Out of the Frying Pan

Into the glamorous life of the largest environmental disaster (formerly called Louisiana) that the U.S. has ever seen. Welcome to the world's newest and largest Superfund site. I'm at the Baton Rouge command post at a refinery facility, which happens to be a smaller Superfund site, holed up with I don't know how many hundreds of more Coasties in a dozen double and triple wide trailers. The field outside has about 50 RVs where people have taken residence. Like a college tailgating party without all the revelry or sleep. I landed a plush hotel room with one of my idols, one of the most talented and famous women scientists in the world. If I had known five years ago that I'd be rooming with her I'd have choked. Turns out she likes a glass of white wine before bed, uses a rose scented lotion, and can get ready to leave in under five minutes.

We're here to do the real field work of the Katrina response. This is where we're mapping the +30 oil spills, the boats that are smashed or underwater, and tracking the oceanic convergent zones that are sweeping bloated human bodies towards Florida. Three of us are stuffed in a room about 8'x8', with 4 laptops, 3 printers, and assorted office supplies to keep it cozy. The wireless connection sucks. Email goes in and out all day. The room is like a meat locker in the morning, but by noon it's easily 85F baking in the Louisiana sun. When it rains, and there is no rain like a Southern deluge of rain, the water seeps down the warped wood paneling and drips on our desks, so we rush into the trailer’s crowded hallway with our laptops until it ends and return to our work. The people are just as hard core as the conditions. Dedicated, brutal, truthful. I've never met such a group of responders or scientists who act like such cowboys with 10 gallons of guts and brilliance under their hat. Just the renegade posse needed to herd the hellacious riprap left behind Katrina.

I'm printing out yet more maps for yet more Admirals. Their eyes will sweep across the pretty picture as the commanders brief them on the response status in about eight hours. My show and tell contribution to feeding the beasts. I did some maps the other day for Bush. That Bush. Stayed up until 2 a.m. He wouldn't look at them. Just pretty colors. My Pet Goat on a map.

Me and Charlie in our initial NOAA office at the Baton Rouge command post