August 20, 2010 from the Center for Biological Diversity

Today marks four months since BP's negligence and lack of government oversight caused the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig to explode, sending over 200 million gallons of oil in to the Gulf of Mexico.

To assess how much damage was done, we just spent this week walking the Gulf's beaches, boating through its marshes, and flying over its open water.

What we saw firsthand was horrific.

Beaches are covered in oil; pools of liquid oil ooze on the surface and oil mixed with sand is hardened into mats along the water's edge. On Grand Isle, just south of New Orleans, some beaches look fine from a distance but are actually sitting atop massive amounts of oil which bubbled to the surface as we walked across the sand. Digging into the sand with rubber gloves, we struck oil just six inches below the clean looking surface.

Crabs and birds continue to be covered in oil as they cross the beaches or land in the marshes. Fish and sea turtles are forced to swim through oil on the surface and below the surface as they look for food. The marshes in Grand Isle smell of oil and an oily sheen covers the earth.

In short, a full four months post-BP explosion, the Gulf of Mexico is still an oily mess despite rosy assertions by oil companies and the Obama administration that most of the oil is gone. Our survey this week supports the conclusion of independent scientists, who announced findings on Monday that 80% of the oil is still present and continues to foul the beaches, waters, marshes and wildlife of the Gulf of Mexico.

But we also saw something else when we were in the Gulf.

People are stepping up to do their part, and more.

• On Grande Isle, we met a young scientist (and Center supporter) who has collected nearly 5,000 oil-covered hermit crabs, cleaning them off one by one in a make-shift lab and releasing them 15 miles away where the oil hasn't reached yet. (Support her efforts by joining "Hermit Crab Survival Project" on Facebook.)

• In New Orleans, we met a professional photographer visually capturing the oil's effect on the food chain, and a documentary film crew explaining how big oil money has captured local communities, Congress, and even the White House

• On the docks, we met shrimp fishermen getting ready to testify before Congress about how the dispersants sprayed on the BP oil killed off millions of shrimp.

It was humbling to see the impact of the oil spill firsthand, and inspiring to see many people taking action. And, to know that the many late nights our staff has, and will put in are absolutely necessary to protect and recover our Gulf -- and to make sure this never happens again, anywhere.

The Center for Biological Diversity will continue our major response effort by pushing forward with seven lawsuits against BP and the corrupt government regulators who allowed BP and dozens of other oil companies to dangerously drill for oil with no environmental review, lax safety measures and useless clean-up plans.

Your help has been tremendous so far and we hope that you won't let the lessons we need to learn from this oil disaster fade away. Stay motivated: check out the slideshow we put together from the trip, and share this email with your friends.

It's been a long four months, but we're not done yet. The oil's still in our environment and the causes of the explosion still need to be addressed.

Thanks to all of you who have written letters, signed petitions, donated money and gone to the Gulf to help with the clean up. Without you we wouldn't be able to be so effective, and wildlife would be dying in even larger numbers. We'll keep the updates coming.

With thanks and resolve,

Kierán Suckling Executive Director

Sarah Bergman Assistant Executive Director