15 years after BP oil spill, Louisiana coast marine recovery still ongoing

Gulf seashore marks 15 years since BP lipid spill

Where betterment efforts basal 15 years aft BP lipid spill 03:29

Off Grand Isle, Louisiana, is simply a sportfishing paradise, wherever dolphins escort Captain Craig Bielkiewicz's charter vessel into the Gulf of Mexico. He wanted to amusement disconnected what matters there: the redfish are biting, and the dolphins are grounds of that fact.

It's different motion the spot has dilatory recovered implicit the past 15 years since the catastrophic BP lipid spill. In the summertime of 2010, panic dispersed crossed the portion erstwhile the Deepwater Horizon lipid rig exploded successful the Gulf, causing 134 cardinal gallons to gush into the water.

CBS News covered the spill for 4 months, from the frantic efforts to headdress the good to bungled attempts to halt the rust-colored crude lipid from poisoning beaches and wetlands. The municipality of Grand Isle was stuck successful the muck of disaster. Mayor David Camardelle fought backmost tears successful an interrogation connected the beach, fearful of the aboriginal for section fishermen.

Fifteen years later, Camardelle recalls the moment.

"Seeing that lipid coming done — it was a full antithetic satellite to us," helium said.

When asked if Grand Isle has recovered, Camardelle said, "As the situation moved, it got amended and better, we find. And the storms benignant of came and pushed immoderate large waves present and benignant of pushed the different worldly out."

But beneath the surface, determination was a antithetic communicative unfolding. Back successful 2015, Chris Hernandez showed CBS News his oyster beds, covered successful sheen. He said precocious that they person ne'er recovered.

The spill had a devastating impact connected marine life, coastal ecosystems and wetlands. Over the past 15 years, immoderate of it recovered, but immoderate of it hasn't.

Louisiana restored a vertebrate island, location to brownish pelicans, herons and gulls. BP paid for the $18 cardinal dollar project, which is present successful its "restoration phase," said programme head Maury Chatellier.

"We're trying to marque it close and bring those populations back," Chatellier said.

But NOAA changeable underwater footage adjacent the BP good caput successful 2017, and researchers saw astir nary signs of life. They went backmost to the aforesaid country past twelvemonth and said it looked overmuch the same

One 100 miles away, backmost connected Grand Isle, Camardelle inactive has his fears.

"In the backmost of mind, I inactive deliberation there's a small poison. I shouldn't accidental it that way, but it could inactive popular up successful the ground," Camardelle said.

It took BP 4 months to seal the well, but there's inactive nary headdress connected the lingering distrust. 

Oil Spill Threatens Wildlife 16 photos

In:
• Oil Spill
• Deepwater Horizon
• Gulf of Mexico
• Environment
• BP
• Louisiana