Pockets of marsh grass in Pointe-aux-Chenes are glisten with crude and elevating concerns among fishermen forced to dock their trawlers. Oil believed to be from spreading BP oil leak in the Gulf. Ralph Mitchell, public safety director, said that oil there and in other lakes appears to evade booms and slip unnoticed past clean-up crews by flowing under the surface. It is only seen when the tide recedes and blades and roots are stained black.
The oil flowing to Lake Chien should put BP and the Coast Guard on alert for more oil in lakes along Terrebonne Parish’s eastern edge and focus clean-up efforts elsewhere than the barrier islands, where it is impossible to stop oil with booms, said Kerry St. Pé, head of the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program.
Local fishermen first notice the patches of oiled marsh south of Pointe-aux-Chenes, and this coincided with BP representatives making their first-ever visit to the community Tuesday afternoon. They met with out-of-work fishermen at Live Oak Baptist Church, reviewing clean-up plans and encouraging them to sign up for work.
