Greenpeace

A Greenpeace campus coordinator grew up on the Alabama Coast.  She flew over the Deepwater Disaster oil spill for the first time this past weekend.  Here is her account:

I feel sick. Completely sick. The oil is creeping toward my home in Alabama as I write this, and it is breaking my heart.

I grew up in one of the most beautiful places.  Fairhope, Alabama.  Barrier islands, bays, rivers, creeks, and the Gulf were all my playing grounds.  At 7 years old, I was packing my lunch and spending the whole day exploring them in my little 13 foot boat.  All the beautiful trees, wildlife and pristine waters, all will see the thick black oil and red oil dispersant within these next days.  It brings a deeper ache than I can express.

As I flew out to the spill last Friday with my father (he’s a pilot), I wasn’t prepared for what I was going to witness.

Here are some notes I took during the flight as we approached the source of this disaster:

“We are starting to smell oil...the pungent smell burns my nostrils and I feel nauseated to the core of my being….oh my God…streaks of oil are everywhere…thick black near the well…it is crude oil and it stretches as far as I can see…I am sick…I can’t feel my own body or distinguish any of my feelings right now… this is the worst and most saddening situation I have ever seen in my life…The boats are randomly skewn about, and they are so disorganized! The cleanup efforts look completely haphazard and ineffective. It is utter chaos down there! Boats randomly placed pulling booms, swirling the oil around in circles! I really don’t feel alive right now…this is a horrible dream…why the heck are we drilling offshore - we don't need to drill offshore!”

Click here to continue reading Brinkley's update.