Down on the Bayou

Southern Louisiana is rich in culture from the food that is a mix of French, African and Spanish heritage, to the music, to the dialect. New Orleans on down to Bayou country is truly an American treasure. Although this area is rich ecologically and culturally, the region still endures the brunt of natural disasters and man made environmental injustices. On a piping hot and humid day, Nspiregreen toured Bayou Barataria in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana with the Gulf Coast Fund for Community Renewal and Ecological Health (GCF) and heard the daunting challenges of people who have called this region home for generations.

It's been over a year since the beginning of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, the worst oil spill in our country's history. The disaster claimed eleven lives and spewed nearly four million barrels (200 million gallons) of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for more than three months. Although the cameras, politicians and "disaster" opportunists have dwindled, the people who live along the nation's gulf coast have had their lives change dramatically as they continue to deal with the after effects.

On our visit to Bayou Barataria we heard from Gulf Coast Fund Grantees who told of life pre and post Katrina now pre and post the oil spill. Below I have included a few residents’ statements from our live tweet:

“Racism and poverty still play into politics and environmental issues. Many of which are the residual effects of slavery”

“Organizations are working to have the entire Gulf Coast Region recognized as an environmental justice community”

“The community knows that if push comes to shove, we are going to be shoved. Everything south of I-10 is expendable.”

“The 2^nd largest deposit to the US Treasury behind the IRS are royalties from deepwater oil drilling; however, the state of Louisiana gets $0 of the royalties.”

“The Mississippi River brings so much sedimentation that the Army Corps of Engineers has to dredge it daily. The sedimentation could be used to build up the significant land loss the state experiences on a daily basis but since its not in the corps cost benefit ratio to move it a few miles to the wetlands they dump it into the Gulf of Mexico”

“Fishermen use to get $1/lb of shrimp now they are getting $0.30/lb”

“Fishermen haven’t been shrimping because shrimp are full of oil”

“The government says that oil is gone but the fisherman know its not because we see it everyday”

*sign on boat reads I got screwed by BP

From our visit and these statements alone, Nspiregreen has witnessed a resilient people but one that almost feels powerless in the wake of the natural and man-made disasters that they have experienced. Their way of life is changing, as they no longer fully trust the seafood that they have caught, eaten and sold for generations. It is disheartening that in the case of the oil spill, the parties who are responsible still have not made the people of the gulf feel whole. Moreover, the journey to restoration has been difficult as many claims are denied and oil that is thought to be no longer present continues to appear. The future of the gulf looks bleak but its citizens continue to persevere even in the midst of extreme of adversity. The Gulf Coast Fund and its many grantees continue to play an integral role in connecting people, organizations and resources to change the dynamics of the gulf. Nspiregreen intends to join in the effort by working with communities to extract a comprehensive vision for the region. We are thankful for the opportunity and we look forward to it.