Update on Gulf Oil Spill

We have oil on our beaches in Alabama. There is an oil slick headed for Pensacola Beach and NOAA expects it to reach Florida by tomorrow. The area of oil and oil sheen encompass most of the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf has been closed to fishing, shrimping and oystering. There are so many people who make their living in the Gulf fishing, etc. So many lives have been changed and are being changed. There are crews from the Coast Guard and some locals who have been trained to do clean the clean up of our beaches but it isn't but a drop in the bucket. BP does not have any of their people cleaning here but hopefully that will change. BP has let us all down. There is a current that swoops down from the northern Gulf down to the south and loops around the bottom of Florida and up the East coast. That is how large the area is that may be affected from this massive disaster. BP currently is trying to cut the steel pipes below with a digitally operated saw blade. Yesterday the blade became stuck but they say they are placing another blade down to complete the cut. This is expected to increase the flow by about 20% before they place another dome over it to siphon the oil to the surface. this method is only expected to bring barely half of the oil into a holding tank. If this doesn't work, it is iffiy at best, then we could be looking at mid to late August before the oil is stopped. We cannot even imagine the consequences if this isn't stopped. There are still so many unanswered questions because this has never happened before. People's lives have changed and many will never be the same. Hurricane season is upon us and there is so much wonder of what will happen if a storm comes into the Gulf. I guess we won't know until it happens. Think of all the animals - birds that migrate south in the spring and summer who won't make their destination. So much wildlife will be affected.

This is a connection to one of our local stations to get a first hand perspective on what is happening and also a live feed of the oil spewing from the rig 5000 feet below the surface. You can also see the blades cutting the rig. http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/spill_cam/