Vanessa Bolano WGNO News

February 15, 2011
PLAQUEMINES PARISH—
Leaders across the Gulf Coast took matters into their own hands today saying they've waited too long for anyone in Washington to respond to our shrinking wetlands. WGNO's Vanessa Bolano shows us there's still oil, but there's also still hope.

Take a ride down the Plaquemines Parish waterways and you'll eventually end up in Bay Jimmy. It's surrounded by wetlands, but the grass along the edge looks like hay and much of it is still covered in oil.

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There's still hope for this marsh although much of it is dead. Crews say this is what's left of the oil spill in Plaquemines Parish.

P.J. Hahn, Director of the Coastal Zone Management Department in Plaquemines Parish says, "This is one of the reasons that we were asking to build our berms faster is to keep the oil from coming into the marsh."

But now that the oil is in the marsh, every time the tide goes up, oil comes in deeper and deeper. A devastating sight to those who call this their backyard.

Cpl. Gerald Cormier with the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office says, "It's hurtful to see how much marsh is being affected by the oil spill."

This eye opener comes the same day leaders from Gulf Coast states met in Belle Chasse to announce they would no longer wait on D.C. for help.

"This is something that we don't have years to study, we don't have time to take a look and go through another 8 or 10 years of studies," says Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser.

Today America's WETLAND Foundation announced the launch of the Blue Ribbon Resilient Communities initiative. The 18-month program aims to get our wetlands back and prepare coastal communities for storms, oil spills, and rising sea levels.

Environmentalists say if nothing is done, in 90 years 2 million people will be forced out. "If nothing is done the coastline will be touching the levee system on the Mississippi River both North and South of New Orleans on both the East and the West Bank," says R. King Milling, Chairman of America's WETLAND Foundation.

As part of the initiative, Gulf Coast communities from Texas to Florida will host leadership forums to listen to concerns from residents.