Latest news: April 2, 2012

BP’s oil spill cleanup isn’t done: An editorial
Editorial, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, La.). March 31, 2012.
“State officials expressed their unhappiness last fall when the Coast Guard and BP decided to stop cleaning up oil from the massive 2010 spill. They believed that the plan to shift away from cleanup efforts would leave coastal beaches and wetlands vulnerable to continued oil contamination, and there is new evidence that they were right…” (Read more)

Resolve to pass the Restore Act: An editorial
Editorial, The Times-Picayune. March 31, 2012.
“Congress passed a 90-day extension of the federal highway program Thursday, but that stopgap measure did not include the Restore Act, which would send 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines from the BP oil spill to Gulf Coast states. The extension will ensure that financing for highway projects, which would have run out Saturday, will continue for 90 more days…” (Read more)

Lawmakers continue push for Restore Act
By Deborah Barfield Berry, Gannett. March 30, 2012.
“WASHINGTON — Congress passed a temporary transportation bill this week that does not include a provision to steer billions in oil spill fine money to the Gulf Coast, but lawmakers from the region, including Sen. Mary Landrieu and Rep. Steve Scalise, plan to continue the push for such legislation…” (Read more)

Gulf States Won’t Get Some Oil Spill Fine Money
WPMI-Local 15 (Mobile, Ala.). March 30, 2012.
“(ORANGE BEACH, Ala.) It looks like Gulf States will not be getting a percentage of the Clean Water Act fines from the 2010 oil spill. Congress passed a stop-gap 3-month transportation bill this week. The Senate version of the bill would have set aside fine money for Gulf States…” (Read more)

Bentley holds out hope for Restore Act
WALA-Fox 10 (Mobile Ala.). April 1, 2012.
“MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Alabama Governor Robert Bentley isn’t giving up on the Restore Act…” (Read more)

No Sign of Oyster Recovery Two Years After BP Oil Spill
By Dan Flynn, Food Safety News. March 30, 2012.
“With the second anniversary of the BP oil spill fast approaching, attention is once again returning to the damaged Gulf environment, especially to its greatly diminished oyster production…” (Read more)

Developers must spend too much to mitigate for wetlands loss, agency members are told
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. March 31, 2012.
“Complaints about the Army Corps of Engineers’ new formula for determining how much “mitigation” developers must perform to compensate for wetlands they damage topped the list of concerns raised before the Mississippi River Commission Friday during its spring high-water public meeting in New Orleans…” (Read more)

Good times call from Cajun Country
By Gloria Ballard, The Tennessean (Nashville, Tenn.). April 1, 2012.
“LAFAYETTE, La. — At Bird City, on Avery Island, wooden piers rise out of the murky lake, covered with shaggy nests and hundreds of snowy egrets — large, long-necked, long-billed birds with exotic snow-white feathers…” (Read more)