LAFOURCHE PARISH, La. — Workers have made a lot of progress on Bayou Lafourche, but there’s still no timeline for cleaning up the worst oil spill the parish has ever seen. Folks who live along the bayou are in disbelief that this could even happen.
“It’s horrible. I never would have dreamed this,” said Janet Crappel who has lived in her Raceland home on Bayou Lafourche her entire life.
Crappel says she has never seen anything like she has seen the last few days.
“Yesterday we had three alligators that passed,” said Crappel. “We think one of them had oil on it.”
On Saturday, crude oil started spilling out of a water drain into the bayou just across from her home. By Monday afternoon, more than a hundred workers and about a dozen boats had contained most of the oil to about a two-mile stretch of water.
“We want to put a lot of assets on the water and get it up as quickly as we can to keep it from escaping further down the bayou,” said parish president Archie Chaisson.
Chaisson says the oil came from the Crescent Midstream plant in Raceland. An estimated 820 barrels, which is 34,440 gallons, somehow poured into a drainage ditch that connected to the bayou.
“We’re pretty happy with the progress so far. The company has been great to work with along with their contractors and we continue to believe they’re going to make it right and put the bayou back in a good place,” said Chaisson.
Impacts are already being felt. Vegetation along parts of the bayou is coated in oil. At least twenty animals have already been found dead. Crappel worries what’ll happen once the oil is gone.
“I’m just hoping it didn’t have an impact on the fish because we fish a lot in this bayou. People crab in this bayou and that’s all we’ve done,” said Crappel. “We love it.”
It’s also the source of drinking water for four parishes. Chaisson says the drinking water is safe because the water intake is far enough away from the oil to avoid any problems—the Louisiana State Department of Health plans to do some testing just to be safe.
Back at her home, Crappel is worried about more than just the drinking water.
“I don’t know how it’s going to affect our future,” said Crappel. “When you’ve lived on the bayou for all my life like this, we enjoy it. This is what I enjoy.”
Crews are also checking the air quality on both sides of the bayou. That will continue as the cleanup moves forward. So far, there have been no issues with air quality.
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