This is where locals routinely bring injured wildlife for treatment and rehabilitation.
It was clear that BP and its partners’ intention is to avoid focus on injured animals by simply and quietly discarding the dead. By limiting news access, and refusing to allow rescue efforts - awareness may be successfully muted.
Princess Obriot says: 16. May 2010 at 04:43
Thanks Janet, for reporting this in my absence! We’ve made it home tired but safely and however slightly more disconcerted by all that was revealed during our visit. I keep rolling it over in my head, but there is no other way to view this. All the pieces fit. Organizations that are set up and trained to assist in such a hazard issued a stand-by order, those with deeper contact have shut out the smaller organizations and the general public wanting to join up. Infomation at best is broken, cencored or mixed with a bunch of gobaly-gook. Even I had offered up a pardon for them, they’re busy dealing with this, but now i ponder it that excuse… My phine rings 50 times a day with as many emails or responders, and yet I answer my ohine. As those concerned cried out for more action, more orders came down to keep volunteers away. Then reports were posted that local communities had gone to the beaches for precleans and waited for the oil to come, that everything was in place and there was nothing more to be done. Kathie and I made 6 random beach stops, only one was clean. We picked up the debris along a 50foot stretch at each spot to measure the amount present, each cleanup resulted in a full bag of trash. Had these areas been cleaned at all within the week and half since the reported claim there would not have been this much trash present. Much of what we picked up had been there for a long time.
I guess what really upsets me the most is that so long as we have someone handing us money we’ll do just about anything and keep our mouth shut about it. Most people would rather not have to worry over troubles elsewhere perfectly happy to go on with their lives, go to work, play with the kids and sleep soundly not knowing there is something wrong. There is nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy a happy life and have happy hopes for our future, but does putting blinders on make it so? I dont know, but I’m not here to make that kind of judgement. I’m here because when I reached out to help I found that a corporation bought out a government to put those blinders on for you, to cover your eyes, to keep you on the outside of the truth. No one goes to Alabama to see the turtles or the dolphins, they go to fish and play on the beach. so wildlife has been deemed expendable. Florida’s government seems to be in on it too, we tried to go into the St Joseph state park, but we were told that Talahassee had given strict orders that no one on the outside was needed and told to go back home.
We found tar balls as far east as Port St Joe, its only a matter of time, the oil will most definitely reach shore, Mother Nature will only hold back the tide for so long and when it lands someone tangled in all of this is going to regret having ever kept aid at a distance. In the meantime MMBG will continue to gather supplies, give aid where we can and be ready for the worst.
I hope you will to…
14. May 2010 at 16:10
Report from the MMBG team in Mobile.
MMBG arrived in Mobile Thursday, May 13, with a truckload of primarily animal clean-up and rehab supplies for animal rescue facilities The first shock was that there were no officially sanctioned and supported animal rescue facilities. We knew that Suncoast had been instructed not to get involved with animal rescue in Alabama, so clearly something was off, but NO permitted response was not what we expected to find.
Visits to BP established management areas made a couple of things clear. Priority projects in Mobile Bay are protecting fisheries and tourism income, and corporate control and filtering of news.
Hotels were protected by BP buying up all the motel rooms in the area. Nobody in most of them…but the hotels had the income, so they’re satisfied. Fishermen were hired to help with containment and cleanup, so they have income. And the booms are set specifically to keep tar off tourist beaches and out of fish nursery areas. Other animals, including birds, turtles, otters, etc, are considered low priority by the BP disaster management team.
In addition to containing oil, BP has another priority - containing information. BP has tightly and systematically restricted information about the extent of the spill and the extent of its consequences.
Most of the volunteers setting booms work for contracted companies based out of New England (thus no locals with local loyalties are involved - these guys are contract workers loyal to the company). Volunteers have been told NOT to try to help set booms. Donated hair booms aren’t being used.
Since the hotel rooms are all booked, few visitors will come to see what is going on, and none are likely to stay.
At every work area, questions about spill damage and response are referred to BP’s public relations staff. And no, information about who to call and talk to is not available.
At the Mobile Bay Ferry, and employee said he “couldn’t” talk about what he had seen, and when questioned specifically, said he was under a gag order.
The MMBG staff observed oyster shells and dead man-o-war stained with oil on the beaches at Fort Morgan. A few tar balls and flecks of oil were seen, but no widespread oil coverage on the beach. At the tide line there was a row of many dead minnow-sized fish and a few medium and large dead fish. The “scenic ocean view” included 26 oil rigs.
Supplies were left with the director of the Gulf Coast Zoo, which is located within a quarter mile of the coast, but deliberately excluded from cleanup and prevention activities. This is where locals routinely bring injured wildlife for treatment and rehabilitation.
It was clear that BP and its partners’ intention is to avoid focus on injured animals by simply and quietly discarding the dead. By limiting news access, and refusing to allow rescue efforts - awareness may be successfully muted.
16. May 2010 at 04:43
Thanks Janet, for reporting this in my absence! We’ve made it home tired but safely and however slightly more disconcerted by all that was revealed during our visit. I keep rolling it over in my head, but there is no other way to view this. All the pieces fit. Organizations that are set up and trained to assist in such a hazard issued a stand-by order, those with deeper contact have shut out the smaller organizations and the general public wanting to join up. Infomation at best is broken, cencored or mixed with a bunch of gobaly-gook. Even I had offered up a pardon for them, they’re busy dealing with this, but now i ponder it that excuse… My phine rings 50 times a day with as many emails or responders, and yet I answer my ohine. As those concerned cried out for more action, more orders came down to keep volunteers away. Then reports were posted that local communities had gone to the beaches for precleans and waited for the oil to come, that everything was in place and there was nothing more to be done. Kathie and I made 6 random beach stops, only one was clean. We picked up the debris along a 50foot stretch at each spot to measure the amount present, each cleanup resulted in a full bag of trash. Had these areas been cleaned at all within the week and half since the reported claim there would not have been this much trash present. Much of what we picked up had been there for a long time.
I guess what really upsets me the most is that so long as we have someone handing us money we’ll do just about anything and keep our mouth shut about it. Most people would rather not have to worry over troubles elsewhere perfectly happy to go on with their lives, go to work, play with the kids and sleep soundly not knowing there is something wrong. There is nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy a happy life and have happy hopes for our future, but does putting blinders on make it so? I dont know, but I’m not here to make that kind of judgement. I’m here because when I reached out to help I found that a corporation bought out a government to put those blinders on for you, to cover your eyes, to keep you on the outside of the truth. No one goes to Alabama to see the turtles or the dolphins, they go to fish and play on the beach. so wildlife has been deemed expendable. Florida’s government seems to be in on it too, we tried to go into the St Joseph state park, but we were told that Talahassee had given strict orders that no one on the outside was needed and told to go back home.
We found tar balls as far east as Port St Joe, its only a matter of time, the oil will most definitely reach shore, Mother Nature will only hold back the tide for so long and when it lands someone tangled in all of this is going to regret having ever kept aid at a distance. In the meantime MMBG will continue to gather supplies, give aid where we can and be ready for the worst.
I hope you will to…
Warm Winds,
Princess