GULF SHORES, Ala. — Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, a Vermont-based band that gained national attention in 2007 with the album “This Is Somewhere,” rocked the crowd of about 15,000 Saturday with their blend of funky blues, soul and rock from the sixties and early ’70s at the first Hangout Beach, Music and Arts Festival on the public beach.
Potter was part of four musicians and environmental activists who spoke to reporters midafternoon as part of the environmental bent the festival has taken on since the Gulf oil spill. Joining her were Gov’t Mule frontman Warren Haynes; Erin Brockovich, who built a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in 1993 that resulted in a $333 million settlement to victims of the utility’s pollution; and Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy, with the Waterkeeper Alliance organization.
“I was blown away,” Potter said after her set about the festival, going forward in spite of a massive, looming oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico just out of sight of the beach.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “I got on stage and I said, ‘My God, it’s Coachella on the beach.’”
The forecast for the Gulf Coast calls for winds out of the east-southeast to southeast at 10-12 knots into Monday, according to the latest NOAA forecast.
Ocean models show a west to southwest current in the vicinity of the source of BP’s oil spill 50 miles out into the Gulf. Under these current and wind conditions, the oil and chemical plume will continue to tend westward towards the Delta. Breton Sound and the Chandeleur Islands also have a potential for more shoreline contact.
GULF SHORES, Ala. – Spill responders are asking for the public’s help Saturday in monitoring boom along the Gulf Coast.
Boaters are requested to report sightings of broken, disconnected, or adrift boom — and encouraged to keep their distance from boom especially at night and in conditions of restricted visibility.
“Boom provides one more line of defense in protecting our favorite places along the Gulf Coast,” said Capt. Bill Drelling, U.S. Coast Guard deputy incident commander of Sector Mobile. “It’s important the boom not be disturbed.”
The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday they have authorized BP to use dispersants underwater, at the source of the Deepwater Horizon leak.
Oil spill dispersants are chemicals that attempt to break down the oil into small drops and prevent it from reaching the surface or the U.S. shoreline. Dispersants are generally less harmful than the highly toxic oil leaking from the source and they biodegrade in a much shorter time span, according to a press advisory from the Deepwater Horizon Response Joint Information Center.
The use of the dispersant at the source of the leak represents a “novel approach” to addressing the significant environmental threat posed by the spill, they say.
“We will continue our relentless efforts to secure the source of the spill,” said Coast Guard Admiral Thad W. Allen, the national incident commander for the spill. “In the meantime, we will employ every available technique we can to minimize the environmental impact on coastal habitats, communities and the marine ecosystem. This requires a responsible assessment of the risks and benefits of specific tactics.”
During the Bush years, we specialized in covering the politicization of the U.S. justice system as much as any news organization. Our archives are about the most comprehensive for anyone researching the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, and the original case against Richard Scrushy, which Glynn Wilson covered for The New York Times.
