BP Horizon Oil Reaches Louisiana Marshlands

The BP Horizon oil spill is beginning to make itself apparent onshore. Until yesterday the vast majority of the oil was offshore and out of sight - much of it apparently still deep under the surface. The environmentally important and extremely sensitive Louisiana coastal marshlands were the fist areas to be impacted by large quantities of the oil.

This was not the light sheen or scattered tar balls that have been witnessed up and down the coast but heavy oil that is the consistency of latex paint. This oil has coated much of the marsh grasses and is seeping into the soil prompting Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal to lament, "The day that we've been fearing is upon us today".

While the environmental destruction and the damage to the local Gulf Coast fishing industry will certainly be evident for many, many years to come, public outrage will probably not hit a crescendo until this gunk starts washing up on the white sand beaches now covered by tourists and lined with soon to be empty condominiums.