The reality of it all through the opinion of a local

Dear fellow Mississippi Gulf Coast residents as well as welcomed visitors of all ages,

I myself am a almost 38 year resident of our unique Hancock County. We have grown so much over the past I would say 20 years. We have overcome numerous storms and the worst Hurricane to hit our Coast. Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005 practically wiped our city off the map as well as destroying Bay St. Louis (my hometown). We have started recovery and things were and still are coming back. Things were getting better day by day. Our Main Street District is coming back beautifully. Old Town Bay St. Louis, the train depot area with our new duck pond is by far an awesome addition to our community. Holly Hester Lemoyne - Raymond and her new cafe Cypress Cafe is also a great asset to the area surrounding Old Town and the new Duck Pond.

We have begun to overcome Hurricane Katrina. Our community and surrounding communities were coming back stronger and stronger until...

April 20, 2010 when the Deep Water Horizon Disaster occurred it killed 11 men. Those families’ lives and so many others will never be the same. One year later those families are still in our thoughts and prayers. It seems like only yesterday those families’ lives were destroyed and so many more lives there after were changed and destroyed and the worst is yet to come.


Tribute to the Eleven 

Our own Governor of Mississippi Haley Bourbor will not even support us and back us up. Start watching this video and see that for a fact at about 6 mins. and 20 secs. into the clip.

View Clip Here 

He states people that are sick need to go to the doctor if they are sick but the doctors do not know how to diagnose much less treat the health of everyone that is affected. Our local media does not inform or cover a portion of what they should even be covering. The top news story every night should be "Caution on beaches stay off of them due to Dead Marine Life washing up daily along with chemicals and other toxins!!!"

What makes no sense is most everyone knows the EPA allowed the use of the dispersant Corexit knowing it was illegal in other countries. So why would they allow them to dump it on us? That alone should be a warning for people on our coast, and visitors and families on our beaches and swimming in our waters. I went out just yesterday in my hometown Waveland, Ms. and photographed tar balls all throughout the sections of beach I walked. I have been witnessing this for months now and the media does not touch it. In my opinion those beaches should be closed and if we won't close them until we get it all clean and know for sure that it and what is swimming in it is safe at least warn people.

To me the value of a dollar is not what is important here. It is the health of ourselves and, the people that come down to visit our state and neighboring states, our children and all living things. That is truly what is important here.

That should be on the front page of our local newspapers. Instead we have little children swimming near dead dolphins and sea turtles.

                                                                      Credit for photo: 
                                                                      Laurel Lockamy

Now some of our beaches in Harrison County this week have been announced closed due to high levels of bacteria.

Read Story here along with my comment

Well, wouldn't you think the levels would be high all along our coast lines with dead marine life even household pets floating and washing up on our shores? As a concerned resident I just do not see why the media does not inform our people like they should about the possible and serious health impacts this could have on you and your children as well as our visitors. Why wouldn't we take time to make sure our Gulf is 100 percent safe before inviting folks to come down and possibly get ill? That in the long run would only be a devastating blow to our coast and our economy for years to come. Why not chance taking a blow to our economy for at least another year until further testing be done instead of making a bad name for ourselves down here on the coast? That could ruin us for years down the road. We as the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast and neighboring states could get a lot more respect if we took the time to inform everyone. Instead thanks to our government officials and media we will end up getting a bad name for ourselves down here on the Gulf. I as a caring Gulf Coast resident does not want to see this happen to my hometown and I am sure other Coastal residents does not want to see this either.

I spoke out at our Attorney General Jim Hood's meeting here in Waveland last month and at least we have as one community raised our level of health concerns to him and he is addressing the issue.

Residents speak up at Waveland AG Jim Hood's meeting about health concerns.

Now after seeing this news article from Mississippi Public Broadcasting we may see a glimmer of hope in our future for our health; however we have had so many broken promises this past year and have heard so many lies it is hard to get our hopes set on something we hear or see until it happens.

Myself, as well as others I know walk the beaches a few times a week to daily taking photographs. Do you know that most locals to not even know there is a problem down here. They believe what they hear and mostly they hear nothing unless they are tied into one of our internet sites informing the people. Join Coastal Justice on Facebook to be linked to many folks down here telling the true story of what is really going on.

I am far from a journalist. I am far from a professional photographer, however I am just your average citizen along with so many others that just want to get the word out because if it was not for so many of us we would not be as educated as we are to this day. Thanks to so many local residents for what they have done to help get out the word for our Mississippi Coast and our neighbors. Folks like Mrs. Shirley Tillman, Laurel Lockamy, and Lorrie Williams to name a few. And that is just our Mississippi reporters of the bunch. There is others like for example Ms. Betty Doud from Grand Isle, Louisiana that keep the news and photographs circulating. I cannot begin to thank them all.

In closing I just want to state to all my readers and anyone who comes across this blog as well as all of my Coastal Justice Facebook friends, thank you and we will not give up. We will not let them win." We are the Media" and will continue to be until the real media takes over.

Thank you all for all the work you do,

Laurie G. Lambert

Also, Please take time to check out Bridge the Gulf Project