Oil Cleanup
The extent of damage to the Gulf of Mexico fishery by the BP oil spill is yet to be determined. There is no doubt that is will be financially catastrophic to the Gulf Coast commercial fishing business.
The wetland areas where crabs oysters and various other species that are found in the bays and bayous will be especially damaged for a long time. There are many fish that live off shore as adults, start their life from a spawn that takes place in the marshy, shallow waters that line the Louisiana coast.
Tony Hayward is the CEO of BP and has made a strong commitment for his company to clean up the mess that the oil has made along the coast. He has said that they will stop the leak and clean the coast and will in addition compensate those who have been financially damaged
I watched a BBC interview where he was asked about his commitments to the coastal communities. I must admit that he was very convincing. He did not hesitate in describing the BP determination to right the wrong being caused by the thousands of barrels of oil that have been discharged in the Gulf from his well.
I am curious why there is only one tanker on the site collecting the oil that is being captured by the BP recovery effort. This effort is now working, although not yet recovering all the oil. There is expected to be a substantial increase in recovery when a second tanker arrives to replace the one now on the site. The current tanker does not have a oil/water separation capability. That is a curious situation. I would have expected that a vessel with full capabilities would be on site by now. I understand that there is a four day turn around for the tanker to head to shore and discharge the oil/water mix and get back to sucking up the oil from the spill.
Concentration on the shore and wetland protection needs to be the focus now that the oil discharge is coming under control. The shoreline needs more that the President’s occasional visit in a windbreaker to pick up a few tar balls and then look for someone to blame. Rather than wandering along the beach with reporters and TV cameras in tow he should be back in DC assembling our marine biologist community to structure a clean up to save the fishing industry upon which many of America’s restaurants and markets rely upon to make a living.
The crabbers, oyster fishers, as well as the head boats with no tourists lining their decks all need immediate relief as well as a restoration program in the area of their livelihood. I know many individuals that fish for a living. Few of them are the type of individuals that seek or feel comfortable needing charity to live. We must concentrate on saving the wetlands for them and the rest of 
America that enjoys the product of their efforts.
Blame can be the political game later, once the important cleanup effort is in full strde
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Buck,
More disturbing to the lack of response, is the refusal of aid from others. There are many stories out now where companies with equipment were told by the government that their help was not needed. Why would we be turning away help?
I am the first to admit that I am no expert on oil recovery. What I do know is that the following steps would absolutely help the situation and could have been deployed within the first 7 days:
1) A fleet of ships capable of capturing the oil and separating out the water. Even if from other companies, allow those companies to keep whatever oil they recover as payment for services rendered. Cycle the ships so that some are off-loading while others are still at sea.
2) Oil booms and skimmers to contain and collect as much oil as possible from the surface.
This takes longer than a week, but a relief well would allow BP to pump off the reserve and lessen the amount of oil being discharged freely into the gulf. It does not appear that this effort started within the first few weeks. BP is now drilling two relief wells.
These are three things still not being fully employed almost two months after the oil rig collapsed.