Oil Spill Striking Fragile Wetlands

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – Oil first came ashore last week in the Breton National Wildlife Refuge, an area set aside by President Theodore Roosevelt. That region is now off limits to overflights by the news media and closed to public access. This week, blobs of tar about the size of softballs washed ashore in wetland areas and barrier islands 100 miles to the west. Forecasts indicate the swirling plume of million of gallons of oil continues heading west toward another critical nesting area for birds. Crews have set up booms, along the ragged shoreline, but oil can flow underneath those barriers, and waves push surface oil over the top. Meantime, BP is still deciding how to cut the flow at its well about 40 miles offshore.
For NPR News, I'm Eileen Fleming in New Orleans.