2 THE LAC DU BONNET LEADER Friday, July 30, 2010 Continued from front things a bit warmer. I arrived on the Q4000 the day after they put the cap on (the leaking oil well), but we had to be ready to start burning oil again if things went wrong." Sellers arrived in New Orleans July 6, immediately undergoing safety training. "I had to watch videos on (using a) hearing and breathing apparatus. We wear face masks, the kind you would fi nd in your room in case of fi re, off shore," he says. After arriving in New Orleans he was taken by a private transport firm to Houma, Louisiana, a city of just over 32,000. "I'm in a staff house at the moment, a nice one, three edrooms and all. But it's about a 20-minute drive to the ase," he said upon his arrival. But that was before he was sent to work on the Q4000, esigned to operate in more than three kilometres of water. He must live aboard while waiting to be granted hore leave, which is what he was doing when reached y the Leader. Cell phone reception is spotty aboard the 4000, making it diffi cult to communicate. "Th ere are four-man rooms and you have to share the athroom with another four-man room. For something uilt in 2001, I found it a bit old-fashioned, but the food was all right. Th ere is not much to do but eat, work and sleep. All communications are monitored by BP and the U.S. government, so we were told. No talking about work except to the offices involved, even e-mails and twitter are monitored." Resting time is also erratic. "I'm hoping to go ashore tomorrow but I don't know for sure," he says, the roar of machines echoing in the background. Although the oil leak below the ocean's surface was capped in recent days, crews are still working on the relief well designed to access and permanently stop the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Th e project was delayed over the weekend due to bad weather. Crews are "taking steps necessary to reconnect with the well and resume drilling operations," BP said in a statement on Monday. Since the oil spill began in April, much of the Gulf coastline has been lathered in oil, coating beaches and wildlife and virtually destroying the region's fi shing and

Lac du Bonnet Lions Club

THANK YOU

Fireworks Donations

Special THANKS to the following: * To all businesses, organizations, the Municipality and Town of Lac du Bonnet and to the public who made donations to the fi reworks * Lac du Bonnet & Pinawa Fire Departments (countless hours of fi reworks preparation, set-up and clean-up) * All volunteers involved in gate collections, street barricades, sound system, security and various other areas * The two Captain Canada Boats (collections on the water) * Master of Ceremonies, Rollie Simard * Kristen McLean (singing O'Canada)

IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO DONATE! "THE FIREWORKS ARE ONLY AS GOOD AS DONATIONS COLLECTED"

Remember the Lions Club does not pay for the fi reworks...your donations do. Donations are payable to: Lac du Bonnet Lions Club, Box 1241, Lac du Bonnet, MB R0E 1A0 tourism industry. According to BP, Chief Executive Offi cer Tony Hayward will be replaced by American Robert Dudley on Oct. 1. Hayward has been sharply criticized for his response to the spill, and has been keeping a low profi le in London for the past month since appearing before a Congressional committee. Sellers says the mood is low among the area's residents, as the economic and environmental consequences of the spill become more and more apparent. Since a moratorium on deepwater drilling was announced by President Barack Obama, Sellers says workers being fl own in from outside the region is elevating frustration among the people. "The people are hurting around here, still recovering from (Hurricane Katrina) and now this," he says. "People are out of work, no more drilling and (now) they are bringing us in." Th e atmosphere is tense when he goes ashore, but he said the people by and large are willing to help him and his friends get around. He managed to get some shore leave last weekend, when a hurricane threatened to batter the Gulf Coast. Sellers' sister Denise Wanvig said the family is extremely proud that he is assisting with the oil spill cleanup. "My family and I live in the state of Texas, so we are witnessing fi rst hand the horrible and disastrous eff ect that it has had on our environment," she says. "To know that our brother is there assisting with the cleanup has brought us great pride, and I can say that for all of my family. To see the look of awe and wonderment on my children's faces when I told them that their uncle was being sent there to work on helping clean up that disaster was such a prideful moment for me." Sellers said despite the media frenzy surrounding the oil spill, living in the middle of the disaster is not an adventure in any sense of the word. More like a test of endurance. "I think Lac du Bonnet would be more exciting," he says. Right: The Q4000 and EverGreen burner are two of petroleum giant BP's weapons in the fight against the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Submitted photos DUCT WORK IS OUR SPECIALTY

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