GRAND ISLE, La. — People along the Gulf Coast have spent weeks living with uncertainty, wondering where and when a huge slick of oil might come ashore, ruining beaches and livelihoods.
The anxiety is so acute that some are seeing and smelling oil where there is none. And even though the dead turtles and jellyfish washing ashore along the Gulf of Mexico are clean, and scientists have yet to determine what killed them, many are just sure the flow of crude unleashed by the explosion at BP’s Deepwater Horizon is the culprit.
Calm seas helped cleanup crews working Tuesday to fight the oil gushing from the well a mile below the surface, allowing them to put out more containment equipment and repair some booms damaged in rough weather over the weekend. They also hoped to again try to burn some of the oil on the water’s surface, possibly today.
Near Port Fourchon, southwest of New Orleans, workers were busy welding and painting a massive containment device. BP spokesman John Curry said it would be deployed on the seabed by Thursday.
That wasn’t much comfort to hotel owners, fishing boat captains and others who rely on the ocean to make a living.
“The waiting is the hardest part. The not knowing,” said Dodie Vegas, 44, who runs the Bridge Side Cabins complex in Grand Isle, a resort and fishing community that’s just about as far south in Louisiana as you can go. So far, two fishing rodeos have been canceled, and 10 guests have canceled their rooms.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stepped up air monitoring on the Gulf Coast after people in New Orleans and elsewhere reported a strong odor of petroleum. A throng on the beach in Gulfport, Miss., were convinced Saturday they could smell the slick, until someone saw a diesel truck idling 50 feet away.
When the truck left, so did the smell.
Fishermen have complained bitterly about the federal decision to close a large swathe of the gulf to commercial and sport fishing, saying it was an overreaction. Some vowed to keep catching fish until someone arrested them.
But U.S. Sen. David Vitter said it was necessary to reassure the public that the seafood on restaurant menus and store shelves is safe.
“We don’t want hysteria to take over and hysteria to hurt the industry even more than the oil is,” said Vitter, R-La.
“You know change is a-comin’ after this, bro,” said boat captain Bob Kenney, who has lost a half-dozen chartered fishing trips. “You can’t keep doing this kind of stuff to Mother Ocean.”
