I really feel for these fishermen who have been hired out by BP to run out all these booms and to do other clean up activities. Their physical health (in addition to the economic situation) could be negatively affected, the same way that many workers at Ground Zero have been affected. Depending on what BP eventually pays up, the people whose livelihoods depend on the sea could get a double whammy of economic and medical disaster. I don't think most folks realize how hazardous crude oil can be, and I don't think these guys are really given any special protection, at least not that I've seen on TV so far.

Of course, there's the hit to the seafood industry and all the knock on effects to employment, tax revenue, etc. Tourism will take a hit if the beaches are fouled.

I also wonder if the oil could further diminish the marshes protecting New Orleans from another Katrina-like event. The wetlands have already been shrinking significantly for a long time. I know there have been efforts to rejuvenate them after Katrina, but maybe all that effort will be destroyed by the slick.