Reports from the Defend the Gulf Movie Screenings that happened around the country this weekend are pouring in! From San Francisco to New York to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, people gathered to commemorate the 5th anniversary of Katrina by learning about and taking action to protect the Gulf environment!
For instance, in Truro, MA, there was a Defend the Gulf screening that preceded a concert by the Red Stick Ramblers, a Cajun band from Louisiana. In New Mexico, they added some red chile spice to the gumbo at the event and had an excellent evening. Organizers in Durham, NC held their event at a local hang out called The Pinhook and raised over $250 for GRN on a night filled with movies, music, comedy, and even a demonstration of how dispersants affect the oil in the Gulf. Some of the reports are pasted below.
This week, the New York Times green blog covered the Gulf restoration planning process, announced by President Obama in his June 15th Oval office address, and headed up by Navy Secretary (and former MS Gov) Ray Mabus. GRN has met with Secretary Mabus a couple of times on this effort, and we're urging our supporters to check out a coalition effort to inform the restoration and send an e-mail in support of a funded, effective long-term initiative.
The 5th Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is an important time to reflect on the state of the Gulf, and whether the coastal crisis exposed and exacerbated by the 2005 hurricane season, and now the BP drilling disaster, has received the national commitment it demands. The Mabus effort is good to see, but its ultimate outcome is still a big question mark.
GRN hopes you take some time to get further engaged in advocating for long-term solutions. Check out one of our nearly 200 film screenings happening around the country, watch President Obama's Katrina address (GRN ED Cyn Sarthou and I will be in the audience with our friends from the Louisiana Shrimp Association and Grand Bayou Community United), or mark the anniversary in some other way.
Will the Katrinaversary be another round of grand speeches on Gulf resiliency? Or will it be a reminder that we still haven't committed to the future of our Gulf, our coast, and our communities? We can look at the recreation and re-engineering of the New Orleans levee system as proof that our nation can commit and deliver on ambitious, expensive efforts when the need is understood and prioritized. But the Gulf and the coast have never received that type of commitment.
Despite the acknowledgment of folks like EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson (and apparently, her mom), that the coast is critical, Baton Rouge and Washington haven't delivered. Projects have been envisioned. Near term, priority restoration projects in the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) study (a scaled down, inadequate version of 1998's Coast: 2050 plan) were authorized in the 2007 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). But the money hasn't followed. With a pricetag of $7 billion, only $100 million has been appropriated. The White House finally included $35 million for coastal restoration in their most recent budget (tellingly, the most ever allocated by a WH budget). Through the Coastal Impacts Assistance Program (CIAP) directing oil revenues to states that are damaged by the industry, Louisiana was allotted a total of $497 million from 2007 through 2010. As of March 16, 2010, Louisiana has received only $131 million in CIAP grants for over 50 projects. MRGO was closed, but the restoration efforts haven't been funded. And on and on.
Piecemeal funding, dependant on the whims of Congress and the bureaucracy of the Corps of Engineers will be the death of our coast.
We need an independent revenue stream to implement a transparent, science-based restoration effort to save this region. Whether that's from BP's clean water act fines and penalties, a processing tax on oil activity in Louisiana, a creative Superfund inspired liability suit against the oil companies who played a major role in destroying the coast, or simply a huge allocation from the Federal Treasury, it needs to happen soon.
We've been watchdogging the Corps double-time efforts to secure the region from storm surge with interest. We've toured the Lake Borgne Surge Barrier. We've been impressed by what the Corps can do with direct White House engagement and a lump sum payment.
The cost of the New Orleans risk reduction project? $14 billion. It's going to be done next year.
The initial cost of Coast 2050? $14 billion in 1998. It hasn't even gotten off the ground.
Five years after Katrina is an appropriate time to reflect on this reality, and demand a change.
Aaron Viles is GRN's campaign director. Follow him on twitter @GulfAaron.
President Obama established the Commission in May to provide recommendations on how the U.S. can prevent future devastating blow-outs and spills from offshore drilling. During the first public meeting, held in New Orleans in mid-July while the oil was still gushing, the panel heard emotional and highly charged testimony directly from the people working on and impacted by the spill.
In comparison, I expected this second meeting on regulatory oversight of offshore drilling to be somewhat dry and boring. On the contrary, I found myself riveted, largely because it was continually astonishing just how vastly under-regulated offshore drilling has been, and how poorly prepared we seem to be to continue our current level of drilling, let alone handle an expansion (and here).
One of the most compelling witnesses for me was J. Robinson West, who served in the Reagan Administration and now owns and runs a huge global energy consulting firm. Perhaps at first glance not the sort of person one would expect to call for greater regulation, he referred to MMS as a sleepy organization, whose level of sophistication was no match for the industry’s. He encouraged the Commission to learn more about the UK regulatory system, where the burden is fully on the industry to prove to regulators they are drilling safely, rather than the other way, and said the industry must build the cost of “ecological insurance” into the cost of doing business.
The Commission’s final report is expected by mid-January 2011.
Johanna Polsenberg is GRN's Washington DC Contractor
Support for the Gulf coast continues to grow!! Companies, individuals, and kids from across the country are finding creative and constructive ways to respond to the disaster in the Gulf and support GRN. In addition to making donations directly to GRN, check out these events and products that are raising funds for GRN's response to BP's oil drilling disaster.
Friday, August 27, 7 to 10 p.m. Clean Coast Includes silent auction, raffle drawings, gallery viewing 100% of the proceeds of this event to GRN www.gulfrecovery.webs.com 619 Western Ave, 2nd Fl North Seattle, Washington
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Friday, August 27, 6 to 9:30 pm Opening reception for Slick: The Menacing Rainbow Show runs August 27 to September 27, 2010 randybatistaphotography.com Randy Batista Gallery 21 SE 2nd Place Gainsville, Florida
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Thursday, September 2, 7:30 pm Hootenanny for a Healthy Gulf www.stgpresents.org Seattle Theater Group 911 Pine Street Seattle, Washington
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Click here for a full list of all the events, t-shirts and other products being sold to support GRN and a Healthy Gulf!
On the 23rd, BP once again asked the Corps of Engineers for an Emergency Permit to “surf wash” the beaches of Louisiana--this time on Grand Isle. The concept behind this surf washing is to push the sand, “stained” by oil, back into the Gulf, and let the waves “clean” it. BP already proposed this once for Grand Terre Island, and then subsequently withdrew their proposal due to opposition from the public and federal agencies. We opposed the surf washing of Grand Terre, and also oppose the Corps issuing an Emergency Permit for this activity on Grand Isle. Even if this was a good idea, performing this activity while there is still potential for more oil to wash up on the shore makes no sense.
In our comments we requested additional information to answer many unanswered questions regarding this proposal. For example, why do this project if more oil will wash up? How will machinery operators differentiate between oiled and “stained” sand? What are the impacts to endangered and sensitive species? How much oil will be pushed back into the Gulf? How can monitoring these projects for less than four days be adequate to determine the impacts?
If BP wants to move forward with this surf washing, they should apply for a regular (non-emergency) permit after the threat of beached oil passes. This way the public will have a much better opportunity to weigh in.
To mark the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina -- and in response to the BP Oil Drilling Disaster also deeply affecting the region, our friends at Air Traffic Control (a nonprofit resource for activist and philanthropic musicians) have produced Dear New Orleans, a digital music benefit compilation for the people of the Gulf.
Dear New Orleans is the product of lasting friendships forged between musicians from all walks of life and New Orleans artists, tradition bearers, organizers and a cast of "only in New Orleans" characters during artist activism retreats co-produced by Air Traffic Control. GRN was invited to partner with ATC during their most recent retreat, and I was honored to present to the musicians in attendance about the coastal wetlands crisis facing our region, bringing the group to Bayou Bienvenue to show them first-hand what MRGO, subsidence and erosion are doing to our natural storm defenses, and the devastating community consequences.
The compilation features 31 New Orleans-inspired tracks ranging from original compositions written by musicians about their experiences in the area to covers of popular New Orleans songs to one-of-a-kind collaborations between retreat alumni and celebrated New Orleans musicians. Check out OK Go's fantastic "Louisiana Land" which name-checks our favorite NOLA drummer, Stanton Moore, and local favorites Bonerama do fantastic work, backing a number of acts and contributing their own "Mr. Go." Other artists include Tom Morello, Indigo Girls, the Wrens, Mike Mills (of REM), Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, My Morning Jacket, Steve Earle and many others.
Proceeds from Dear New Orleans will be granted to New Orleans based nonprofits working to support and sustain the region's unique musical and cultural traditions and to protect and restore vital environment and community resources for future generations. GRN is honored to be supported by this project alongside Sweet Home New Orleans (http://www.sweethomeneworleans.org/).
For more information on Dear New Orleans, a free download from the compilation, and to learn more about how you can help the Gulf, please visit www.dearneworleansmusic.org.
We just recieved this update from St. Bernard Parish officials.
Large fish kill found at the mouth of the MRGO
Suspected emulsified oil/tar balls being recovered in the area of Grassy Island
A large fish kill was found Sunday afternoon at the mouth of the MRGO. Thousands of dead fish were found floating at the top of the water, collected in pockets in boom that was deployed in the area, and washed up on the shoreline.
“By our estimates there were thousands, and I’m talking about 5,000 to 15,000 dead fish. Different species were found dead including crabs, sting rays, eel, drum, speckled trout, red fish, you name it, included in that kill,” St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro said Monday morning. “There is what we believe to be some recoverable oil in the area as well. We will be sampling that and recovering what we can. We don’t want to jump to any conclusions because we’ve had some oxygen issues by the Bayou La Loutre Dam from time to time. The Marine Division of Wildlife and Fisheries is on it this morning, and we’ll be looking for some preliminary or hard line information by the end of the day. It does point to the need for us to continue to monitor our waters and that’s what we’ll be doing.”
A half mile long orange thick substance with several tar balls and a strong diesel smell was located this morning around Grassy Island. Skimming Task Force 7 is on scene and is recovering this product.
SCAT Team Houma and Operations at the St. Bernard Branch have devised a system to collect boom that has been stranded in the marsh. The Marsh Flusher is a system currently in use in St. Bernard Parish waters, which reaches into oiled marsh areas and flushes them with clean water. It uses an articulating arm to do this. A grapple has now been attached to this arm, which is now being used in marsh areas as a boom retrieval system. This will assist in limiting human impact in these sensitive areas. There are two systems currently in use, both of which can retrieve 2,000 to 4,000 feet of stranded boom per day.
As our readers know, we have had significant concerns regarding Louisiana’s oil protection sand berms which have been constructed under the auspices of protecting the coast from oil(see posts from May 14, July 12, and July 14). In drafting comments responding to Louisiana’s request to continue with and expand the project, we discovered thatin a single two week period , the current sand berm project killed at least five threatened Loggerhead Turtles - and the full toll on turtles is likely higher. In fact, one Army Corps’ report indicated large amounts of turtle activity in the area, stating “Many turtles and turtle heads seen in the area in and around the trawling/dredging site.”
The pictures below depict some of the turtles killed during the dredging for this project.
Since these deaths, federal agencies requested that the cutter dredges that caused three of the deaths be moved to the Mississippi river, where there is less turtle activity. We are glad that the most deadly dredges have been removed from these areas, but other dredging activity can still have a devastating toll on sea turtles.
Up to this point, the sand berms that were authorized under an emergency permit from the Corps of Engineers have done little to prevent impacts of oil to Louisiana’s shores. According to discussions with federal agencies, other than sheen and tar balls reported on June 30, no oil has been reported on the eastern or western berms. Also, there are no official reports of oiled materials being removed from these berms.
Given the lack of effectiveness, the time it will take to build the berms, the current and potential environmental impacts, impacts to threatened and endangered species like sea turtles, and lack of scientific review, expanding the sand berm project does not seem to be an effective use of precious time, energy, dredges, and sediments.
GRN submitted comments to the Corps reflecting the above sentiments yesterday. To read our full comments GRN Comments .
This weekend, 12 amazing volunteers from Northern California joined together to help communities in the Gulf at the Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco. These folks raised some money, got some petitions signed, and talked to music lovers about the ongoing impacts this oil disaster has on the Gulf region. People walking by the Gulf Future booth were asked to write a message to Speaker Nancy Pelosi in support of cleaner energy policies.
Volunteer Jodie Pixley said, "I value the Gulf region in many ways and enjoyed being able to contribute in a small way to the vast needs of the area."
We value our volunteers just as much and we hope that they continue to support our work by giving their time.
Michelle Erenberg is the campaign organizer for the Gulf Future Campaign. To find out how to volunteer for upcoming events, email
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In Timbalier Bay, the clean- up workers may have left, but plenty of oil remains. The pictures below from yesterday’s excursion clearly show that not only did they leave, but they left their filthy mess behind them. On Timbalier Island I came across lots of extremely oiled and weathered boom, those pom-pon oil collectors, and of course lots of oil. The pools of oil that I found deep within the island appeared completely fresh. While there are plenty of tar balls along the beaches of the Island, huge pools of Louisiana light sweet crude can be found all over the place.
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The oil that penetrated deep into the heart of our barrier islands continues to wreak havoc and the wildlife continues to pay a price. Fiddler crabs can be seen scurrying around through oily sheen and thick oil puddles while minnows can be seen swimming in oily streams. Bird footprints can be seen throughout all of this oily mess as well as tracks from raccoons or other mammals. The whole area stinks like death. Vapors can be seen rising up above the marsh grass. The whole place is just really, really disgusting.
Things are not right in Timbalier Bay. Yesterday was the opening day of White shrimp season yet few boats bothered going out. Most of the boats could be seen docked; some still retrofitted with boom. I spoke to one captain who did go out but came back completely empty handed. Another came back with just 30 pounds when a normal day would bring in at least a 1000 pounds. There were no clean-up crews anywhere. No men wearing Tivex suits. No boats could be seen attending to tangled boom, much less picking up that which was oiled. The response staging area in Port Fourchon that was once bustling with activity has vanished. The Bay, like the Island seems abandoned and, considering there is still so much unaccounted for oil out there, now is not the time for us to be letting down our guard.
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Jonathan is the Coastal Resiliency Organizer for the GRN.
