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Before leaving Bayou La Batre, Ala. last evening a local fisherman had a talk with me. "Seeing as how you are a reasonably intelligent guy..." "Thank you," I said as he started in. "How come the EPA won't let us get our boats?"
I guess I blew his original take on me by saying, "I don't get your point." He went on to tell me there were over 50 large steel fishing boats sitting high and dry on marsh land where Katrina dropped them. One of them is a car hauler with a bunch of vehicles on board. Anyway, he says the only way to refloat the boats is to dig a canal out to where they now sit. "Makes sense," I thoght, because I had been wondering how you would get to them since they're so far from any water.
He finished by saying at a local town meeting the EPA showed up to say they weren't going to allow for any canal saying it would do too much harm to the ecosystem. The boats would simply have to stay where they were. "How is all that rusting steel out there going to help the ecosystem?" he asked. Once again pegging the intelligence meter, "I don't know," I replied.
And made a mental note to have chat with the EPA.
Read more from After the Storm: The Long Road Back, Martin Savidge
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The land of hard hats
I would like Dr. Rick Smith to contact me concerning Morgellons Disease. I saw the story with Martin Savage and would love to talk to Dr. Smith.
Barbara Winston, Amarillo, Texas (Sent Jul 28, 2006 9:29:37 PM)
Thank you so much for bringing these small communities that have been so devastated. My brother called me last night crying. He lives in Gulfport and had worked for the VA for the last 13 years in the landscaping crew. He was so proud of his work. Yesterday, they (the crew) went back to the grounds (the VA buildings are gone) as they have been about once a week since the storm, and he found one of his azaleas had a blossom on it, and in my ignorance, I commented "that was a good sign", trying to be supportive,he stated " it's dead, it just doesn't know it yet" he started to cry again. His other observation was that there are no live birds anymore. I realize that I'm rambling, but we as a nation have gotten the "homogenized version" of this disaster. These are our people,our families, our neighbors. They have nothing. Please, continue to tell their stories, someone has to see this and maybe something good finally will happen.
Liz Tucker, Lowell, MA (Sent Nov 2, 2005 8:35:24 AM)
Do too much damage to the ecosystem? I think Katrina already took care of that. Do, by all means, have that chat with the EPA. And tell them to loosen their ties!
Preston Wilson (Sent Nov 2, 2005 2:27:34 AM)
The response of the EPA to these guys who desperately need to get their boats back (something about the boats being part of their lives as well the means for them to make a living for their families) is simply another example of why an Army general was put in charge of New Orleans following Katrina. Had something to do with Army guys in the field not wearing white shirts and ties. Seems they figured out (and the EPA hasn't) that ties tend to constrict the flow of blood to the human brain, resulting in an eventual total loss of common sense. Desperate times deserve desperate measures. Martin did all of us a great service simply by having been there and letting us know what is not going on. Referring to the fact that each night it seems we hear that the NBC crew was the first "team" to have visited a place. Simply terrible.
Morrison Vogt, Orlando, Florida (Sent Nov 1, 2005 7:43:13 PM)
I sit, read and cry. I was born and raised in Mobile Co., Ala. Thank you for going to see and ask our people. I want my government to take care of our home folks. Charity begins at home.... Take our money and spend it on our people.
Mary Puckett, Ponce de Leon, Fla. (Sent Nov 1, 2005 7:38:32 PM)
It should be a simple enough matter to sort out the economics of the situation for boat owners (set aside the emotional arguments for the moment). Digging a channel for each boat (assuming they are not all clustered in one spot) is not a trivial matter, nor is it an inexpensive matter. Assuming the cost can be calculated (irrespective of EPA's position), the cost should be compared to the value of the boat, assuming that any cargo or valuables can be retrieved. If the channel excavation costs are in the seven figure range, and the boat(s) in question are valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, it becomes a fairly easy argument.....don't bother trying to get it back to water via a channel. I'm not supporting EPA's position at all, but affected property owners are facing some tough financial decisions with regard to whether salvage makes any sense.
Scot (Sent Nov 1, 2005 7:19:03 PM)
Maybe I'm nieve, and don't know how large the boats are, but isn't there some way that they could be air lifted back out to sea by armed forces helicopters, or even private helicopters?
As for the EPA, I want to hear their answer, too.
Phil Ingram - Atlanta, GA (Sent Nov 1, 2005 7:05:37 PM)
Under pristine, normal conditions, I can see why the EPA wouldn't want harmful canals to infringe on natural flora and water physics, but with the substantial damage from two major storms and the potential of contamination from the gas tanks and metal frames of the vehicles, SOMETHING has to be done.
http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/pdf/restdocfinal.pdf is an EPA website about repairing and restoring wetlands, and http://www.adem.state.al.us/ is the Alabama department of environmental management, which mentions commitments to clean water and cleaning up dump sites.
Somehow through these agencies a non-canal alternative should be workable!
T. Flynn (Sent Nov 1, 2005 3:21:50 PM)
I think that the EPA should pay attention to the real issue of polution, and let these people get their boats back in the water, I am sure that the insurance companies would be in agreement, as it would be much more economical to return them to the water than to replace all of them. And the marsh would regrow, it is just natures way.
Don Faiman, Eugene, Oregon (Sent Nov 1, 2005 2:33:04 PM)
Martin Savage wrote in part: And made a mental note to have chat with the EPA.
I for one would like to hear the EPA's answer to that
John Stanley East Providence RI (Sent Nov 1, 2005 11:41:15 AM)
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