Local residents are outraged authorities have not been able to stem the flow of the disaster, sparked almost 10 weeks ago when an explosion ripped through the Deepwater Horizon rig, killing 11 workers.
“This might be the last time we are able to come to the beach,” Ocean Springs residents James Vogeney said.
“What makes us so mad about all of this is that it could have been avoided. All of it.”
Another resident, Mike Hollings, says he cried when he saw the oil start to wash ashore at the beach.
“Life as I know it is over. What are we going to do if nobody cares to act fast enough,” he said.
Wildlife officials have picked up one pelican covered in oil and one dead turtle.
However, local residents have expressed their anger that the authorities have not yet begun an extensive clean-up of the oil.
Mississippi state officials says they are waiting for BP contractors to start cleaning up before beginning coordinated work.
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Earl Etheridge says they expect more oil to arrive before clean-up crews start their work.
“We cannot clean up or catch the oil until BP gets here. They have all of our people,” he said.
“We want to clean this up now. Maybe this will amp up BP’s effort, but we can’t do anything because they have all the money.”
Later, a reporter visited seven oil-affected beaches and saw only one clean-up crew at work.
Efforts to contain and clean up oil from the massive spill that began on April 20 are being handled jointly by federal, state and local officials and funded by BP, leading to frustration among people whose coastlines are most at risk.
The costs for BP are rising sharply on a daily basis. On Friday local time the bill stood at $US2.35 billion.
That works out at about $US4 million an hour on the basis that the figures were given three days apart.
But these figures are a drop in the ocean compared to the billions of dollars wiped off its market value.
Despite desperate efforts, BP is still not capping all of the 35,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil estimated to be spilling into the sea every day, saying it is managing to contain about 25,000 barrels daily.
– Reuters
First posted