The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Reprise

Many thought and hoped the oil spill of April, 2010 was past us, was history. Alas, it is not.

My publisher, Lynda Burch of Guardian Angel Publishing, emailed me from Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola Beach, Florida, where she and her husband spend some time each winter.  With her permission, the following is what Lynda saw and photographed very recently:

 Santa Rosa Island, Pensacola Beach, Florida

                        February, 2011

"It is definitely not over, and BP says they are pulling out- 1/2 the claims have been denied and what about what is still going to happen?

I can't let my guests or my grandchildren in those floating contaminants. Skin is the most absorbent organ a human body has. I didn't see any warning signs, anyone testing the water, anyone interested in cleaning it up.

The little silvery fish (2-3 inches, part of the food chain) were washed up on the shore dead. The gulls and pelicans were out there in it. The dolphins were also out about another 1000 yards.

Lots of people on the beach didn't even know what the black and brown slimy stuff floating on edge of the surf was. I did email the local TV station but probably should have called them instead. It was very disturbing for such a beautiful day."

Because it's out of the news, there seems to be no immediacy about the spill anymore.  If this travesty is not addressed continuously and with utmost vigor and vigilance, it will still be an unmitigated disaster.  From my research on the gulf devastation, I think a quote from Sir Winston Churchill during World War II is in order:  "Now this is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end.  It is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

It is Lynda's and my great hope that this kind of accident never occurs    again.  We adults, along with our children and grandchildren, need to     "take a stand on the sand" and see that it does not.  And if it does, God forbid, this time strong oversight should occur within the US government and any parties that caused it.