Jon Bowermaster | is
BARATARIA, Louisiana— It is the perfect blue sky, humidity-free spring day in bayou country that makes you feel like everything should be all right in the world.
The intercoastal waterway leading to the Gulf of Mexico is calm, the canals that host fishing boats behind each neat suburban home reflect the midday sun, and a cool breeze washes away extraneous sounds and smells.
But despite the bucolic day, fisherman Mike Roberts is angry. “Osama bin Laden couldn’t have done a better job of destroying a part of the American economy. This oil spill? It’s like the ultimate act of terrorism. And these guys should be treated like terrorists.”
The guys he's referring to: BP and Transocean executives, and the Mineral Management Service, the federal agency that was supposed to police the oil companies but appears to have been very cozy with the industry instead.
As we talk, a leftover shrimp lasagna heating in the oven, a muted TV shows oil company heads testifying before Congress. Mike and his wife Tracy Kuhns steal glimpses at the screen. Their house, a pair of fishing boats tied up on the canal, is a hub this morning for neighbors, friends and relatives looking for information. When this fishing community went to bed last night they thought they were going to be able to shrimp today in the fresh waters of the bayou. But they woke to learn that all fishing along the coast had been shut down.
“They have got to make up their mind,” says Mike, who put hundreds of dollars he doesn’t have into gasoline for his boat the day before and filled the onboard ice chests to the brim. “I just wasted that money.” They had just come from town hall, where fishermen had gathered for news from the mayor’s office. “I’m surprised there wasn’t a fist fight.”
more
http://www.takepart.com/news/2010/05/12/bayou-fisherman-enraged-over-spill-say-bp-oil-executives-should-be-treated-like-terrorists
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