Gulf Oil Spill

The Episcopal Church has begun to formulate a response to the conditions in the Gulf Coast area affected by the oil spill. Below is the latest information, according to Episcopal Relief & Development.

The Gulf Coast situation today (adapted from information provided by the Episcopal Community Services of Louisiana [ECSLA])

  • The ultimate impact on coastal communities remains uncertain.
  • Closing fishing grounds and oyster beds has negatively impacted household finances among fishermen/harvesters and related small businesses.
  • Many had spent cash reserves preparing their vessels for the spring season and had suffered lower-than-usual incomes due to a cold winter.
  • Fishing communities along the Mississippi River, whose waters were closed earliest, have received the greatest attention from BP, government agencies and nonprofits providing food assistance.
  • Indecision about closing waters in bayou communities in Terrebonne Parish has put those residents in perilous financial situations. BP and government agencies are just beginning to establish a presence there with a BP claims office and a Small Business Administration (SBA) office.
  • Many residents, though, are reluctant to carry a second SBA loan on top of their Hurricanes Katrina/Rita/Gustav/Ike loan, so they are trying to make ends meet on their own.
  • The BP claims process requires more documentation than many people have to verify their true income loss.
  • Further, a maximum of only $2,000 is available in assistance to deckhands and other non-captain and non-vessel owners, so those who have received or expect to receive benefits from BP are struggling to make ends meet.
  • No emergency food stamp program has been activated for the region, and a 10-day waiting period for the standard food stamp program will frustrate families who find themselves suddenly short of cash.
  • This situation could become dire with the beginning of the hurricane season because families will likely be unable to prepare hurricane kits and stockpile emergency supplies.
  • It is expected that there will be some additional resources provided by state and federal agencies, but those programs are not yet in place.
  • Families face legal uncertainties regarding dealing with BP claims. For example, should payments be accepted now before the full impact of the oil spill is known?

The Church’s responses to the Gulf Coast situation (adapted from information provided by Episcopal Relief & Development’s department of US Disaster Response and Preparedness)

  • Response programs will run in all three coastal dioceses in the next few weeks–Louisiana, Mississippi and Central Gulf Coast, which includes the Alabama coast and Florida’s panhandle. The oil spill affected Louisiana first, so they are further along in their planning. Mississippi and Central Gulf Coast are finishing the assessment phase and will begin their programs soon.
  • Episcopal Community Services of Louisiana, which originally was the Office of Disaster Response following Hurricane Katrina, is leading the oil spill response for the Diocese of Louisiana. They are working with a congregation in a bayou southwest of New Orleans and a partner organization (Bayou Grace) with which they partnered following Hurricanes Katrina/Rita/Gustav/Ike. ECSLA is providing direct food assistance for families waiting for BP claims (or to buy them time to appeal their BP award). ECSLA is also seeing a growing number of families who are being denied assistance by BP as the paperwork requirements become more stringent. Too, they provide some referral services as well as legal referrals and pastoral care.
  • ECSLA, in addition to the referral services, is providing gas and grocery cards. This direct assistance often helps families bridge the gap while they wait for a BP claim or gives them the security of feeding their families while they appeal an award. It is important for Churches to be involved at this point because BP cannot provide every needed service. For example, BP can’t provide legal advice about families’ BP claims or provide pastoral care or help people who don’t qualify for BP assistance. The referral part of ECSLA’s program relies heavily on volunteers, so the cost is small while the majority of Episcopal Relief & Development’s grant funds are going to the direct gas/grocery program.
  • Many of the communities served by the ECSLA program have very low levels of education, which makes the Church’s work even more important. The Church assists families with the paperwork required to apply for assistance.
  • ECSLA hopes to expand its efforts to include a worker health program. They have heard from experts in Alaska that the effects of the Exxon Valdez clean-up on the workers has been long-term and severe (a lesson also seen, but under different circumstances, with the workers from Ground Zero). ECSLA is looking at ways to assist in this area, probably partnering with St. Anna’s mobile medical clinic, was a very well-run parish initiative that grew out of the Katrina response. Worker health programming would also provide some mental health assistance to a population that is often reluctant to directly seek out psychiatric help.
  • There are early-stage conversations going on in the Dioceses of Mississippi and Central Gulf Coast about operating parish-based ministries to respond to the spill. For example, a parish with a ministry feeding the homeless might use their food pantry to feed families whose low-wage, hourly jobs could evaporate due to a sharp decline in the tourism industry, which is already off 60% in some places along the coast.
  • The Diocese of Mississippi is considering building on relationships one parish has to help dockhands and seafood market employees in the parish’s community. And it’s likely similar opportunities will be discovered in other communities.