My assigned division was 13 and 14, where I was partnered with an O'Briens representative who was contracted through BP, and assigned to a Chief who was my supervisor. Division 14 consisted of several islands covered with tens of thousands of pelicans, seagulls, and other birds. These islands, which were miles away from land, were a sanctuary to these birds, and were under imminent threat of destruction from the oil. Our job in Division 14 was to monitor these islands and make sure they were sufficiently protected. When we started in 14, these islands were already boomed off, but the boom was tangled and weathered. We had an assigned work crew who would go in and fix up what needed maintenance, and deploy new boom where needed.
Division 13 was part of our jurisdiction too, but there was less for us to do in that area. We had one small section of the bay where there was a collection of oyster beds, and this area was boomed off as well. Other than that, Division 13 was viewed as a low priority compared to some of the much more environmentally sensitive areas of the other divisions. Most of our days were spent focusing on Division 14, with just a little bit of reconnaissance in 13.However, our job changed again quite a bit after about a week. The command decided to pass off Division 14 to another group, and kept us focused solely on 13. Suffice it to say, our job turned from largely one of protection to largely reconnaissance. As I said, we had just one section of 13 where we were allocated to place boom. But doing maintenance even on this section became impossible after our work crew was reassigned to another division as well. At this point, our job consisted of long trips across the bay all day, surveying and reporting any new oil we observed coming into our area.
At some point, probably about a month into my tour, weather became a serious issue impeding our ability to get any work done. Tropical Storm Alex formed near the southern region of the Gulf, and the question was whether it would hit us head on. We were prepared for evacuation if it headed our way, but it veered to the west toward Texas and Mexico. That didn't stop us from feeling some of the effects, however. For several weeks, due to Alex and other various thunderstorms throughout our area, we had many days of severe lightning storms which kept us on the docks all day. This hurt our ability to make progress; in fact, it reversed our progress because the storms tore apart boom we already had laid out. We were right in the middle of hurricane season, and of course the biggest fear was that a major storm would sweep through the Gulf and bring all the oil up to us a lot quicker than it already was coming.
We continued doing the best we could with what we had, and although our supplies and manpower were limited, we were providing a valuable service nonetheless. We made several reports of oil that had gone unnoticed in varying areas, and were able to ensure that the birds and other wildlife in our division stayed safe.
To be continued.
