I am going to call today Day One of my Louisiana Bound trip. On the few short hours that I have been on Grand Isle I have already had some incredible eye opening experiences. First of all - I have to say that Grand Isle is incredibly beautiful.
The on land development has been reletively minor compared to many seaside "resort" areas. As you can see from the picture of the motel I am staying at - the Sandpiper Shores - this is a place that you would choose to travel to if you wanted to enjoy a much simpler life!

It is incredibly hot here - and the first thing that anyone would want to do upon arrival would be to jump in the gulf and cool off! Just imagine a planet where we can only look at the oceans....

My first encounter with "BP" rules was when I walked to the beach - and you can see from the pics how deserted it is - and talked to Dave the security guard. Dave says that the people are not allowed on the other side of the berm's that run the full length of the beach. I asked Dave if he worked for BP - at first he was really hesitant to comment at all. It turns out he works for company called Talon security - he says he does not know who has hired that company or what the chain of comman is. I asked him how he felt about the spill - how it was effecting the people of Louisiana - again at first he said he could not comment. Once we had talked for some time - and related to the snow in Canada and Rochester (where he went to school for Engineering and Law) he opened up a bit. He basically is just another American who needs a job - so he does not want to get fired - but he also said that there are memo's out there that say
"they can always get their seafood from somewhere else" "25 people dead would be a small price to pay for what the benefits could be". Dave did have a problem with these comments. I asked Dave if I could speak to some of the people working on the beach (and there is really not many of them!) But he would not allow that. He said that they do not like to disturb people when they are working.....

With regards to the clean up on the beach - they are basically picking up all of the seaweed being washed up on the beach - and it is completely dead. So what to do about the sea life that eats the seaweed - and so on and so on and so on.

Dave is going to join the army in a couple of weeks. I tried to encourage him to think about that decision - but it's the army running the show here - and after spending a lot of time with them - he is completely convinced.

Which leads me to my next experience - as I drove across the Island I began to feel that I had driven into a movie set. There are compounds for the people that BP is bringing in to work. You need a security badge to get onto these compounds. I spoke to a Sherrif with Jefferson county who was manning one of the entrance points. He did tell me that it was BP who said that people were not allowed on the beach or in the water - but that people could go in if they wanted. However - there is a definate impression being left that this is an area that is being controlled like a "police state".

I found a couple of workers who were walking from the buses to the compound - but they did not speak English (mexican)....

I did meet one worker from Texas - came here on his own to help... and is now completely jaded... he said that the guys in charge (BP) don't want the volunteers...and interestingly enough he said that to many people that he has met will only do the work if they are being paid.(Remember that he is in a compound with "BP workers...)

Tonight I met a group of volunteers with NOLA (New Orleans Oils Spill clean up and Animal clean up). They have the training that would put them in the position of being hired by BP to partake in the cleanup - but have chosen to stay together as a volunteer unit. I plan on going to Baton Rouge on Tuesday to meet up with them and see the protest against the continued use of chemical spray in the clean up process.

I also met two men from Environment Canada - they are down here daily flying over the spill site - recording the extent of the spill and tracking the spread. Of of their research is given to the American Coast Guard and BP - who is paying for their services.

I also met a native from this region. She and her family are concernced about where and what they are doing with the oil that is collected. There are tons of rumours - it is being trucked to various places and burned. So even more areas are being contaminated inland. Lindsay from Nola said that she heard that they are taking it to the everglades.

There is also a pretty wide spread concern about what is going to happen when the hurricanes start. What will happen when all the oil in the gulf is brought inland by a hurricane?

The stories go on and on and on. So much as taken place in one day.

The people here in Louisiana seem to have a somewhat resigned fatalistic attitude. There have lived through so much devestation - they seem somewhat resigned to more "crap" thrown their way.

Tomorrow I am going out on a boat and will see the effects on the wildlife close up.