Latest Mississippi River Delta News: Oct. 7, 2013

Storm System Karen Dissipates Off Gulf Coast
By Janet McConnaughey and Stacey Plaisance, Associated Press. Oct. 6, 2013.
“After days of lumbering toward the Gulf Coast, the storm system Karen dissipated Sunday as storm preparations in the region were called off or scaled back. […] Wind and waves uncovered tar balls on the beaches of Grand Isle, La., and crews headed out Sunday to check on them, Mayor David Camardelle Jr. said…” (read more)

Karen no longer a tropical system, less than inch of rain expected
By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans).
“By Sunday morning, former Tropical Storm Karen no longer was a tropical system […] “After a spill like that in the Gulf of Mexico, anytime low pressure stirs up the Gulf it comes back and stirs up the oil on the beach…” (read more)

BP trial to focus on scientists’ spill estimates
By Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press. Oct. 6, 2013.
“When BP used a capping stack to seal its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, the device didn’t just shut the source of the nation’s worst offshore oil spill…” (read more)

BP trial to focus on scientists’ spill estimates to determine CWA fines
By Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press. Oct. 6, 2013.
“Experts for oil giant BP and the federal government will make their cases this week on one of the most contentious debates that followed the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill: how much oil got into the ocean…” (read more)

Ascension, St. James want to be included in hurricane protection plan
By Associated Press. Oct. 5, 2013.
“Residents and parish officials are lobbying the Army Corps of Engineers to include Ascension and St. James parishes in a massive hurricane protection project…” (read more)

BP’s missteps delayed its 2010 spill response, trial witnesses say
By Susan Buchanan, Huffington Post. Oct. 5, 2013.
“As the Macondo trial’s Phase Two began in U.S. District Court in New Orleans Monday, with Judge Carl Barbier presiding, BP contractors Transocean and Halliburton were aligned with the plaintiffs, including Louisiana and Alabama, against BP…” (read more)

Valpo man wants to put a bug in EPA’s ear
By Phil Wieland, The Times of Northwest Indiana. Oct. 4, 2013.
“For more than three years Tom Clark has waited for a call from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency telling him to bring his batch of bugs to the Gulf Coast to clean up the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill…” (read more)

Claims administrator ordered to immediately halt oil spill claims payments to businesses
By Kyle Barnett, The Louisiana Record. Oct. 4, 2013.
“U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier has ordered claims administrator Patrick Juneau to immediately stop business-related loss payments connected to the 2010 BP oil spill…” (read more)

Corps Awards Jefferson Parish Levee Contract
By Dredging Today.com. Oct. 4, 2013.
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, recently awarded a 26-month construction contract to raise a portion of the Mississippi River Levee on the east bank of Jefferson Parish…” (read more)

Tell BP to Drop Dudley
By Brian Young, The Huffington Post Green. Oct. 4, 2013.
“As we all know, just three years ago, BP was responsible for the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history…” (read more)

Tropical Storm Karen weakens but could bring heavy rain, surge to Gulf Coast
By Alexander Smith, NBC News. Oct. 4, 2013.
“Tropical Storm Karen’s strength ebbed Saturday as it churned in the Gulf of Mexico, though experts say people in the area should still brace for a significant storm…” (read more)

Karen disorganized, Hurricane Watch discontinued
By Associated Press. Oct. 4, 2013.
“Tropical Storm Karen has become disorganized but remains poised to become the first named storm to hit the U.S. in what has been a relatively quiet hurricane season…” (read more)

Scientists Study Long-Term Gulf Oil Spill Effects
By Michael Sullivan, The Daily Fusion. Oct. 4, 2013.
“As the Gulf Coast continues to recover from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, scientists from the University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography are continuing to look into the long-term Gulf oil spill effects on coastal marine life…” (read more)

BP trial finishes look at well-closing push, turns next week to tallying how much oil gushed into the Gulf
By Mark Waller, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). Oct. 3, 2013.
“After BP witnesses spent the day backing the company’s claim that it did everything possible to stop the jet of oil in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and opposing lawyers worked to puncture their accounts, the round of the BP trial dealing with the three-month campaign to regain control of the blown Macondo well ended Thursday…” (read more)