Latest Mississippi River Delta news: Aug. 20, 2013

Editorial: BP court case still causing waves
By Editorial Page staff, The American Press (Lake Charles, La.). Aug. 16, 2013.
“As the tropics begin heating up for the traditional height of hurricane season, so, too, is the court case related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and environmental calamity in the Gulf of Mexico…” (read more).

Opinion: BP tries to duck oil spill accountability
By CityBusiness Editorial staff, New Orleans CityBusiness. Aug. 15, 2013.
“It should come as little surprise that BP is going on the offensive as it faces billions of dollars in damage claims from the 2010 Macondo explosion and spill that killed 11 rig workers and tainted the Gulf of Mexico and coastal shorelines with an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil…” (read more).

Gulf Spill Sampling Questioned
By Henry Fountain, The New York Times. Aug. 19, 2013.
“An analysis of water, sediment and seafood samples taken in 2010 during and after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has found higher contamination levels in some cases than previous studies by federal agencies did, casting doubt on some of the earlier sampling methods…” (read more).

Jindal administration could move against oil, gas lawsuit this week (Video)
By Michelle Millhollon, The Advocate (Baton Rouge). Aug. 20, 2013.
“The governor’s coastal adviser, Garret Graves, said Monday that a state entity could decide this week to legally intervene in a controversial lawsuit against the oil and gas industry…” (read more).

Levee board opens door to settling lawsuit
By Jeff Adelson, The Advocate (Baton Rouge). Aug. 19, 2013.
“The East Bank flood protection authority opened the door to negotiations Thursday in its coastal erosion suit against about 100 oil and gas companies after meeting with the state’s top coastal official…” (read more).

Opinions clash on the effectiveness of diversion projects
By Amy Wold, The Advocate (Baton Rouge). Aug. 17, 2013.
“An article in Nature Geosciences magazine touts diversions of freshwater and sediment from the Mississippi River as the savior of Louisiana’s coastline…” (read more).

Public opposition to Plaquemines Parish coal terminals grows
By Susan Buchanan, The Louisiana Weekly. Aug. 19, 2013.
“Louisiana, a major exporter of coal from other states, could ship far more of that fossil fuel once the Panama Canal is widened and deepened in 2015. Next year, RAM Terminals, LLC hopes to build a coal export facility in Plaquemines Parish in Myrtle Grove near Ironton–30 miles south of New Orleans…” (read more).

Experts clash on estimates of oil spilled into Gulf
By Harry Weber, The Houston Chronicle. Aug. 18, 2013.
“A sparring match between some of the world’s top scientists over how much oil spewed into the sea following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster is heating up as a civil trial is set to resume next month…” (read more).

Editorial: Lawsuit targets only one of many
By Editorial Page staff, The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, La.). Aug. 17, 2013.
“Many questions are being raised about the recent lawsuit filed by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East against 97 oil and gas producers and pipeline companies…” (read more).

Oil and gas are vital to Louisiana
Letter to the Editor by Chris John, Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association. The Houma Courier. Aug. 19, 2013.
“The Louisiana House-Senate Transportation Committee met last week to discuss the New Orleans levee district’s lawsuit against oil and gas companies for damage to the state’s coastal wetlands…” (read more).

Scientists Investigating Troubling Trend in Kemp’s Ridley Numbers
By Janine Reyes, KRIS-TV (Corpus Christi, Tex.). Aug. 15, 2013.
“More than 3 years after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, some effects of the mess are still being felt…” (read more).

Trying to wash us away
By Clancy DuBos, Gambit (New Orleans). Aug. 20, 2013.
“It’s more than a tad ironic that Gov. Bobby Jindal penned a syrupy paean to New Orleans last week — hailing us as “America’s Comeback City” — when he’s doing everything he can to make sure that New Orleans will be surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico by the end of this century…” (read more).

Eight years after Katrina, a stronger system of storm protection: Editorial
By The Editorial Board, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). Aug. 18, 2013.
“Hurricane Isaac provided a real-life test for the New Orleans region’s new $14 billion storm protection system last September, and the floodwalls and gates built in the past eight years proved their worth…” (read more).

BP’s tough talk will backfire, Gulf spill lawyer says
By Andrew Callus, Reuters. Aug. 15, 2013.
“BP’s hard-line legal tactics aimed at capping the financial blowout from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster will backfire, according to Joe Rice, negotiator of last year’s settlement on behalf of over 100,000 compensation claimants…” (read more).

New study questions oil spill data, fish safety
By Dee Dee Thurston, The Houma Courier. Aug. 16, 2013.
“The level of cancer-causing pollutants left behind in Gulf waters by the BP oil spill was greater than reported by the federal government, according to a report issued this week by a group of independent scientists…” (read more).

Documents describe fees, hiring of private attorneys for coastal loss lawsuit
By Bob Marshall, The Lens (New Orleans). Aug. 19, 2013.
“The Jindal administration has criticized the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East for enriching trial attorneys, acting without state approval and offering inadequate public notice before the authority sued oil, gas and pipeline companies for damage to coastal wetlands…” (read more).

Key disagreements remain between levee board, Jindal administration over coastal loss lawsuit
By Bob Marshall, The Lens (New Orleans). Aug. 16, 2013.
“What was changed Thursday by the local levee authority’s offer to hold off on some of its lawsuit against the oil and gas industry if the Jindal administration met certain conditions?…” (read more).

New Orleans levee authority will consider 45-day pause to coastal erosion lawsuit
By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). Aug. 15, 2013.
“The New Orleans levee authority on Thursday passed a resolution to consider placing a 45-day pause on its lawsuit against about 100 oil, gas and pipeline companies. The authority said the pause could allow the group to work further with the governor’s office and set up “a task force to examine and review all ramifications of the lawsuit.“…” (read more).