Cleaning up the marsh in Cocodrie, Louisiana

I was back on assignment for the oil spill on Tuesday, this time it was a 2 1/2 hour drive to a small fishing town of Cocodrie, Louisiana where I would get to take my first ever air boat ride, this oil spill seems to certainly be providing me a lot of first as a photographer. I was never interested in news photography before, but I have to admit, while it is completely different from sports I find myself enjoying this type of work, I guess I am happy with anything that puts me behind the camera and allows me to create.

The trip itself on the air boat did not last all that long, but between driving there, taking the tour provided by the U.S. Coast Guard and returning to the marina to file photos the day was gone. The tour included two air boats, one with a CNN Television crew the other boat with myself, Reuters photographer Sean Gardner and Neworleans.com photographer Dwayne Fatherree. The boats took a short ride out to the marsh where boats with BP contract workers were deploying new absorbent boom, picking up dirty boom and cleaning affected grass areas with absorbent pads, that can best be described as a thick paper towel.

The process of cleaning the grass appears to be a futile effort at best, the workers are out there working hard to prevent the oil from impacting the coastline, but as you will see below, some of the marsh grass has already been hit with oil, and cleaning impacted grass is nearly impossible, if a thicker oil impacts the grass it is sure to die. The Marsh grass and water ways near it are the home for fish, shrimp, crabs and oysters that are harvested by fisherman now out of work due to the spill, the very same workers that are now working as BP Contractors on boats seen in the photos below trying to stop the oil. BP Contract workers are not allowed to speak with the media and can lose their jobs if they do speak with the media so I was unable to get the names of workers or talk to them about there situation, I simply documented their work when we were able to get close enough to a boat, many boats would leave the area when our air boats with video and still cameras approached, here are some of the images captured from the day.

A BP contract worker uses absorbent pads to wipe oil off of grass impacted by oil in the marshlands outside of Cocodrie, Louisiana, U.S., on Tuesday, June 1, 2010. The BP Plc Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded and collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico continues to release thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf as cleanup and containment efforts continue all along the gulf coast. Natural wildlife habitats, marine life and the area seafood industry is threatened by oil that is now reaching coastal areas throughout Louisiana. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

A absorbent boom is placed in front of grass impacted by oil in the marshlands outside of Cocodrie, Louisiana, U.S., on Tuesday, June 1, 2010. The BP Plc Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded and collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico continues to release thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf as cleanup and containment efforts continue all along the gulf coast. Natural wildlife habitats, marine life and the area seafood industry is threatened by oil that is now reaching coastal areas throughout Louisiana. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

A BP contract worker picks up oily boom from areas of the marsh grass impacted by the oil in the marshlands outside of Cocodrie, Louisiana, U.S., on Tuesday, June 1, 2010. The BP Plc Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded and collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico continues to release thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf as cleanup and containment efforts continue all along the gulf coast. Natural wildlife habitats, marine life and the area seafood industry is threatened by oil that is now reaching coastal areas throughout Louisiana. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

BP contract workers lay down absorbent boom in unprotected areas in the marshlands outside of Cocodrie, Louisiana, U.S., on Tuesday, June 1, 2010. The BP Plc Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded and collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico continues to release thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf as cleanup and containment efforts continue all along the gulf coast. Natural wildlife habitats, marine life and the area seafood industry is threatened by oil that is now reaching coastal areas throughout Louisiana. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

BP contract workers uses absorbent pads on grass impacted by oil in the marshlands outside of Cocodrie, Louisiana, U.S., on Tuesday, June 1, 2010. The BP Plc Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded and collapsed into the Gulf of Mexico continues to release thousands of barrels of oil into the gulf as cleanup and containment efforts continue all along the gulf coast. Natural wildlife habitats, marine life and the area seafood industry is threatened by oil that is now reaching coastal areas throughout Louisiana. Photographer: Derick E. Hingle

Photos from this assignment have appeared in:

The Daily Edit – The Charlotte Observer

The New York Times

Here is a video by CNN, you can see the still photographers air boat in the clip and learn more about the marsh grass clean up.
CNN Cocodrie Cleanup with Gary Tuckman

China Daily

The Denver Post

Calgary Herald
02 Jun 2010

Want to see more, check out the Highlights Gallery below, although I must say nothing about this oil spill is a highlight, I would rather see this disaster never happen, but it did so I hope that you enjoy my photographs documenting the spill and the clean up efforts.

06-01-2010 Oil Spill Cocodrie Marshland – Images by Derick Hingle