Worse Than I Thought
I wrote too soon about oil spills caused by Ida. As the pictures of the oil-covered wildlife start to appear and the requests for old towels and Dawn ratchet up I read that the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating nearly 350 reported oil spills after Hurricane Ida:
The U.S. Coast Guard said it’s investigating reports of nearly 350 oil spill incidents in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. The Category 4 storm, which hit Louisiana last month, shut down nearly 95% of the region’s crude oil and gas production.
“Coast Guard crews from across the nation…have deployed throughout Southeastern Louisiana to conduct hazard assessments in order to identify and prioritize threats to the environment and navigable waterways,” the Coast Guard said in a statement. “These assessments are essential to ensuring waterways are safe for marine traffic and ensuring that potential pollution hazards are expeditiously identified and mitigated.”
The volunteers are jumping into boats and scouring the area to pick up critters covered in crude to take back to wildlife rehab centers in hopes that some can be saved.
