Gulf Coast Oil Spill

Diagnosis: Pneumonia. Let's hope that's all.

I have been in Rhode Island with my family for the past 3 days, trying to figure out some health issues that have been bugging me for 9 or 10 days now.  It started out as kind of a general lethargy mixed with dis-orientation and fever, and weird aches and pains in my joints and muscles, as well as behind my eyes, and an intermittent severe headache.  By about 3 pm of every day, I hit a wall and become useless to the world, unable to do much. Yesterday I went to the local sliding scale, welfare clinic as I have no insurance and was told by the doctor that she, "wasn't interested in the environmental factors associated with my health, but if I could find my "feeling place", and could just describe my symptoms she could diagnose me." I found my feeling place, and saw pictures of my right lung which the lower lobe was striated with copious white lines, absent in my left lung.  I have been diagnosed with pneumonia.  

An excerpt from my blog on May 28, 2010,"  Also on that end of the beach is a chemical smell more foul and noxious than anything I have ever encountered in my life before.  As we walked the shoreline looking for affected wildlife we were suddenly overcome by a wave of horrible air, and then, in an instant I was left gasping and heaving as I hit a cloud so concentrated that 20 hours later my mouth and tongue still feel as though they’ve been burnt by a hot liquid. I can only speculate what it has done to my lungs." 

Though I have been told that dispersants have not been used in the nearshore environment, I am left wondering what in the world then was it that Richard Shephard and I stumbled across on Grand Terre Island on May 28.  With the proven track record of deceit and outright lying by nearly all parties associated with this spill, I think it not too far of leap to speculate that indeed we were exposed to this stuff in a very concentrated form, and that it is at least partially to blame for my current health situation.  I can not believe that the air can smell so bad in and around the coast of Alabama, and hear so many anecdotal reports of people becoming ill there that the EPA reports that the air quality is fine is anything less than false.  I will certainly be more quick to wear my respirator from now on.

This is from an air filtration website, all be it, a commercial source, but still informative:

Corexit Oil Dispersant Impact on Gulf Oil Spill Fumes

in ENVIRONMENT,HEALTH,OIL SPILLS,POLLUTION

CNN once reported that Exxon Valdez cleanup workers had a life expectancy of 51 years old.  Most of those workers have now died. A version of Corexit oil dispersant that is being used in the Gulf was used also in the Exxon Valdez cleanup. Corexit is banned in the UK as well as many other nations and considered roughly only 60% effective. It is ironic Corexit cannot be used in England, but BP is using both Corexit 9500 and 9527A in our waters as the oil dispersant of choice. Corexit is manufactured by NALCO, a company reportedly with closes ties to BP. Over a million gallons of NALCO products have been applied in the Gulf, documented by themselves as having NO TOXICITY TESTING. There has never been such a massive Corexit spraying of chemicals and resulting oil spill fumes in history, as the one in our Gulf.

NALCO documentation recommends that a protective mask be used when applying Corexit to insure health safety. We recommend that you should use an air cleaning mask at the site as well. However, we go further and recommend that you should maintain healthy air quality with an air cleaning system at the cleanup sites, in boats, and in any buildings and homes in the or around the oil spill (and dispersant).

What Is Corexit?

Corexit is predominantly composed of butoxyethanol with a few other minor chemicals plus tract elements including arsenic, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and cyanide. BP considers the Corexit use to be safer than letting the crude oil dissipate on its own. Others consider these dispersants to be toxic chemicals and refer to Corexit as a neurotoxin. It separates oil as a way of accelerating breakdown and at the same time, kills active organisms that naturally consume oil.

Warning When Used

The EPA requires Corexit to have the highest warning label for toxicity. This means that the chemicals in the product can cause irreversible eye corrosion to the ocular tissue and corneal burning.

The manufacturer states, “excessive exposure may cause central nervous system effects, nausea, vomiting, anesthetic or narcotic effects.” It goes on to say, “excessive exposure to butoxyethanol (an active ingredient) may cause injury to red blood cells (hemolysis), kidney or the liver.” In addition, the documentation says, “prolonged and/or repeated exposure through inhalation or extensive skin contact with EDBE (butoxyethanol) may result in damage to the blood and kidneys.”

In Canada, Corexit is classified as “Material causing immediate and serious toxic effects (VERY TOXIC)” and “Material causing other toxic effects (TOXIC)”.

Corexit History

It has been reported that Corexit was used as a dispersant to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil. Follow-up studies report links between Corexit and human health problems such as liver, kidney, blood, nervous system, and respiratory disorders.

Corexit Health Impacts

Severe exposure can cause death. Not only can you experience headaches, vomiting and reproductive problems, you can get cancer and organ damage from these forms of chemicals.

If inhaled, the respiratory tract can be irritated, you may feel weak, slur speech, lose concentration and judgment, and experience blurred vision and dizziness. Prolonged fume exposures can affect liver, blood, microcytosis, urinary system, and cause lung hemorrhage and bronchopneumonia.

What Happens When Corexit Is Applied

The chemicals can be injected into the sea directly into the oil spill. However, much of the Corexit in the Gulf is being sprayed from aircraft onto the spill. When sprayed, much of the dispersant lands on the surface of the water. Some mist however, floats into the air, drifting to other sea areas and on land. This escaping mist can potentially adversely affect sea life in unaffected ecosystems and the health of humans.

These chemicals can combine in the air with other chemicals such as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). No testing on the toxicity of Corexit has been done nor, has there been any testing of these kinds of chemicals merging in the atmosphere. These new emerging atmospheric chemical compositions may actually be worse when inhaled than if these chemicals fumes were separate.

Drew Calls for Third Party Environmental Oversight of Contracted Clean Up Efforts

In a recent interview on New Orleans radio station WWL with Tommy Tucker I called for third party environmental oversight of the clean up efforts.  In the 1990's throughout the gulf region, 3D seismic testing associated with oil and natural gas exploration was unnecessarily harmful to the environment, and when the public was notified, the state of Louisiana required that the firms conducting this testing hire their own environmental oversight.  In lieu of the growing evidence that the contractors, and other entities working on the response of this spill are doing similar damage to the very environment that they are supposed to be cleaning up I think it is absolutely a must that these companies be required to enlist third party environmental monitors to make sure that no more unnecessary harm is done to the fragile marshes,and shoreline ecosystems where this work is taking place.

Tommytuckerinterviewmp3

Recently, the Audubon society has posted a volunteer listing for Florida residents, to perform exactly this task in that state.  Lets hope that this is just the beginning and that all states will soon require this action, or maybe we'll just let them continue to play catch with Pelican eggs in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana?

A Tern For The Better On Grand Isle

After seeing that even with flagging and communication with the parties involved in the clean up efforts on Grand Isle, Louisiana that the nesting Least Tern colony was still being grossly disturbed by the clean up ATVs and other traffic, the Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program , (BTNEP) set out a plan for further protection.  After looking at how other states have managed their colonies, BTNEP, led by Mel Landry mapped out a plan that ought to keep people out of this colony for good.
an adult Least Tern mantles over two chicks 

Last Sunday, I did a quick survey of the entire front beach of Grand Isle, and a small stretch of coast that appears to be suitable habitat for Least Terns on the west side of Caminada Pass to see if there were other areas that might need protection, and to estimate how big of an area would need to be protected on the main beach.  I found about 35-45 active pairs of Least Terns on Grand Isle beach in about a mile long stretch of shoreline. One can only speculate how many nests have already failed.  On the small narrow stretch of beach in Caminada Pass I found 4 pairs of Wilson's Plovers, and lots of tire tracks from the clean up crews there, and spoke with one of the contractors who was still working on the site and asked him if it had been communicated that the crews not drive through areas of beach with vegetation, and he said that they had gotten that word, and I asked him why then were there tracks running through the habitat, and he said he did not know.  The damage was quite minimal though compared to the front beach, but it only takes driving through once to damage a nest.
two new chicks fluffy with down next to an egg that will likely not hatch. 

So, last Monday, Mel from BTNEP bought all of the wooden stakes within an hour and a half drive of Grand Isle, and about five thousand feet of rope to protect the colony.  We pre-drilled holes in all of the stakes and waited for it to cool down in the afternoon before we set out to do the work.  Since we didn't have quite enough materials to fence the whole colony, we started in the most densely populated area of the colony.  The wooden stakes were pounded in to the sand, after setting deep corner posts with an auger, and the rope was strung between all of the posts to enclose an area between 75 and a hundred feet wide by about five hundred feet.  I spoke with Mel yesterday, and they had continued the work through the week and enclosed nearly the whole colony and placed very obvious signs in visible areas.  I haven't heard anything about potential colony monitors since last week, but I'm hopeful that volunteers may be able to help keep people out of the colony.  BTNEP is exploring the potential of expanding this effort to barrier islands to the west, should oil and clean up crews make landfall there.  The fencing effort is hard and costly, and has its own risks to the colony as these birds are very defensive when you're in the area, and they are on their nests for less time which can expose the eggs or chicks to heat and other potential risks.
Jacob Bourgeois from BTNEP and a fence post pounder, locally known as a "mother in law"

 

A Correction About My Dispersant Video and Police Encounter

In the original video and story about it on the Mother Jones Magazine website, I stated that it was the Louisiana State Police that had pulled me over and harassed me.  I don't know how I got it wrong, I generally have a pretty astute memory.  It was not the State Police, but the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Department who harassed me, and then pulled me over, for admittedly doing nothing wrong.  The Louisiana State Police have been more than cooperative during this mix up, and I sincerely apologize to them for any and all inconveniences this has caused them.

In Orange Beach

Just a couple of quick photos from this morning.  I'm heading out on a boat with Captain Lori Deangelis in a half hour.  Cap'n Lori is a marine mammal expert here in Orange Beach, and usually makes her living from dolphin tours and charters.  Lately, she is helping locate oiled wildlife on her own accord.  I haven't met her yet, but from what I can tell, I think she is a force to be reckoned with.
Sunrise on Orange Beach brought pancake sized blobs of oil to Orange Beach, and lots of dead minnows, on which the birds were feeding.

One of many dead minnows that were scattered on the beach.

Orange beach is quite a contrast from the bayous of louisiana.
Even if there aren't tar balls, each wave deposits this nasty, oily scum on the beach, and the waters are still open for swimming in Ocean Shores, Alabama!!

  

The Ghost Crabs Of The Gulf

While it's true that Ghost Crabs, Ocypode quadrata, aren't birds, they are vitally important to the ecosystems in which shorebirds live, and are an important food source for many species. Anyone who has ever strolled an Atlantic beach is familiar with them, or at least the holes in which they live.  Beaches from Rhode Island south, through the Gulf of Mexico and all the way to South America are dotted with the circular openings of their cylindrical burrows.  They are gorgeous little creatures, and a major component of the diets of many beach going birds, including Wilson's Plover, American Oystercatcher, and just about anything that might happen upon them.  On a moonlit night, shoreline explorers can be dazzled by the iridescent eyes of these bejeweled little buggers.

A Ghost Crab on Grand Isle, Louisiana. 

As a conspicuous member of the food chain, they may have a story to tell as this situation unfolds along our coasts.  There is much speculation on the effects of this oil on invertebrates.  There is also growing concern about the various efforts of the response taking their own environmental toll.  By taking a close look at the populations of the ghost crab, we may be a able to paint a more detailed picture of what has happened to these near-shore ecosystems, and the birds that inhabit them.  We are asking that people here, in affected areas count ghost crabs, but also anyone else, even if the oil may never touch your shores.

A Ghost Crab Covered In Oil From the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.  Photo: Bridget Besaw

What can you do??  Much like the coastal bird surveys that LSU and Audubon have organized, I am trying to organize a citizen science project to monitor what happens to these crabs.  My good friend Sea Mckeon in the lab of Invertebrate Zoology at the University of Florida has helped design an easy study that anyone in the southeastern U.S. can help with.  If you like to walk the beach, you can help.  What we need is people to walk the same transect multiple times and count the ghost crab holes.  It's as easy as that, well sort of...  We need the counts to be repeatable, and to be repeated, so they have to begin and end in the same exact location, either physically marked (by a pier or other non-moving structure), or identified by GPS.  Either way, we request that the end points be GPS'd, but that doesn't need to happen right away, if you need to borrow one at a future date we can make that happen. We will count the number of active ghost crab holes within 2 meters of the high tide line, for the length of the 30 m. transect.  We also request that the diameter of the first ten holes be measured and recorded, and that notes be made as to the human influence of the area, accompanied by a photo.  The Ghost Crab holes need to be active, that is open and not caved in, they need not have active tracks coming in and out, just not filled with sand.

A Ghost Crab Hole Survives the ATV Onslaught OF Clean Up Crews on Grand Isle, Louisiana

That's that.  By taking a pen, paper and tape measure with you, you can help us quantify the effects of this spill on our beaches and our birds.  Please email me for any details and questions about methods at ghostcrabstudy@gmail.com.  All data will be sent here as well.  This could be pretty cool.

Specific Methods outlined below: (read if you're serious about helping, and email for data sheets, or just take good notes.)

You need:

A meter tape:  Each transect will be 30m long
A ruler:  To measure the width of crab holes at their widest point
A clipboard and pencil:  To write stuff down
A camera:  To take photos of the beach each day you do your transect.
A hat and sunscreen:  'cause we don't want you to get burned.
A GPS (or you can borrow one):  Cause we need to know exactly where your transects were.

How you do it:

Choose a time of day to start each time, best to be consistent:  I like morning because the sand is still moist and the crab tracks are still visible.

Go to the wrackline that is highest up the beach before the dunes start.   This should be the line that only gets wet during the highest tides of the month.

Mark your starting point with a noticeable piece of debris.  If it lasts through multiple transects, that is best, because you want to be able to find this exact location again.  Take a GPS point.

Lay out your 30m transect on the wrackline.   Mark the endpoint with debris, and with your GPS.

You are measuring 1m above and below the transect tape.  It is helpful to have a stick that you can hold out to see if a crabhole is in or out.   I walk the transect twice: once counting up-beach, once counting down-beach.   

The first 10 crab holes you encounter, please measure with your ruler.  You are measuring them at their widest point- it is a good indicator of how large the crab that lives there is.   Some of them are going to be very small.   

The reason we are doing this is because Ghost Crabs draw their water from the beach surrounding them in their holes, or run right into the water.   Either way, with sufficient sample size it'll tell us how toxic the beach is.  The size of the crab holes will let us know if new ghost crabs are colonizing from the ocean.

A Couple Of Clarifications Regarding Public Statements

I am new to being a public figure, and perhaps my skin is not quite thick enough, and my whit not quite quick enough, but I have been called to task by a couple of groups about things that I have stated, and I have also been misquoted in major publications.  I would like to set the record straight.
A severely oiled, yet still flighted, Snowy Egret flies over Caminada Pass, Grand Isle, Louisiana.

First of all, when I appeared on the Anderson Cooper show on June 14th, I spoke about the volunteer situation here in the gulf.  I mentioned that I had signed up on day one of arriving here in the gulf.  I then stated that the National Audubon Society had over 17,000 volunteers signed up to help in the gulf region, and that I had not been called to help though I have 15 years of experience working with and handling birds.  My intention was to point out the difficulties in placing volunteers, and commend the Audubon Society for enlisting so many people.  While they are having some luck placing people throughout the gulf through their headquarters in Moss Point, MS, the fact of the matter remains that there is still little room being made in the response effort for willing, skilled and qualified volunteers.  This is not an Audubon issue, but a unified command, and perhaps an agency issue.

I also think that state and federal employees here in Grand Isle working on the search and capture mission of birds are unhappy with my portrayal of their work here.  I did not get a chance to say on air that I know the individuals working on this mission have been giving everything that they have on a daily basis and that they are taking the situation as seriously and professionally as possible.  However, especially after seeing the rescue footage on June 15th on Anderson Cooper, I must maintain that indeed the effort is lacking experts, and that there are many experts who wish to be included in this system.  How could it hurt to have more qualified people assisting in this effort?  It is time to put ego aside and think about the number one issue, which is the affected bird's safety.  It is a curious coincidence that, though cooperation with the IBRRC regarding field rescue ops has ceased in Louisiana, state and federal agencies have requested that the IBRRC draft a protocol for capturing oiled birds here in Louisiana for guidance.  If they are the qualified agencies, wouldn't they write their own protocol?  I know that individuals are giving it their all, every hour of every day, but I think that there is an organizational and management issue that for some reason is excluding qualified help. 

Last, but certainly not least, in an article published today in the Houston Chronicle, it was stated that, " (I am) so concerned about the number of birds being overlooked that (I am) considering rounding up a rogue group of biologists to begin rescuing birds as a form of civil protest."  While I did state my concern, and the fact that the effort might benefit from qualified people assisting with the search and rescue mission regardless of whether or not it was sanctioned, I am in no way organizing, or thinking about organizing any such movement.  I am here to report on the situation, as I see it, as a biologist, not to become a political activist.  Also, the amount of heavy oil affecting the waters here in Barataria Bay has slowed a bit, and given the illusion of comfort, but the clean up response is so poor in hard to get to areas that many birds are still being affected.  The fact of the matter remains that there are hundreds of miles of affected coastline here, and many areas that can not be systematically and effectively searched by the numbers of people currently employed in this effort, and an increase in effort can only aid in more birds being assisted.  

For the birds, sincerely,

Drew

The Slow Death Of The Herons

With the nature of this oil spill coming in waves, it's not just one catastrophic occurrence.  Fewer oiled birds are being rescued since there hasn't been a major wave of oil in a while here on Grand Isle, but I heard that yesterday the search teams brought in quite a few dead birds as they had scoured outer islands that they hadn't had time to do before due to the pressing need of rescuing birds around the colonies.  The main issue now is the ineffectiveness of the clean up mission which is leaving oil everywhere.  In the marsh, on the beaches, on the rock jetties.
The oil, left behind, streams down like tears, and coats the feathers of the birds that forage here at low tide.

There seems to be little urgency to deal with this oil, and on our beloved Grand Terre Island, just .38 miles to the east of Grand Isle, oil has been soaking the beach and marsh, nearly untouched for a month now.  Richard Shephard has spent a bit of time over there recently and has written about his sickening discoveries on his website.  We are lucky that the shorebirds are all gone now for the most part, as they would literally have no place to forage. Unfortunately, I fear that many of them have succumb to the oil, rather than arriving late to their breeding grounds in the Canadian arctic.  It will be a disaster when they arrive back here in the months to come.
Even Green Herons, my favorite bird, can not avoid becoming oiled 

Grand Isle is surrounded.  The oil streams in here and there, and builds up, and slides under booms, and penetrates the marshes, and sticks to the rock jetties.  The skimming seems to help, and when they are on top of it, I think the skimming boats in Barataria Bay actually do a good job of picking up a lot of the oil. However, reports are coming in that oil is thick in places on the ocean floor.
I have been watching this guy for about a week now, and he's slowing down.   

It is a slow death here for many.  Oiled birds that are uncatchable for the wildlife rescue teams, ingest more and more oil as they try and preen their feathers which become more oiled every day, as for many species the oil is unavoidable.
Preening with their bills, the oiled birds ingest oil over and over again.   

Species that live in the marshes, or forage on the beach, or on the rock jetties are getting hit with a constant barrage of slow oiling.  The Herons and Egrets and Rails and I shudder to think of the reality which has surely played out time and again of a small Seaside Sparrow at low tide dropping down to forage in what should be mud, only to become mired in this thick louisiana sweet crude.  It is like the siege of Leningrad here for the birds, and the blotched Snowy Egrets on the island are emblematic of this problem.  It seems that there is no solution under the current system, and no reinforcements arrive, and on this surrounded island, the bird's fitness dwindles each day.
this little guy was not doing very well.

A less oiled Egret bullies him out of the marsh.  

Video: Drew Wheelan Visits BP in Houma, LA

I went to BP's Louisiana headquarters in Houma, LA to demand that they stop using the dispersant Corexit. As a BP trained volunteer, I thought it was my duty to ask that they stop using this toxic substance in the gulf due to the potential for unforeseen consequences due to lack of testing. 

Video: Gulf Clean Up Crews On Grand Isle State Beach Destroy Least Tern Nests

After the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries flagged and cordoned off a sensitive Least Tern Colony on Grand Isle beach in Louisiana, clean up crew associated with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill drive over nests and through habitat with their ATVs.