Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 23, 2015
← Older posts Newer posts →Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 23, 2015
No levees in Corp’ $1.8 billion flood plan for southwest Louisiana By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. March 20, 2015 “The plan includes about $493 million for nine major marsh restoration projects; about $364 million for five shoreline protection and stabilization projects; $200,000 to reforest chenier ridges; and $4.3 million to control salinity and water movement in the Cameron-Creole Spillway.” (Read More)
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 20, 2015
Despite rosy report, BP still cleaning up oil By David Hammer, WWL-TV. March 19, 2015 “Just as BP released a report this week stating that its massive oil spill five years ago did not have a lasting impact on the Gulf environment, WWL-TV found crews trying to clean up the largest tar mat seen in Louisiana in more than a year.” (Read More) *Also posted on USA Today BP report says Gulf environment returning to normal, others call report premature, …
Five Years After the Oil Spill, Dead Dolphins and 25,000-Pound Tar Mat Found
This was originally posted on the National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Promise blog. By Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation One day after BP released a report saying the Gulf is on the road to recovery, we took a trip to one of the most impacted areas from the BP oil spill—Barataria Bay, Louisiana. From a dead baby dolphin to devastation at a bird rookery to active clean-up crews removing tons of oil from barrier islands, we found a very different picture from …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 18, 2015
Day after boasting of Gulf’s health, BP confirms 25,000-pound tar mat By Bob Marshall, The Lens. March 18, 2015 “On Monday, BP released a statement claiming the environment of the northern Gulf of Mexico had returned its “baseline condition” five years after its Deepwater Horizon disaster pumped more than 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf off Louisiana’s coast. But on Tuesday, the U.S. Coast Guard was supervising the ongoing removal of a large oil tar mat on East …
10 Things BP’s New Report Doesn’t Tell You
This was originally posted on the National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Promise blog. By Ryan Fikes, National Wildlife Federation BP has just released a new report on the state of the Gulf, called Gulf of Mexico: Environmental Recovery and Restoration. The glossy report is filled with footnotes and citations, but leaves key pieces of science out. Here are ten important things BP’s latest report strategically didn’t mention: Dolphins died before the spill – from freshwater The report says: “An “unusual mortality event” (UME) …
Tagged ReportsLatest Mississippi River Delta News: March 17, 2015
BP report says Gulf rebounding, but government officials, environmentalists dismiss results as ‘cherry-picked’ *Features David Muth, NWF & Melanie Driscoll, NAS By Mark Schliefstein, The Times-Picayune. March 16, 2015 “It is grossly premature and has a very narrow point of view, and they have clearly cherry-picked the data and information they’d like to discuss,” said Kyle Graham, chairman of the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which serves as state trustee in the federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment process designed …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 16, 2015
BP win cutting Gulf spill tab by $4 billion fought by U.S. By Margaret Cronin Fisk, Bloomberg Business. March 13, 2015 “The U.S. is fighting a judge’s decision that shaved more than $4 billion off the maximum pollution penalties BP Plc must pay for its 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, the biggest offshore oil discharge in U.S. history.” (Read More) Barrier island dune restoration to begin in May *Photo: Simone Maloz, Restore or Retreat By Aaren Gordon, Houma Courrier. March …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 12, 2015
BP Labors to Cast Doubt on Gulf Spill Study It Dislikes By Bryan Gruley & Bradley Olson, Bloomberg Business. March 11, 2015 “As the five-year anniversary of the spill nears, BP is waging a public campaign to promote the idea that the gulf has largely recovered. The company’s public statements have hewed closer to the adversarial tone of litigation than the conciliatory stance the company struck immediately following the well blowout, which killed 11 men and fouled Gulf Coast beaches …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 10, 2015
Louisiana congressional delegation fights Obama administration proposal to strip off-shore revenue sharing By Bruce Alpert, The Times-Picayune. March 09, 2015 “Graves said Louisiana and other off-shore producing states have paid an environmental price as a result of oil and gas production that serves the entire United States. It is only appropriate, he said, to provide a share of off-shore revenue sharing for coastal restoration efforts, particularly in Louisiana, which he noted has lost more wetlands than any other state.” (Read …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 09, 2015
Oil-flushing Mississippi River pulse also boosted coastal wetland production By Jeff Gillies, Environmental Monitor. March 05, 2015 “The baldcypress trees in one patch of Louisiana wetlands thrived following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a new study. A strategy to release extra water from the Mississippi River to push oil away from the coast mimicked a tactic that conservationists hope could slow the loss of coastal wetlands.” (Read More)
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 6, 2015
Carbon credits could generate $1.6 billion for Louisiana coastal restoration, study says By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. March 05, 2015 “Louisiana could earn up to $1.6 billion for coastal restoration projects over the next 50 years by selling credits for storing carbon in wetland plants and soils, according to a new study by New Orleans-based Tierra Resources, Entergy Corp. and the ClimateTrust.” (Read More) Is BP responsible for the deaths of over 1,000 dolphins along the Gulf coast? (Audio) By …
Understanding effects of chemical dispersants on marine wildlife is critical to whale population
During and after the 2010 BP oil spill, clean-up crews relied heavily on chemical dispersants to break up oil slicks in the Gulf of Mexico. In total, crews used more than 2 million gallons of dispersants, namely Corexit 9500 and 9527, applying them directly to the head of the leaking well and over the surface waters of the Gulf. Dispersants break down oil into small droplets that easily mix with water and, in theory, biodegrade quickly. The intention is to …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 5, 2015
The Deepwater Horizon Catastophe 5 Years On By Brett Garling, National Geographic. March 05, 2015 “But the world witnessed Deepwater Horizon. Millions of gallons of oil flooded the Gulf of Mexico everyday — for 87 days. The biggest accidental oil spill ever. Five years later the effects of the Deepwater Horizon blowout still endure.” (Read More) $1 billion cost estimate prompts Louisiana to rethink coastal project By John Snell, WVUE-FOX8. March 04, 2015 “Without widespread use of diversions in the …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 04, 2015
Why do we measure wetlands loss in football fields? By Jesse Hardman, WWNO. March 03, 2015 “What happens when you combine the most popular sport in the U.S. with one of the most dire environmental situations in the country? The catchy analogy that a football field sized piece of Louisiana coastal wetlands is lost every half-hour.” (Read More) At pivotal moment in region’s history, NOLA.com| The Times-Picayune launches Future of New Orleans project The Times-Picayune. March 03, 2015 “The Future …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: March 03, 2015
Confronting the enemy below: hydrologists float plan to keep water in city By Bob Marshall, The Lens. March 02, 2015 “That problem is subsidence – the steady, costly and dangerous sinking of the city caused by the drying of the delta soils it rests on. It turns out New Orleans, known for its epic battles to keep water outside of its levees, is also threatened by keeping too little water in.” (Read More) Agency seeks input on Louisiana’s Center for …