Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 21, 2015
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Federal Scientists Link Dolphin Die-offs to BP Spill *features Steve Cochran, EDF, MRD statement By Eileen Fleming, WWNO. May 21, 2015 “Anybody is free to say whatever they want or issue some study and BP did that with their big report saying, ‘Everything was fine. No need to look anymore here.’ Right? But the point of science is to test these things and that’s what peer review is all about. And that’s what we’re looking at here and that’s what …
NOAA Study Confirms BP Oil Spill Led to Dolphin Deaths in Northern Gulf of Mexico
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Jacques Hebert, National Audubon Society, 504.264.6849, jhebert@audubon.org Elizabeth Van Cleve, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, evancleve@edf.org NOAA Study Confirms BP Oil Spill Led to Dolphin Deaths in Northern Gulf of Mexico Leading Conservation Groups Call on BP to Accept Responsibility for Continued Environmental Damage (New Orleans, LA—May 20, 2015) Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a peer-reviewed study confirming that the 2010 Gulf oil disaster contributed to …
Tagged ReportsLatest Mississippi River Delta News: May 20, 2015
Local bills win final legislative approval By Jeremy Harper, Daily Comet. May 19, 2015 “The annual plan is released each year as part of Louisiana’s $50 billion Comprehensive Master Plan for coastal restoration and protection. The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority approved the plan earlier this year, but it requires legislative approval as well.” (Read More) Five years after Deepwater Horizon By Kat Diersen, National Geographic. May 20, 2015 “Nevertheless, the environmental impacts of the spill and dispersants used in …
Leading Conservation Groups Praise Passage of HCR1, Funding 2015-2016 Coastal Annual Plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org Jacques Hebert, National Audubon Society, 504.264.6849, jhebert@audubon.org Elizabeth Van Cleve, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, evancleve@edf.org HCR1 Passes Legislature, Funding 2015-2016 Coastal Annual Plan Leading Conservation Groups Praise Passage as Recognition of Coastal Restoration Priorities (New Orleans, LA—May 19, 2015) Today, House Concurrent Resolution 1 (HCR 1) – the funding vehicle for the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s 2015-2016 annual plan for integrated coastal protection and restoration – made …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 19, 2015
Where do Louisiana’s four major gubernatorial candidates stand on coastal sediment diversions? By Todd Masson, The Times-Picayune. May 18, 2015 “I’m not at all convinced that it’s an either-or proposition, that you either have to protect the marsh as it is right now or do some diversions to make sure you stop the erosion that we have. The Master Plan that’s in place was very well thought-out. It was driven by science.” (Read More) Thousands living outside floodwalls fight for …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 18, 2015
Pipeline moves Mississippi River sand to create 12-mile land bridge across three parishes By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. May 15, 2015 “The flag-planting occurred about the eight-mile point in the project that’s building a ridge and marsh platform out of sand dredged from the Mississippi River near the Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery south of Belle Chasse and pumped inland. For the past five years, segments of the project have deposited the ridge and marsh, as much as 3 1/2 feet …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 15, 2015
House approves committee to consider lifting oyster lease moratorium By Jeremy Harper, Houma Today. May 13, 2015 “The House of Representatives approved a resolution Wednesday creating a commission to review lifting the state’s moratorium on new oyster leases.” (Read More) A deeper Mississippi River on the Horizon By Kathryn Stone, Maritime Executive. May 14, 2015 “On Wednesday the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced its plans to draft a supplemental environmental impact report looking into expanding an area of the …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 14, 2015
Thirty Million Gallons Under the Sea By Antonia Juhasz, Harper’s Magazine. June 2015 Issue “For the next fourteen hours, we would sail toward the site of BP’s Macondo well, where, in April 2010, a blowout caused the largest offshore-drilling oil spill in history. Once there, Atlantis’s crew would launch Alvin and guide it to the bottom of the ocean, reaching depths as great as 7,200 feet below the surface. Over the next twenty-two days they would send the submersible down …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 13, 2015
BP oil spill: Judge rejects fight to delay environmental fines By Jennifer Larino, The Times-Picayune. May 13, 2015 “A federal judge has denied a request to delay a decision on how much BP owes in environmental fines from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill until after the company pays all damage claims related to the disaster.” (Read More) Coastal senators float revenue-sharing proposals for energy bill consideration By Nick Juliano, E&E Daily. May 13, 2015 “The long-running effort by …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 12, 2015
Wetland Resources Invents Ways to Save Coastline Faster By Eve Abrams, WWNO. May 12, 2015 “Shaffer says coastal Louisiana’s biggest problem is saltwater intrusion. Not only do cypress and tupelo protect against hurricanes, they build back the land through their roots, which trap sediment, and their leaves, which decompose extremely slowly in the marsh. But these trees die in saltwater. Restoration requires freshwater.” (Read More)
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 11, 2015
Bill would inject a $10 million into coastal restoration By Antwan Harris, WWLTV. May 10, 2015 “A subcommittee on water and energy included the funds for the 2016 fiscal year after much debate in Washington. The money will be used to restore the coast using dredging material and would add about 3 miles of wetlands every year over the next 50 years. Overall the plan would add about 900 new miles of land with better protection while pushing the erosion …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 8, 2015
After the oil spill: Still looking for answers 5 years later amid Louisiana beauty and hidden concerns By Katie Oxford, Houston Culture Map. May 08, 2015 “I see spin whenever I see the BP ads. They give you the impression that ecology wise, resolution has occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. All’s well. They say things like, “I’m from Louisiana – I grew up here,” to sell sentiment. They don’t mention the complexity of the ecosystem. The necessity of time …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 7, 2015
Gulf Oil Spill Completely Destroyed this Island *features Natalie Peyronnin, EDF & Doug Meffert, NAS By Stephen Luntz, IFL Science. May 06, 2015 “As Natalie Peyronnin of the Environmental Defense Fund explains. “The oil comes down, it kills the mangroves, which then kills the root system. And the root is holding together this island, and without that root system holding together, the sediment it just erodes away.” An island 5.5 acres in size (2 hectares) has largely vanished.” (Read More) …
Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 6, 2015
NOAA announces long-term Gulf of Mexico ecosystem research priorities NOAA. May 06, 2015 “As part of the final version of the science plan for the NOAA RESTORE Act Science Program, today NOAA announced 10 long-term research priorities in the Gulf of Mexico, including how the Gulf’s waters, natural resources, fisheries and coastal communities are all interconnected. NOAA’s program supports research on the Gulf’s long-term ecological sustainability and its fisheries.” (Read More) Ducks Unlimited secures funding for Texas, Louisiana projects By …
Following the oil spill, new science and research efforts develop in the Gulf of Mexico
By Estelle Robichaux, Restoration Project Analyst, Environmental Defense Fund This is the final post in a series about Gulf oil spill early coastal restoration funding and projects. Be sure to check out parts one, two and three. In addition to environmental restoration projects and programs, four different science programs have been created through oil-spill related funding streams. See the info boxes for details on each program. Because these programs began developing around the same time and around the same general …