Communities on the Horizon

Judge: BP contract shielded Halliburton in spill

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:07:32 -0600

January 31, 2012 ~ By Cain Burdeau, Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that Halliburton, the Houston-based company that supplied cement for the ill-fated Macondo well that blew in the Gulf of Mexico, may not have to pay many of the pollution claims that resulted from the catastrophic spill because it was shielded in a contract with well-owner BP.

Still, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said Tuesday that Halliburton is not exempt from paying punitive damages and civil penalties that arise from the April 20, 2010, blowout off the Louisiana coast. Those penalties could amount to billions of dollars.

The judge also said Halliburton’s indemnity could be voided if the company is found to have defrauded BP. He did not rule on BP’s allegations that Halliburton committed fraud by declaring the cement safe to use.

Long-term effects of Gulf oil spill on shrimp, other species is still unknown

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:06:00 -0600

January 30, 2012 ~ by Benjamin Aexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune

Gulf of Mexico shrimp, along with all seafood, has been tested extensively to assure that it’s safe for consumption in the wake of the BP oil spill, but the long-term effects on fish species from that oil, and the chemicals used to fight it, are still largely unknown. Possible effects on the growth and mortality of Gulf shrimp could come from a variety of factors, including alterations in the food they eat or the species who prey on them, changes in the marsh they inhabit, or changes in their own biology.

Hanging ominously over the Gulf studies is the specter of the collapse of the Pacific herring fishery in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1993, four years after the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. In part, that threat looms because the scientific community never made a conclusive determination about what caused that decline and whether that oil spill was the driver, or whether perhaps a virus or fungal infection played a major role.

While the Exxon-Valdez spill occurred during the herring spawning season and BP’s Macondo well began spewing around the white shrimp spawning season, the difference is that herring spawn at the age of 4, whereas shrimp are an annual crop, spawning each year and living only about a year. So, presumably a quicker decline would be seen in shrimp.

Last fall, LSU released a study showing that the Gulf killifish, a marsh minnow known locally as cocahoe, showed signs of hydrocarbon poisoning. But Andrew Whitehead, lead author of the study, made clear that the species would have to be monitored for several more years to know whether it would affect the species’ reproduction and population levels.
charts-shrimp-012912.jpgView full size

He also noted that his study held no implications for the safety of eating Gulf seafood because the levels that affect the tiny cocahoe are much too low to affect humans.

The federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment, or NRDA, is looking at some of the BP spill’s potential effect on shrimp. BP has pledged to spend $1 billion on “early restoration” projects, with Louisiana in line to get $200 million, but the company and other parties responsible for the spill may eventually have to spend as much as $20 billion on natural resource projects.

The state is conducting toxicity testing to evaluate survival, reproduction, growth and disease responses of representative Gulf species to the BP oil and dispersants, but those tests are part of the non-cooperative work plans, so the state is keeping the work confidential.

Another study approved by the state and BP is examining Louisiana marsh oiling. Of 123 sample sites, the study described 66 marsh sites in Louisiana in the fall of 2010 as having received heavy oiling, 42 as receiving moderate, light or very light oiling, and 15 areas as receiving no oiling.

Then there are ongoing studies exploring potential oil affects on the spawning stocks of species that rely on marshes for nursery habitat, and on the state of the food shrimp eat during their growth stages.

In addition, the Gulf Research Initiative is funding $500 million worth of environmental studies in the Gulf of Mexico. One such study looks at potential oil spill effects on the mortality, development and growth of the larval, juvenile and adult stages of three Gulf species, including white shrimp.

Steve Murawski, a University of South Florida oceanographer, and a colleague earlier this month gave a presentation in Florida discussing fish they’d found with skin lesions in the Gulf last summer, many of them in areas where oil had been present. Murawski conditioned his findings though, saying that areas where fish with lesions were found also might have had natural oil seeps, leaky pipelines or rigs unrelated to the BP spill.

“It’s complicated and I’m unwilling to point a finger at anyone until I have pretty clear answers,” said Murawski, who served as NOAA’s chief fisheries scientist from 2004 until 2010.

One of the main problems is there isn’t much pre-spill data. For example, Murawski admitted that the rate of fish skin lesions before the spill isn’t documented. At least, he said, his study will provide an assessment of the current health that will help determine a threshold for future assessments in case of disasters down the line.

Skin lesions are nothing new in the Gulf. In 2009, fish with lesions began showing up at higher rates in Alabama’s Mobile Bay, and an evaluation by the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Auburn University determined the lesions likely were caused by a sudden surge of fresh water from earlier flash floods, and temperature changes.

Gulf of Mexico oil spill environmental data drives damage assessment

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:19:51 -0600

Jan. 12, 2012- Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune

BP’s chief environmental scientist assigned to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on Thursday said the company, working with state and federal trustees, remains on a fast pace aimed at restoring resources damaged during the 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Briefing reporters by phone in advance of a month-long series of hearings on proposed “early restoration projects” along the Gulf Coast, Robin Bullock said the formal Natural Resource Damage Assessment process required under federal law has developed “the largest set of environmental data at one point in time associated with an oil spill incident within the Gulf of Mexico.”

Hundreds of scientists — from universities, federal agencies and hired by BP — have gathered data on the status of Gulf resources before the spill, and the potential for resource damage from the estimated 5 million barrels of oil that gushed from BP’s Macondo well. That information was used to develop projects to restore natural resources and compensate the public for the use of those lost resources.

The hearings will focus on the first eight projects proposed in December by states’ trustees and BP, which total $57 million for the Gulf Coast and includes $28 million for Louisiana projects. BP has pledged to spend $1 billion on “early restoration” projects, but the company and other parties responsible for the spill may eventually have to spend as much as $20 billion on natural resource projects.

The first two Louisiana projects will build more than 100 acres of wetlands in Plaquemines Parish, place oyster cultch on six public seed beds in several parishes and upgrade an oyster hatchery on Grand Isle.

The projects were approved by a committee of trustees representing the five Gulf Coast states, the federal departments of Interior and Commerce and BP. Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the trustees and the parties responsible for the spill are required to cooperatively complete the damage assessment process.

The early projects are driven by the early lessons learned by scientists, Bullock said.

“We knew a few things about the injuries very quickly,” she said, including the effects on recreational fishers by the closure of wide swaths of the Gulf to fishing, and to tourists by beach closures.

The $4.4 million proposed for building boat ramps and $600,000 for coastal dunes in Florida is aimed at compensating for such lost recreational opportunities.

“On the ecological side, we do know that oil reached the shorelines,” Bullock said. “We do know that we did have some mortality associated with birds, some mortality associated with turtles,” and projects aimed at restoring near-shore environments would compensate for their losses, she said.

Louisiana’s projects fall into the resource restoration category, as do the $11 million for oyster cultch and $2.6 million for an artificial reef in Mississippi and the $9.4 million for marsh creation and $1.1 million for coastal dune improvements in Alabama.

Louisiana’s first two projects are part of a $533 million list of 13 projects that it proposed in July for a share of BP’s early restoration money, said Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority chairman Garret Graves, who acts as Louisiana’s trustee in the damage assessment process.

Louisiana is supposed to get $100 million of the first $1 billion, but hopes some of the projects could be paid for with shares of the BP money provided that will go to the Commerce and Interior departments.

Bullock and Graves could not say when additional projects will be announced, but the agreement signed by trustees and BP set a goal of beginning construction of projects by the end of 2012, Graves said.

“The intent of Louisiana is to stick to that time frame,” Graves said.

Public comments are being accepted on the first list of projects through Feb. 14, including on the web at http://losco-dwh.com/EarlyRestorationPlanComment.aspx . Recommendations for future projects also will be accepted.

In Louisiana, state officials will hold three public meetings to discuss the projects, each beginning at 5:30 p.m., with a public hearing at 6:30 p.m.:

    Jan. 31, Terrebonne Council Chambers, 8026 Main St., second floor, Houma.
    Feb. 1, St. Bernard Parish Council Chambers, 8201 West Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette.
    Feb.. 2, Belle Chasse Auditorium, 8398 Louisiana 23, Belle Chasse.

Gulf Coast Children Experiencing Health Challenges

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:16:06 -0600

Gulf Coast Children Experiencing Health Challenges:

In the wake of the BP Oil Disaster many Gulf Coast residents continue to face health challenges.

BP Oil Spill: Prosecutors Reportedly Preparing Criminal Charges

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:57:08 -0600

Dec. 29, 2011 ~ The Huffington Post

Federal prosecutors are preparing the first criminal charges against BP in connection with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst of its kind in U.S. history, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The charges, reportedly to be revealed early next year, center around several engineers and may include providing false information about the risks of drilling in the Guld of Mexico in federal documents, the WSJ reported.

The charge carries a penalty of a fine as well as up to five years imprisonment.

People familiar with the matter told NPR that no final decisions have been made about the charges, adding that even if prosecutors go ahead with the charges, attorneys for the engineers will have a chance to appeal to other Justice Department officials. BP spokesmen declined to comment to Bloomberg Businessweek on the WSJ report.

The Deepwater Horizon spill off of the coast of Louisiana in 2010 killed 11 and led to more than 200 million gallons of oil spewing under the water. After three months of searching for solutions, the well was finally capped, but not before the oil destroyed hundreds of miles of coastline and devastated the tourism and fishing industries.

The full economic impact of the oil spill is still unknown, with economists’ estimates expected to trickle in sometime next year, the Press-Register reports. Shortly after the spill, economists predicted that in a worst case scenario, the disaster would cost Alabama about two percent of its economic output. Still, the spill’s effects weren’t limited to states like Alabama, which were directly impacted. Businesses around the country were forced to contened with the spill’s aftermath; in restaurants as far away as New York City, business owners felt the pinch of a seafood price hike, according to CBS News.

As of March, the spill had cost BP $41 billion and severely damaged the company’s reputation. In addition, it likely cost BP’s former CEO Tony Hayward his job.

In October, the Obama administration granted BP permission to resume exploratory drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, saying that the company’s plans met the administration’s standards for deepwater drilling. But if the crisis were ever to happen again, the same laws would still be in place.

Despite a push from some Democrats to raise the cap on the amount that companies are required to pay to cover economic damages from an oil spill, the legislation never came to fruition.

Still, BP did set up a $20 billion compensation fund for victims of the spill. The Justice Department named BDO Consulting to conduct an independent audit of the claims fund, which is expected in March.

Trustees approve projects to restore wetlands, rebuild oyster beds using BP money

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 08:53:57 -0600

by Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune Dec. 14, 2011

In a small nibble at what is expected to be a very large apple, federal and state officials announced approval Wednesday of the first $57 million for projects to reverse the damage caused by the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, including $28 million for Louisiana projects. Louisiana’s share will build more than 100 acres of wetlands in Plaquemines Parish, place oyster cultch on six public seed beds in several parishes, and upgrade an oyster hatchery on Grand Isle.The money is part of a $1 billion “early restoration” payment that BP pledged as partial compensation for damage to natural resources caused by the oil from the catastrophic failure of its Macondo well.

The projects were approved by a committee of trustees representing the five Gulf Coast states and the federal departments of Interior and Commerce, and by BP. Under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, the trustees and the parties responsible for the spill are required to complete a “Natural Resources Damage Assessment” that measures damage to resources and recommends ways to compensate for them. BP and other parties responsible for the spill may have to pay as much as $20 billion in damages.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the projects during a news conference called to announce the results of the first sale of federal offshore oil leases in the Gulf since the BP disaster.

The news conference was held at Al Sunseri’s 135-year-old P&J Oyster Co. in the French Quarter, which was forced to dramatically curtail business in the aftermath of the spill because of both a lack of oysters and public fears that Louisiana oysters were contaminated.

The oyster cultch will be placed on 850 acres of public seed beds at six locations: 3-Mile Bay and Drum Bay in St. Bernard Parish, Lake Fortuna and South Black Bay on the east bank of Plaquemines, Hackberry Bay in Lafourche Parish, and Sister or Caillou Lake in Terrebonne Parish. The seed beds are used as a source of oyster larvae by owners of private leases in several parishes, who make up the bulk of Louisiana’s oyster harvesters.

The state’s oyster hatchery at the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries laboratory on Grand Isle also will be improved as part of the project.

The oyster project is designed to offset the effects of oil contamination of some oyster beds, and damage to others during efforts to block oil from moving into Louisiana marshes.

The state opened numerous freshwater diversion structures along the Mississippi River in an effort to keep oil from moving into wetlands, and the freshwater hurt numerous oyster beds. Garret Graves, senior adviser on coastal issues to Gov. Bobby Jindal, said that because it was a step taken to fight the spilled oil, the damage it caused is considered by Louisiana to be the result of the spill.

Mike Voisin, owner of Motivatit Seafoods Inc. and a member of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force, said the state’s oyster industry lobbied for inclusion of the oyster projects, adding that oyster production this year is down 65 percent.

“This is the trustees recognizing that damage to the oyster industry (from the spill) is an important issue, and BP also concurring that it’s an important issue,” Voisin said. “It’s not the end, but it’s a big step in the right direction.”

The Lake Hermitage project in Plaquemines Parish will allow about 70 acres of marsh terraces that were to be built as part of an ongoing federal-state project to be replaced with 104 acres of unbroken marsh. An existing pipeline used to pump sediment mined from the Mississippi River will be used to fill in the project area, which is west of Pointe a la Hache.

Projects approved in other states include $11 million for oyster cultch and $2.6 million for an artificial reef in Mississippi; $9.4 million for marsh creation and $1.1 million for coastal dune improvements in Alabama; and $4.4 million for boat ramps and $600,000 for coastal dunes in Florida.

The projects are outlined in an early restoration plan and environmental assessment available at www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.

The public will have 60 days to comment on the projects, ending on Feb. 14. Public meetings will be held in Louisiana on Jan. 31, Feb. 1 and Feb. 2.

Environmental groups file suit to nullify Wednesday's oil and gas lease sale

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 08:51:31 -0600

by Richard Thompson - The Time Picayune - Dec. 13, 2011

Environmental groups filed suit in federal court Tuesday to challenge the first oil and natural gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico since last year’s BP oil spill. The lawsuit was filed in District Court in Washington, D.C., by Oceana, Defenders of Wildlife, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The groups allege that the federal government is not prepared to handle a repeat of the April 2010 disaster that killed 11 rig workers and caused one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. In turn, the lawsuit seeks to nullify the results of the lease sale until regulators “take a hard look at the environmental impacts of its proposed decision” to move forward with additional offshore drilling, according to the filing.

The motion was filed the day before the long-planned western Gulf of Mexico lease sale, slated to be held in New Orleans. Up for grabs on Wednesday: 3,900 unleased tracts offshore, some located up to 250 miles off the coast of Texas, covering about 20.6 million acres overall.

Despite the legal wrangling, Melissa Schwartz, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees offshore drilling, said the lease sale will go on as scheduled.

The sale attracted 241 bids from 20 companies on 191 tracts offshore Texas, compared to 189 bids submitted by 27 companies on 162 tracts during the previous western Gulf lease sale in August 2009, the agency said in a statement Tuesday.

Upwards of 423 million barrels of oil and 2.65 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be produced as a result of the sale, according to agency figures.

Hanging in the balance is the fate of the lawsuit, which alleges that the agency is “continuing the same irresponsible approach that led to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and harm still being felt in the Gulf,” Catherine Wannamaker, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, who represents the groups in court, said in a statement. “It’s easier for the government and oil companies to return to business as usual without considering the oil spill’s impacts on the Gulf, but it’s illegal and irresponsible.”

Jacqueline Savitz, senior campaign director for Oceana, said in a statement that the group had filed suit “to protect wildlife and ultimately, the fishing, recreation and tourism industries, rather than just selling out to ‘Big Oil.’”

“The administration has buried its head in the sand, ignoring the devastating impacts of the BP spill, and acting as if nothing ever happened,” Savitz said. “But the spill’s impacts on endangered and commercially important species must be considered,” said

By moving ahead with the lease sale, the groups contend that the bureau has not incorporated lessons learned in the aftermath of the Macondo blowout and the months-long effort to stop the flow of oil from the gushing well.

2012-2017 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:55:44 -0600

2012-2017 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program:

From the BOEM: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

Learn about the 5-year program.

Science of the Spill: Presentations on Emerging Impacts of the BP Oil Disaster

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:52:05 -0600

by LEAN: Lousiana Environmental Action Network 7 Lower mississippi Riverkeepers ~ Dec. 8, 2011

On December 5th, 2011, The Sierra Club, Louisiana Environmental Action Network, the Steps Coalition and Mississippi Coalition for Vietnamese-American Fisher Folk and Families sponsored an educational forum to discuss the BP Oil Disaster and its impacts to our environment and communities, and how Gulf Coast researchers are addressing these concerns.

Science of the Spill highlighted three Gulf Coast-based researchers, Dr. Scott Milroy, Wilma Subra and Dr. Ed Cake, who are tracking impacts of the BP oil disaster on blue water, fisheries, coastal wetlands and public health. The forum provided citizens the opportunity to ask the scientists questions related to their research and the ongoing impacts related to the oil disaster.

View 36 minute presentation

Targeting oil spill fines to ecosystem restoration could be big job generator, report says

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:17:17 -0600

Dec. 5, 2011 ~ by Bruce Alpert, The Times-Picayune

WASHINGTON — A new report by Duke University economists says legislation that would target Clean Water Act penalties from last year’s BP oil spill to ecosystem restoration could be a big job generator, including for firms facing cuts in oil and gas industry work.

The report was released Monday in advance of Wednesday’s House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on legislation that would direct 80 percent of the fines to the five Gulf Coast states, with most of the money, estimated between $5 billion and $20 billion, earmarked for ecosystem restoration work.

“A recurring theme observed in interviews with sample firms is the unsteady nature of demand for coastal restoration work — in part because of uncertainties and delays in finding mechanisms, and in part because volume of funding historically has been low,” the study said. “Additional funding and stability in investment will make it easier to create and save jobs.”

The study identified 140 businesses in 37 states, though most are along the Gulf Coast, that would benefit from a major influx of financing for coastal restoration work. Firms that have traditionally assisted with the development of oil and gas exploration could easily transition to do some of the ecosystem work, the study’s authors said.

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, who will be speaking at Wednesday’s hearing on behalf of his legislation to earmark the Clean Water Act fines to the Gulf States, applauded the study.

“This report underscores our claim that Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are invaluable, support critical national assets and should be restored immediately, and that by investing in our coast we create economic opportunities for the entire country,” Scalise said.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., a lead sponsor of the Senate bill, agreed, “Coastal restoration safeguards critical ecosystems, creates new jobs and protects current jobs in key industries based in the region,” Landrieu said.

Ken Feinberg expands oil spill claims payments for shrimpers, crabbers

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:14:24 -0600

Nov 30, 2011
By David Hammer, The Times-Picayune

In a significant move for the gulf coast fishing industry, Gulf oil spill claims czar Kenneth Feinberg decided Wednesday to double compensation payments for shrimpers and crabbers. Feinberg announced that his Gulf Coast Claims Facility will compensate shrimp and crab harvesters at four times their documented 2010 losses from now on.

“The GCCF recognizes the ongoing uncertainty regarding the state of the commercial harvesting of shrimp and crab in the Gulf and the uncertainty of any ongoing impact from the spill,” reads the new methodology. “As a result of this uncertainty, the GCCF has adjusted its methodology for compensation to commercial shrimp and crab harvesters and processors to include additional compensation.”

That lifts shrimpers and crabbers above the two-times-2010-loss formula that most claimants have gotten to make up for the effects of the 2010 oil spill. It was the blowout of a BP offshore well that dumped millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf of Mexico for 87 days and soiled the coastlines of five states.

The calculation-formula changes recognize a greater economic impact on shrimpers and crabbers than on tourism-related businesses, something fishing industry leaders have been complaining about for months. Until now, all legitimate claims were paid twice their documented 2010 losses, except for oyster harvesters and leaseholders, who have been eligible for more since early this year.

The move also comes as Feinberg is under increasing pressure from BP to curtail payments, which have reached $5.7 billion to 216,000 claimants. Feinberg also announced Wednesday that he can no longer assume that claims from Texas and the Florida peninsula are due to the spill, unless they are commercial fishing claims.

Shrimpers in particular have complained that Feinberg didn’t understand the uncertainties they were still facing. But in the wake of a difficult 2011 white shrimp season, Feinberg said he was willing to re-evaluate his methodology. The new calculation formula of four times documented 2010 losses now applies to any shrimping or crabbing claims still under review by GCCF or any new claims received as of Wednesday.

The move by Feinberg could also have a major impact on litigation. BP is battling with thousands of claimants in a massive federal court case and the company argues that the economic impact of the spill has already run its course. It has been pushing for Feinberg to limit, not expand, payments.

Audit finds Shaw overbilled for sand berms after Gulf oil spill

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:46:26 -0600

NOLA.com ~ The Assoc. Press ~ Nov. 8, 2011

The Shaw Group may have overbilled the state about $500,000 after it was hired by Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration to build $250 million worth of sand berms along the Gulf of Mexico to block oil spewing from an out-of-control BP well from washing ashore, according to the state legislative auditor.

A legislative auditor’s report Monday said Shaw billed the state between June 2010 and August 2011 for $251 million — $12.2 million for labor and $238.8 million in other costs — and that about $495,000 worth of invoices either should not be paid or should be paid only with more documentation. The audit found problems with bills for material and equipment, travel charges and reimbursable expenses.

The berm project, which involved moving huge amounts of sand from the Mississippi River out to open water along the coast, has been regarded as a colossal waste of money because the sand islands probably did little to stop oil from coming ashore. Last December, a presidential commission set up to investigate the BP oil spill called the project “underwhelmingly effective, overwhelmingly expensive.”

The state agency overseeing the berm project, the Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, asked the legislative auditor to help vet Shaw’s invoices.

“There were definitely some errors and exceptions that we called into question,” said John L. Morehead of the legislative auditor’s office. But he did not characterize the overbilling as egregious. The report did not provide examples or go into the details of the overbilling.

State and Shaw officials said they were working through outstanding bills.

“Considering the emergency conditions and the massive size of this effort, we were able to keep billing exceptions to a fraction,” said Garret Graves, a top aide on coastal affairs to Jindal. So far, he said the state has refused to pay about $200,000 of the outstanding bills.

The Jindal administration continues to defend the berm work, arguing that putting all that river sand onto the coast is helping restore badly eroding barrier islands.

“There is sand in the system that was not previously there,” said Robert Routon, a project manager with the Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, the agency overseeing the berm project.

Initially, state officials hoped to build 36 miles of berms, but by the end of the project just roughly 16 miles were built with about 20 million cubic yards of sand.

Nathaniel Plant, an oceanographer with the U.S. Geological Survey, has been monitoring the berms built near the Chandeleur Islands and said they have been breaking apart after storms.

New holes have been breached,” he said. “If they continue (to break apart) at this rate, more than half has disappeared on two northern (berm) sites, another year could easily take the rest of it.”

USGS is tracking what happens to the berms because it wants to see if the sand transported to Chandeleur Sound winds up accumulating on the barrier islands, which scientists fear will disappear as sea levels rise and hurricanes pummel them.

“A research question is to what degree has putting that much sand out there turned the clock back (on island disintegration). We don’t have a final answer on that at all,” said Asbury Sallenger, a USGS oceanographer who heads up efforts to map changes along the Gulf Coast.

By Cain Burdeau, Associated Press

Gulf Shrimp Are Scarce This Season; Answers, Too

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:43:06 -0600

The New York Times ~ Oct. 11, 2011
by Campbell Robertson

LAFITTE, La. — The dock at Bundy’s Seafood is quiet, the trucks are empty and a crew a fraction of the normal size sits around a table waiting for something to do. But the most telling indicator that something is wrong is the smell. It smells perfectly fine.

“There’s no shrimp,” explained Grant Bundy, 38. The dock should smell like a place where 10,000 pounds of shrimp a day are bought off the boats. Not this year. In all of September, Bundy’s Seafood bought around 41,000 pounds.

White shrimp season began in late August, and two months in, the shrimpers here say it is a bad one, if not the worst in memory. It is bad not just in spots but all over southeastern Louisiana, said Jules Nunez, 78, calling it the worst season he had seen since he began shrimping in 1950. Some fishermen said their catches were off by 80 percent or more.

“A lot of people say it’s this, it’s that, it’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s BP,” Mr. Nunez said. “We just don’t know.”

There is plenty that is not known. Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has not compiled landings data for the season, so at this point it is hard to measure with any certainty the degree to which it is abnormal.

Even if the reports of a dismal season prove true, any forensic work is complicated by the oddities of this year’s weather, with a severe drought in the states along the Gulf of Mexico interrupted by spring flooding on the Mississippi River that brought millions of gallons of fresh water into the marshes. In addition, white shrimp crops have fluctuated over the decades for various reasons. (A BP spokesman said in a statement that some preliminary sampling indicated that the 2011 white shrimp population was within the historical range of variability.)

“We’re going to have to look at all of those different things and come up with reasons why it’s down, if it is down,” said Jim Nance, a shrimp biologist at the National Marine Fisheries Service.

But while all scientists acknowledge the difficulty of determining a cause for a reported decline in the shrimp crops, some say there is evidence that is at the very least suggestive of a culprit.

Joris L. van der Ham, a researcher at Louisiana State University who has been studying white shrimp, said he had found more white shrimp than usual last winter in estuaries that were affected by the BP oil spill. That abundance might have been due in part, he said, to a decrease in the number of people out shrimping last year, but a significant decline in this year’s season would undercut that assumption.

While cautioning that his study is incomplete, Dr. van der Ham speculated that certain compounds in the oil may have stunted the shrimp’s growth rate, and that the large numbers he found last year might have never made it out into the gulf to spawn, thus explaining a missing generation.

“There are numerous lines of evidence now that are sort of lining up that chronic exposure to this material could be problematic,” said James Cowan, a professor in L.S.U.’s department of oceanography and coastal sciences.

Those who work in the gulf seafood industry, as well as their lawyers, have watched closely for signs of a species collapse similar to the one that decimated the herring fishery four years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. The causes of even that collapse remain a matter of dispute, but it is often cited as an example of the delayed disaster that shrimpers and others fear.

This concern was stoked further by a recent study by L.S.U. researchers that reported that a species of fish abundant in Gulf marshes was showing signs of cellular damage, problems typically due to exposure to oil. The functions of the fish, a minnow called the killifish, have been affected in ways that could harm reproduction, the study found.

Seafood industry representatives say there is enough uncertainty to raise doubts that the shrimp harvest will recover by 2012, a supposition in a report that Kenneth R. Feinberg, the administrator of the $20 billion compensation fund for victims of the spill, used in his formula for determining final settlements.

Mr. Feinberg, in an interview, pointed out that he had, all along, described his report as preliminary and open to revision depending on new findings.

“We are monitoring this, and we are sensitive to these concerns,” he said. “We reserve the right to change the formula if anecdotal and empirical evidence justifies it.”

Concerns about the lack of shrimp are different from concerns about the state of shrimp that are found. Repeated studies have shown gulf seafood is safe to eat, a fact trumpeted by industry representatives and government officials, who launched a gulf seafood safety Web site last week to reassure consumers.

All of this demonstrates just how hard it has become to make a living on shrimp boats, said David Veal, the executive director of the American Shrimp Processors Association.

Mr. Veal has heard the anxieties about the white shrimp season, but while “clearly something is going on,” it is too early to say whether it is the worst in memory, he said.

Whether it is the worst or just very bad is almost immaterial, Mr. Veal said; it is still another blight on the shrimping life, compounded by the decline in the domestic market, the steep rise in fuel prices and the battery of hurricanes over the last decade.

“The fact that anybody is still in this business is a testament to their tenacity,” he said.

Gulf of Mexico oil spill survey conducted by University of Southern Mississippi

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:40:45 -0600

By The Associated Press ~ Oct 1, 2011

About 100 student researchers from the School of Social Work at The University of Southern Mississippi on the Gulf Coast are conducting a survey of coastal residents on the effects of last year’s BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi Press reports that the survey was set to take place Saturday.

Tom Osowski of the university said 260 interviews were scheduled in Jackson, Harrison and Hancock counties of residents living south of Interstate 10.

Residents will be asked about the oil spill’s effects on their health, emotions, social well being, economics and family.

A similar survey was conducted last year. Different households are being contacted this year.

Last year’s results are still being edited, but will eventually be published in an academic journal, he said, adding that the results won’t be surprising.

“If you are not connected to the Gulf or seafood industry, or tourism in some way, the BP oil spill really had no effect on people,” he said.

“Obviously, if you are a fisherman, if you are in the tourism industry, if you are in the casino industry, restaurants, last year did have a major effect on people’s economics, social functioning, those sorts of things,” he said.

The study should help further understanding on how people respond to disasters and how services can be improved to help them, he said.

The first study was funded by BP and this year’s study is funded by a federal grant, Osowski said.

The Arctic and the Lessons of the Gulf

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:38:47 -0600

The New York Times Editorial Section~ Published: October 20, 2011

The Interior Department has been inching closer to approving Royal Dutch Shell’s ambitious plans to drill for what are believed to be huge deposits of oil in the Arctic Ocean off Alaska. In August, it approved an exploratory drilling plan for the Beaufort Sea, and two weeks ago it upheld the validity of leases in the neighboring Chukchi Sea that had been challenged by environmental groups.

The Interior Department and Shell both insist that they have learned the lessons of the disastrous BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They must prove it. The Interior Department has written tough new regulations governing drilling, including requirements for subsea containment systems to plug a runaway well.

Before issuing final permits to drill, the government must insist that Shell test such a system and verify that it can operate in Arctic conditions. The company must also have on hand a rig capable of drilling a relief well, as well as the equipment — skimmers, booms and other equipment — to clean up any oil that escapes.

The stakes here are undeniably huge. Shell has already paid nearly $4 billion to acquire leases in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Estimates of the recoverable reserves range as high as 30 billion barrels of oil, the equivalent of more than four years’ worth of annual oil consumption in this country. The cost of a mistake would also be huge. Arctic waters provide nutrients for large fish populations, extensive habitat for wildlife and sustenance for native peoples.

The Arctic presents an extremely forbidding environment, with sea ice, howling winds and stormy conditions that will make drilling difficult and any cleanup far more complicated than it was in the warm and relatively benign waters of the gulf. Shell says it knows all this. It has agreed to drill only in warmer months and notes that these will be shallow wells, drilled at an average of 150 feet instead of 5,000 feet (the depth of the BP’s Macondo well), making a blowout easier to reach and contain.

Yet much remains to be done. The containment system, for instance, is in what Shell calls the “fabrication” stage. The Interior Department obviously has to insist that this and other equipment actually exists.

A 2008 report by the United States Geological Survey produced a mean estimate of 90 billion barrels for the waters north of the Arctic Circle. Some of these waters are international, some belong to other nations like Russia. As global warming opens up sea lanes, the opportunities for drilling, shipping and commerce will grow. So, too, will the risks of grave environmental damage. Unless the United States makes smart decisions about drilling in American waters others are unlikely to do any better.

GASLAND- a film about Fracking

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:36:46 -0600

– ROBERT DESMARAIS SULLIVAN, Coordinator, Social Justice Team, First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans, aiglefort@gmail.com

Join us to think about the consequences for our health and our environment, if hydrolic fracturation, also called ‘fracking’, begins in Louisiana, as is currently being discussed.

WHAT: ‘GASLAND’, film about fracking in Pennsylvania

WHEN: Sunday, Dec. 4, 12:30 (This is right after Sunday services, so bring a lunch or snack. Coffee will be served.)

WHERE: First Unitarian Universalist Church, 5212 South Claiborne Avenue, intersection Jefferson and South Claiborne Avenue, New Orleans

BACKGROUND:

It is long past time to invent ways to provide safely the energy for daily life. That is no longer just an economic or political issue, but also a moral one. So it is an obligatory issue for those of us concerned with survival of the human species . It is certainly an appropriate issue for churches. Otherwise, they may as well close their doors.

According to scientists, peak oil has probably passed, so it is no longer possible to extract hydrocarbons from surface layers of the earth, and we must go deeper, further and longer to find the oil and gas we want to maintain our lifestyles without inconvenience.

In the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, that means deep-water drilling like the Deepwater Horizon that exploded and killed eleven men and perhaps the Gulf in 2010. On all Earth’s continents, that means forcing chemical-laden water under high-pressure to push natural gas out of the sedimentary layers, like the ones now poisoning water supplies. It means blowing off the tops of Appalachian mountains and digging deep into the Alberta plains to produce toxic petroleum that is supposed to be shipped by pipeline across aquifers and fertile farm fields.

How much are we willing to destroy our planet to profit a few exploiters and to maintain an obsolete lifestyle? The industry claims there will be jobs, but do what good are jobs, if we cannot safely live? BP may drill in the Gulf again, but can the fishermen fish?

The Social Justice Team of First Church launches with the film ‘Gasland’ a series of presentations in the tradition of the Truth-Out Forums for the Gulf. Those Forums, which began in October, 2010, have focused on the health of the Gulf Coast residents and brought Dr. Wilma Subra, Dr. Riki Ott, and Dr. Michael Robichaux to New Orleans to draw attention to the fact that the oil was NOT gone, the seafood was NOT safe, and the people were NOT in good health after the BP disaster. Our Forums have met with moderate success, moderation suggests that New Orleans does not take these issues seriously. We cannot ignore them.

While the Social Justice Team of First Church will continue to invite knowledgeable speakers in its Truth-Out Forum series, with this film it widens the focus of that series. It adds consideration of other challenges to living in a post-peak oil world. Besides looking at the dangers of extracting hydrocarbons with extreme techniques, the new series of films, lectures, and discussions will explore alternative energy sources, anti-democratic political intrigues, and corporate malfeasance in the search for energy.

The series will also examine simpler possibilities like changes in lifestyle that could liberate us from the desire for so much energy.

COMMENT FROM JOSH FOX, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF ‘GASLAND’:

Dear audience, press, and peers:

I have been overwhelmed by the amazing, positive responses to the film. From the incredible reviews, the great HBO ratings, the effusive and impassioned response to our website and Facebook page, the powerful responses of the news media and the thousands of audience members at sold-out community screenings.

I am humbled that Gasland has been so well received and is helping to bring the crisis of gas drilling in the USA to greater attention.

Even before its release, the significance of the film was not lost on the gas industry. In the March 24th
edition of the Oil and Gas Journal, Skip Horvath, the president of the Natural Gas Supply Association said
that Gasland is “well done. It holds people’s attention. And it could block our industry.”

Although I am thoroughly dismayed and disappointed in the recent attacks on the veracity of Gasland and on my credibility as a filmmaker and journalist by Energy-In-Depth and other gas-industry groups, I can’t say that I am surprised.

When I was investigating gas drilling across the United States, I heard time after time from citizens that the industry disputed the citizens’ claims of water and air contamination and denied responsibility for their health problems and other problems related to drilling.

I now know how the people in my documentary feel, to have the things they know to be true and the
questions they are raising so blatantly discounted and smeared. It is truly unfortunate that the gas-drilling industry continues to deny what is so obvious to Americans living in gaslands across the nation instead of taking responsibility for the damage they are causing.

JOSH FOX, PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR OF ‘GASLAND’

INVITATION:

There aren’t any regulations in place to protect us. To “frack” or not to “frack” is not the question…the question is who is going to regulate, protect, repair, and fund the following concerns resulting from fracking:

-Surface water contamination

-Aquifer contamination

-Toxic Bi-Product storage and disposal

-Air pollution associated with construction, leaks and drilling

-Road Repairs needed cause by construction impacts

-Private Well Protection

-Disaster Recovery plans

-Land Lease Advocation for residents

-Well Abandonment procedures

LEAN, LMRK, Waterkeeper Alliance & Gulf Coast Waterkeepers Serve Notice of Intent to Sue Under Federal Environmental Laws, Targeting Chronic Oil Spill from the "Taylor Wells" in the Gulf of Mexico

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:42:00 -0500

New Orleans, LA- Louisiana Environmental Action Network and Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper along with Waterkeeper Alliance and several Gulf Coast Waterkeeper organizations announced today that Taylor Energy Co. LLC, Samsung C&T America, Inc., and Korea National Oil Corp. have been put on formal notice that the Waterkeepers intend to file suit under the citizens suit provisions of the Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation Recovery Act, for ongoing discharge violations that pose an imminent and substantial endangerment to health and the environment. The Notice follows the Waterkeepers’ investigation of Oil platform #23051 and its associated wells, referred to as the “Taylor Wells,” located in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 11 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

Aided by satellite imagery and research expertise provided by SkyTruth the Waterkeepers learned that violations have been ongoing from the Taylor platform since at least October 1, 2006 and that the oil continues to discharge between 100 to 400 gallons of oil per day. The discharge produces visible slicks of oil on the water. One observed by SkyTruth on June 18, 2011, contained an estimated 3,157 gallons of oil. A chronology of observations and records of National Response Center (NRC) Pollution Reports can be found here: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=z47jaxbab&et=1108087323615&s=4582&e=001DKkpnRBivJqk-OCBhFiB0-HtdZj1KyLImBXx4PUYD_KB2YNQawdmZxFCUop6SgPljQWimRCoRBukMz5KOmELT9GSgbnq8cceAAkVQBDAbx0QhEd_oV1G7x78s9D5iyigSE4ocooZSVdRzu6jnGFl1MgBBTqThKEs

Joining LEAN and Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper and representing their individual members are: Waterkeeper Alliance, New York, NY; Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Baton Rouge, LA; Emerald Coastkeeper, Pensacola, FL; Galveston Baykeeper, Galveston, TX; and Louisiana Bayoukeeper, Lafitte, LA. The Waterkeepers are represented by the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic.

Paul Orr, the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper, remarked that, “for more than five years the owners and operators of these wells have been polluting our Gulf waters and government regulators have allowed it to continue. These spills degrade the natural resources that are the lifeblood of our Gulf Coast communities. It is time to put an end to the thousands of spills that happen every year in the Gulf.”

Oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico are a daily occurrence. In their recently released State of the Gulf report, the Gulf Coast Waterkeepers revealed that at least 3,156 new crude oil spills have occurred in the Gulf between September 2010 and September 2011. A link to the report can be found at: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=z47jaxbab&et=1108087323615&s=4582&e=001DKkpnRBivJpblT4t4kyjCNFJKY8r9ziDgQUei-aCOPFGezbLJ7QnF_ziLJUK0mASto9yVeoqs0tTwyeBPKwmB3aE21xHo0Su3o60WYbolscIpF6coNnbdPP2CooVHmSy9CopVsJHBkFrOcrZkh-_BXByMBcAfjbjsDgirbNivRK9B6DnEw1y3g==. Sadly, there appears to be little incentive on the part of industry to be more vigilant. According to a report in Bloomberg News in 2009, in Louisiana alone, only 1 oil spill out of 100 resulted in a financial penalty (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-03/oil-spills-in-most-imperiled-u-s-coastal-wetland-escape-fines.html).

“The BP oil disaster was not the first oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and it won’t be the last. The industry clearly has an oil spill problem. Most people are not aware of how little accountability there is for polluters. Out of sight, out of mind seems to be the status quo, but our Gulf of Mexico Waterkeepers hope to bring visibility and action to stop oil spills that affect communities all along the Gulf Coast,” said Renee Blanchard of Waterkeeper Alliance.

“At a time when we most need the protections offered by our environmental laws, they are under increasing attack. As the Clean Water Act turns 39 next week, keep in mind that these are the tools that we as a nation rely upon for a healthy environment and our future prosperity,” said Marc Yaggi, Executive Director of Waterkeeper Alliance.

Jamie Rodgers, the Florida Panhandle’s Emerald Coastkeeper commented that, “the Clean Water Act and other Federal Environmental Laws are the foundation for the private and public response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. These critically important tools are what we rely upon to curb the continuing pollution of the Gulf of Mexico, to make violators accountable.”

Non-Violent Direct Action Protest at The Shrimp Festival set for Oct. 15th

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:06:00 -0500

A Non-Violent Direct Action Protest at The Shrimp Festival against the Big Polluter BP and to make the call for Clean Energy Alternatives and Jobs in Gulf Coast Communties!

The event will be held in Gulf Shores, AL, on Oct.15, 2011, Noon - 4pm.

For more information, please go to the link below…

http://www.wearepowershift.org/100actions/nvda-gulf-shores-al-because-oil-still-here-and-so-are-we Please share and make plans to attend.

BP Busted, Again: LSU Scientist Proves Fresh Oil Surfacing at Deepwater Horizon Site is from Macondo Reservoir

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:03:31 -0500

By Stuart H. Smith (504) 593-9600
http://www.stuarthsmith.com/bp-busted-again-lsu-scientist-proves-fresh-oil-surfacing-at-deepwater-horizon-site-is-from-macondo-reservoir

The debate is over, and both BP and our federal government have some serious explaining to do. Upending repeated denials from the British oil giant and ongoing obfuscation from NOAA officials, a Louisiana State University scientist has confirmed through rigorous testing that oil surfacing in the vicinity of the Deepwater Horizon site – the epicenter of last year’s catastrophic Gulf spill – is indeed coming from BP’s Macondo Prospect. In a story we broke here on this blog Aug. 17, subsequently confirmed by the Mobile Press-Register on Aug. 23, large amounts of fresh oil are bubbling to the surface where the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank to the Gulf floor on April 20, 2010 (see link to my previous post below).
BP met the “new leak” allegation in its typical reflex fashion – with blustering, indignant denials, snorting that “None of this is true” in an Aug. 18 statement.
The following day, flyover surveillance footage from On Wings of Care pilot Bonny Schumaker and her crew revealed expanses of oil “globules” in the water .

The much-anticipated test results are in at LSU, and they bear out our initial report: The infamous site that launched last year’s 200-million-gallon oil spill is leaking again.
Chemical confirmation that the oil is from the Macondo wellsite provides vindication for those of us who stayed with the story for more than a month now despite a hard-nosed campaign of denial, intimidation and obfuscation executed by BP and its bedfellows in our federal government. LSU scientist Ed Overton – who made the initial, preliminary tie to the Macondo reservoir – was browbeaten for weeks and accused of rushing to judgment. Even as he is exonerated, Overton’s indignation is unmistakable.

Resources Available for Nonprofit Organizations Providing Services to Those Affected by the Oil Spill in the River Parishes

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:55:53 -0500

NEW ORLEANS - The Greater New Orleans Foundation is hosting an information session for nonprofit organizations serving populations in Assumption, St. Charles, St. James, and St. John the Baptist parishes to determine if they are eligible to receive funding from the Coastal Communities Fund.

Through the Coastal Communities Fund, the Foundation will be awarding grants to nonprofit organizations providing services to those directly affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill. The information session is intended for nonprofit organizations focusing on mental health & wellness; social services & financial stability; and youth resiliency. This session is for the above mentioned parishes only.

River Parish Information Session
Monday, October 10, 2011
9:00AM to 11:00AM
La Maison Magnolia Reception Hall, 950 First Street, Norco, LA

The Coastal Communities Fund was created after an anonymous donor established the $20 million fund for Gulf Communities through the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors to assist people living in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas who are still struggling in the wake of the Gulf Coast oil spill. The Greater New Orleans Foundation is responsible for granting $5 million of the $20 million to nonprofit organizations providing services to residents within Louisiana’s coastal communities.

About the Greater New Orleans Foundation

The Greater New Orleans Foundation is the community foundation serving the 13-parish Greater New Orleans metropolitan area. We design and lead initiatives that improve the region, connect donors to community needs, identify and support great nonprofits, and strengthen civil society. For more information, visit www.gnof.org.