by Marty Beckerman

Merle Savage was an "outdoors person" who found joy in the big things Mother Nature had to offer. She climbed Alaska's mountains and hiked the Grand Canyon. But then the big spill hit, and there would be no more climbing, no more hiking, and very little joy.

"We are setting up here for a giant human tragedy — decades of misery — especially if a storm or hurricane spreads it to normal everyday people onshore."