Louisianans Make Emotional Plea For Help With Oil Spill

11th Jun 2010 09:18

WASHINGTON (AFP)--Grand Isle's mayor is making a tearful plea for lawmakers to fund efforts to fight the oil soiling Louisiana's fragile coast before it kills off his town. "I just need your help. It's like a war and I'm on the front line," David Camardelle pleaded Thursday, his voice breaking as he joined other Louisiana officials from the towns hit hardest by the devastating Gulf of Mexico spill in slamming BP PLC's (BP) cleanup effort as a sham. The Democratic mayor described with emotion how the disaster was affecting him and the 1,200 year-round residents of the Grand Isle barrier island. His town was the first to have oil from a ruptured BP well wash up on its shores. "Every day, I have a mom that comes in front of me and says, 'Mr. David, how am I going to get food for my kids?'" he told a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security panel as the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history entered its 52nd day. "The shrimp dock is a ghost town. I gave my credit card before. I fed some families. I make $513 a week as mayor and I've got my own family to raise," he said, laying aside his prepared speech. "We want to work and save our community," he added, choking on his words as he pleaded for funds to help locals fight the oil. Louisiana officials joined in issuing a clarion call for lawmakers to help. Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser consoled Camardelle before criticizing BP for its handling of the disaster that has idled Louisiana's $2 billion-a-year fishing industry, killed wildlife and coated fragile marshlands in oil. "BP has not brought in any equipment. They brought in some contractors with a little bit of equipment, a lot of personnel, and they're billing them a lot of money, but they're not stopping the oil and they're not picking it up," he said at the hearing. "It's like they're waiting for it to come ashore and it will disappear in the marsh...and the hardest thing for me and the fishermen sitting at the docks is seeing nothing being done." Oil has been spewing into the sea from a ruptured well ever since an explosion rocked the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20, setting it ablaze before it sank a mile (1,609 meters) down into the Gulf waters two days later. BP has tried at least four different ways to stop the gusher but despite some success with the most recent attempt--placing a giant cap over the blown-out well--thousands of gallons of crude continue to pour into the Gulf, killing marine wildlife and ruining local livelihoods. Currents and winds have swept thick, tarry oil into Louisiana's marshes and onto the beaches of Grand Isle, Louisiana's only inhabited barrier island. In the summer months, Grand Isle's population usually swells to a quarter million. But this year, the island is eerily empty. The beach is closed, and the largest shrimp wholesaler in Louisiana is sitting idle because the oil has grounded the state's shrimping fleet. Oil is also hitting the beaches of Alabama, Florida and Mississippi. "Something's got to change. The promises aren't working and we're losing animals, we're losing our marshland, we're losing our way of life," said Nungesser. He said BP contractors have at times refused to take moves to stop the oil from coming ashore, and accused BP staff sent out to an island to clean up oil and tarballs of "trampling the nesting ground of the pelicans and throwing eggs around like it was a joke." "We had a guy bring in two pelicans the other night, hugging them. They threatened to arrest him because he's not a BP contractor. The contractor gets paid to rescue birds for BP," Nungesser told the Senate hearing. Some 1,075 birds--633 of which were dead--have been recovered since the crisis began. Louisiana officials want a central authority figure, possibly from the U.S. military, to take over the handling of the crisis. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen is currently President Barack Obama's pointman on the spill. "BP and the contractors are our main problem. Somebody's got to take this away from them," Nungesser said after the hearing. "Somebody's got to step up to the plate and say 'I'm in charge, get the hell out of the way,' and we deploy everything physically possible." He said BP has refused to consider methods suggested by local officials and others, including Hollywood actor Kevin Costner, to contain the leak or clean up the oil. "Let's get every piece of equipment out there to save the marsh. We know it'll save wildlife, it'll save the heritage, it'll save the wetlands," he said. (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 11, 2010 04:18 ET (08:18 GMT)