Oil clean-up gets help from co.’s donation

The latest addition to the “save our Gulf” effort doesn’t absorb or disperse oil and it won’t keep oil off birds, but it will potentially save workers with the BP cleanup effort the aggravation of fighting with Louisiana’s gnats and mosquitoes.

Altus Brands is donating 1,000 Bughats – a $25,000 value, according to a company spokesman – to the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program and the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The company also vowed to donate 10 percent of all future online Bughat sales to support wildlife rescue in the Gulf Coast region.

A boonie-style hat with fine mesh netting hanging from the brim may not be what some consider a priority in the war against free-flowing oil. However, given south Louisiana’s summer brigade of biting and pesty insects, the added face and neck protection should come in handy, said Gary Lemanski, president of Altus Brands, the northern Michigan-based makers of the Bughat.

Lemanski said the hat has a storage pocket for the netting, making it ideal for sun protection.

“Following news about the spill caused us to think about what a small company could do,” he explained in a press release. “And though large corporations and government are ramping efforts, we decided to do something quickly that might help a little. We’re in this together and need to help each other.”

BTNEP is a partner in the Gulf Response Involvement Team, a coalition of four regional and national conservative organizations coordinating volunteers for oil spill recovery.

“We have reached out to companies across the nation requesting assistance in response to the Deepwater Horizon spill,” Mel Landry, public involvement coordinator of BTNEP, said in the release. “We’re incredibly grateful to receive such a generous donation from Altus.”

Likewise, LDWF Secretary Robert Barham offered praise for the Bughats, noting that his department’s biologists are on the water and in coastal marshes daily, supporting the wildlife rescue mission.

“This department greatly appreciates this offer, which serves our personnel well during the hottest months of our south Louisiana summer,” he said.

Altus Brands exec Lemanski issued a challenge to other small businesses with products that could be used in the clean-up effort to make similar donations.

“The Louisiana coastline is a national treasure,” he said. “What happens to it affects the entire country. If a small company like ours can make even a bit of difference, then just think what can happen as the momentum grows.”

This clean-up worker wears the Bughat. Adorned with fine mesh, the donated hat helps keeps insects away. Manufacturer Altus Brands donated 1,000 Bughats for the local clean-up. COURTESY PHOTO