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Subscribe to RSSDespite reports saying that oil is dissipating from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, local officials beg to differ and are pushing for continued commitment to the cleanup effort.
Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, La., believes the cleanup effort is being prematurely scaled back even though oil is still showing up on the coast and the surface of the water.
Photo distributed by Plaquemines Parish
A large mass of oil in Barataria Bay, near Wilkinson Canal, is shown in this photo taken on Thursday. It was released by the Plaquemines Parish government to show that, in contrast to recent reports, there is still plenty of oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
"They say they are not (pulling back) but already they have canceled catering contracts, they've stopped production of boom at factories," Nungesser said at a press conference Thursday.
"We know there's a lot of oil out there," Nungesser said. "It's going to continue to come ashore, and we're going to hold their feet to the fire to make sure they're there until all the oil is gone out of the Gulf of Mexico before we pull all of the assets out of our parish."
Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's oil spill response chief, said at a separate briefing Thursday that oil has dispersed so much that it’s hard to spot.
"We continue to conduct intensive surveillance in the post storm week looking for oil. As we have talked before it's more dispersed and harder to find."
But Nungesser found that assessment hard to believe.
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"Yesterday there was a flight where no oil was seen. I don't know how they took that flight, but they must have bobbed and weaved around the oil because in Plaquemines Parish there is oil all over," Nungesser said.
His office released photos Thursday of a large stretch of oil in Barataria Bay, near Wilkinson Canal, showing three boats in the vicinity: one skimmer, one running through it, and a third nearby.
"Once again, I’m disappointed that just when I thought we were getting better, there’s no boats out there to pick up this oil that is destined to land in the marsh and destroy more wetlands and more wildlife," said Nungesser. "Where’s the sense of urgency?"
- NBC News Mary Murray and msnbc.com's Petra Cahill
Leave a Comment:
So what is his point? He admits the spill in the picture is being handled. Sounds like another Louisiana money grab.
I'm tired of the people from Louisiana all they do is whine. They been whining since Katrina because the Goverment won't build their homes for them or take car of them. What the hell happended to personal responsibilty, get off your dead A#$@ and build you own damn home and take car of yourself. Everybody @!$%#es about the mexicans and how lazy they are etc. I was in Cozumel after hurricane Wilma which was a cat 5 storm that hung over the island for 60 hours. Six months later they had most of the island cleaned up the infrastructre was up and running and now you can barely see any damage. It's been five years since Katrina and it still looks like crap.
Well have you thought about packing your crap up and moving to Mexico? I'm sure the drug lords would welcome you with open arms as well as the "Mexican Police." Maybe you can buy one of those fine little houses that you like so much with your allowance.
As far as Nungessor, the fat boy lives at the door of the press waiting for any opportunity to stick in his worthless two cents. This guy is nothing but a joke in the parish. His office has little more power than a water boy in the NFL. In his warped mind, he thinks this spill will send him up the ladder of politics, not knowing that he will not even have his little nickel and dime office in the next election.
The Gulf is not empty of responders. All you have to do is look around. But if Nungessor thinks that hundreds of boats and personnel will hang around forever with nothing to do ..... he is even more useless than I thought.
Just my op of course. Have a great evening.
What on earth has happened to our nation???? Until you live through something like this, you have no idea! The problem with La. is the fact that they never did anything about taking care of their state but simply were too involved with their gaming revenues and never did any rebuilding. The governor wants no part of government in their lives out of one side of his mouth and the other is that he cries for government help all the time. A great Republican!!
Well Katec
Where have you visited in LA?? Just curious, because all of the State with the exception of NO has come back better than before the storm. Granted we had a moron mayor in NO that is no longer there, but he has been replaced with someone that actually has political sense. Even NO has taken great strides in rebuilding.
Once again we have someone of little substance labeling a person that has worked tirelessly to get this State moving forward. Doesn't really matter to me if he is a Demo, Repub or alien.
BTW .... just where do you live dear?
Just my op of course. Enjoy your evening.