Locals take oil spill cleanup into their own hands

“I had oil all over my hands, arms, and legs. I didn’t know what to do. I washed it off with soap and then with cooking oil. It was the first time I’d ever seen it here.” Natalia Jessica stared out at the ocean with a mix of incredulity and sorrow, after her unusual bath. The high tide helped sweep away some of the oil that the local task force couldn’t remove from the beaches in the small city of Coruripe, in the northeastern Brazilian state of Alagoas. That Saturday, at least two tons of sludge had been collected.

Born and raised in Coruripe, she was barbecuing with her friends and family in front of an idyllic landscape, surrounded by what are usually some of Brazil’s most pristine beaches.

It has been 49 days and counting since crude oil stains appeared across Brazil’s picture-postcard landscapes in the Northeast. The first signs were spotted off the coast of Maranhão state. Since then, the substance has spread to 187 beaches across all nine states of the Brazilian Northeast.

While unclean beaches are certainly unsightly, the impact is even worse on the animals. Dozens of birds and sea turtles have been found suffocated and caked in crude oil since the end of August.

“The situation is terrible in the reefs. I saw 50-centimeter stains there. Human beings are destroying the environment. This isn’t normal,” said Darlan Souza, Jessica’s friend, who also ended up with oil stuck on his body that same weekend.

“We can’t deny it: this is a serious problem. There are over 180 beaches affected. Some more than others, as it depends on the tide and the winds,” explains Patricia...