Grass cleaning in Louisiana after Gulf blowout

Houma Today:

In war, there are casualties.

And in the battle against the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, marsh grass will die.

Knowing this, the strategy then becomes saving others from a similar fate.

With oil splattered on their white protective coveralls, 21 cleanup workers walked along a patch of marsh, wiping grass blades with absorbent towels Thursday afternoon.

Because the tide had receded, a line of shiny brown oil about 5 feet high was visible on a patch of grass along the north shore of Lake Barre, a basin east of Cocodrie.

It is tedious work cleaning the grass, and it seems futile because the affected marsh will likely die.

But collecting the oil is the best way to keep it from moving onto other grasses, said Chief Warrant Officer Adam Wine of the U.S. Coast Guard.

...

It would take greater patience than I possess to go out and clean oil off of grass. I hope they are successful. Trying to save the wetlands is certainly a worthy objective and it will be a lot of work for the volunteers.