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Oil Spill Update and Volunteer Opportunities in the Gulf |
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From the Clean Water Network: BP thinks they are close to capping the oil well that has been spewing millions of gallons of crude oil in to the Gulf of Mexico since late April. Last night BP engineers lowered a containment dome onto the riser pipe they cut open on Wednesday. The cap is intended to form a seal around the pipe and allow BP to pump the hydrocarbons up to the surface instead of into the water. The operation is still in progress and there is no certainty that it will work any better than the previous attempts at stopping the spill. The next step in the process is successively closing four vents at the top of the containment dome. Once the vents are closed BP hopes that very little oil will continue escaping in to the water. We will not have a definitive answer on whether the operation has worked until at least the end of today if not into the weekend.
Last night President Obama was on CNN's Larry King Live to discuss a wide range of issues. Chief among those issues was the oil spill in the Gulf. President Obama told King that he was "furious with the entire situation." The President canceled a trip to Asia to make a third trip to the Gulf region today to meet with political and business leaders.
CWN is also exploring two efforts here in the WashingtonDC area. First we have committed to focusing all of the grants this year from the State Assistance Fund (SAF) to Gulf specific projects. We anticipate sending out an announcement for this special Gulf Assistance Fund later this summer. CWN is also teaming up with a local area running company to sponsor a foot race in the DC area called, Run for the Gulf, to raise funds to clean up the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf. Stay tuned for further details next week.
HOW TO VOLUNTEER IN THE GULF
For those interested in volunteering in the Gulf Region there are a number of options available. Below is a list of websites that have information on volunteering opportunities. We have heard mixed reports about the capacity of the region to absorb all of the people who have generously offered to volunteer. Our recommendation is to make sure you make your arrangements ahead of time including a place to stay etc. Depending on where you volunteer you might also have to go through some type of training so please make sure to keep that in mind as well.
Audubon Action Center
LA Gulf Response
Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
Sierra Club
Official Deepwater Horizon Response (has links to state specific volunteer opportunities)
Global Green
Gulf Restoration Network
Mobile Baykeeper
An important message from CWN member, the National Wildlife Federation:
BP keeps insisting that they will clean up all the damage. As the oil makes its way further and further into Louisiana's coastal marshlands, it is important to get out the message that these sensitive areas for the most part cannot be "cleaned up." Efforts to do so would just do additional damage. The recovery of these coastal ecosystems, to the degree that it is possible, will depend on large-scale, long term restoration of the overall system. The only way BP will be able to help with the recovery of the areas it has damaged will be to contribute substantially to what will be a multi-billion multi-decade restoration effort. |
