Gulf Restoration Network

A Huge Victory for the Nature Coast Healthy Waters / Dead Zone Tuesday, 14 May 2013 15:09

The Army Corps has Rejected SunWest Dredge Permit!

In a huge blow to this ill-advised development, environmental concerns have carried the day, and the Nature Coast of Florida will not see the creation of 60-foot wide, 4 mile long yacht mega-channel through sensitive seagrass beds. Read more about the landmark decision here.

GRN thanks its members, dedicated local activists like Karen Smith, Clay Colson and many others, as well as organizational partners Jackie Lopez from the Center for Biological Diversity and the Suncoast and Tampa Bay Sierra Clubs. 

Water, Water Everywhere: How Do We Live With It? Storm Protection / Coastal Issues Tuesday, 14 May 2013 10:09

What promises to be a compelling, thought-provoking series on how New Orleans and other urban areas are challenged to deal with storm water kicks off tomorrow.  The Greater New Orleans Foundation has organized the 5 part Urban Water Series to pull together the best ideas and biggest thinkers in the efforts of cities to wrestle effectively with managing storm water, more intense rain events, sinking streets, the aging infrastructure bomb, and other factors. The Advocate published a great write-up and interview with GNOF's Marco Cocito-Monoc, who has helmed the creation and programming for the series, in which he says:

The River and the Dredge Build Land Together Storm Protection / Coastal Issues Monday, 13 May 2013 14:02

As you may have seen from our last Gulf Tides video, some of the money from BP fines will pay to build land using the Mississippi River.  Restoring the river to the delta is the "lynchpin" of Louisiana's Coastal Restoration program, as embodied in the Coastal Master Plan. 

The patient, the louisiana coast, is critical. The treatment is not simple. There are many uncertainties, and there are many factors to monitor and adapt to, as a recent scientific panel concluded. There are steps the often-negligent state of Louisiana could take to regulate pollution and to ensure that the restoration works most effectively. But the oldest evidence that restoring the river will work are the Wax Lake Outlet and Atchafalaya River Deltas--which combine the restoration of the river with the beneficial placement of dredge material ("BUDM").

There's a new way to look at these areas, the only deltas in Louisiana consistently building wetlands by gravity, as nature has for thousands of years. Google has recently released animation of satellite photos that show many landscape changes. It has been fascinating to look at Louisiana's Coast with this Earth Engine.   

Mississippi Stretches NRDA Purpose with Latest Projects BPs Oil Drilling Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday, 08 May 2013 09:24

Space Station exhibit at INFINITY Science Center, Hancock County, by Ellis Anderson Media, Courtesy NASAOn May 3rd Governor Phil Bryant announced four more Mississippi projects, totaling about $69 million,   to be created with Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) money. This spending is supposed to compensate for natural resource damages done by BP oil. NRDA “early restoration” projects are meant to “partially restore injured natural resources and lost natural resource services.” The Governor’s team has really twisted this restoration purpose on three of Mississippi’s four projects on this latest list.

A $50 million dollar project in Hancock County seeks to create living shoreline and marsh. Forty six acres of marsh are to be constructed along with 46 acres of sub-tidal oyster reefs. So far, so good – this is the kind of project that NRDA money is supposed to fund. The other three projects come to a total of 18.9 million and, taken together, these three will construct buildings and boardwalks, pour thousands of cubic yards of concrete, build a greenhouse, and purchase and install interactive museum exhibits. Contrast this with a Florida project that proposes $11 million to remove thousands of cubic yards of concrete and asphalt that is scattered over the Santa Rosa Island section of the Gulf Islands National Seashore.

How the Natural Resources Damage Assessment Money Could Actually Cause More Damage BPs Oil Drilling Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico Monday, 06 May 2013 13:47

GRN's Jonathan Henderson finds tarballs on Elmer's Island April 12 2013Last week, all five Gulf states announced new projects intended to be funded by the $1 billion dollars of early restoration monies promised by BP on April 20, 2011. In recent monthly we have been publically demanding that BP and the Trustees for the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) move quickly to spend this “early restoration” funding. Well, now they have proposed 28 projects totaling almost $600,000. As a reminder  because all these different sources of funding get confusing, NRDA funds are to be spent to restore injured natural resources and/or lost natural resource services and must show a relationship to the resource injured from the oil spill. (Click here to view the Federal Register full list of projects)

"Restoration" Projects Announced: BP Boondoggles Beginning? BPs Oil Drilling Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday, 01 May 2013 15:34

After yesterday's announcement by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal of $340 million in largely worthy restoration projects, we were waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Today it did. 

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley announced nearly $100 million in coastal "restoration" projects.  The biggest ticket project is "Gulf State Park Enhancements" including construction of a lodge and meeting facility.  The money for these projects is from the BP Natural Resource Damage Assesment early restoration initiative, which is legally required to be used to mitigate against lost ecosystem services or human use of those ecosystem services.  It's going to take quite a bit of legal contortion to fit Alabama's beach-front hotel and conference center through those requirements.

We applaud the barrier island restoration measures Louisiana has secured funding for, as well as Alabama's oyster reef restoration, and think the living shorelines approach of the Weeks Bay Swift Tract project holds promise as well.  But a beach front boondoggle built on a state park is an outrageous use of these critical funds.

Sewage Woes in the Mississippi Delta Healthy Waters / Dead Zone Wednesday, 01 May 2013 08:49

Sewage Lagoon with Aerator.The ugly underbelly of any town includes its sewer plant: hidden from view near a river or creek, with most residents oblivious to where and how their waste is treated.  Sewer plant maintenance is not glamorous, but it is very important to do the work well. Plant workers must regularly maintain filter screens, tanks, pumps, sediment traps and lagoons full of varying states of human waste and everything else that can be flushed down a toilet or washed down a drain. Almost every sewer plant sends treated waste back to a local stream. The plant’s discharge point on the stream usually begins a zone of impairment that extends a great distance downstream. These stream reaches have discolored water, mucky bottoms, and a depleted community of fish, aquatic insect and invertebrate species. Only the tough species can live downstream of a sewer plant. Unfortunately, our natural streams serve as the final treatment stage for wastewater. All over the U.S. and especially in the humid south, cities have used their rivers for decades for the basic function of diluting treated sewage with fresh water.

Feeding Frenzy Over RESTORE Dollars BPs Oil Drilling Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico Friday, 26 April 2013 08:48

Pacagoula River, between Pascagoula and Gautier. Photo credit: GRN and Southwings.Two weeks ago, I attended a roundtable, hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce in Jackson County, Mississippi, that was focused on how local government leaders would like to use BP fine money coming to the Gulf through the RESTORE Act. Many a money-hungry politician made proposals, but environmental restoration didn’t even seem to have a seat at the table.  It’s becoming clear that our role as a watchdog over RESTORE spending is going to be difficult, and absolutely necessary.

Support the Gulf this Earth Day General Monday, 22 April 2013 14:30

Happy Earth Day and Gulf Earth Month!

April is a busy time for GRN. In between bouts of eating crawfish and celebrating our vibrant Gulf of Mexico, our staff and volunteers are out at the many festivals in the region working to build public support for a healthy Gulf. Three years ago in April, our work became even more urgent when BP's oil began tainting the Gulf.

As the third memorial of the BP drilling disaster passed this Saturday, we still need your help making sure that BP is held fully accountable for their actions.  Your rallies, petitions, and calls have ensured that BP’s fines will be directed to the Gulf Coast.  Now, we ask you to renew your support so that we can keep bringing people together to hold BP accountable.

BP's oil is still washing ashore.  Earlier this month, we found thousands of tarballs carpeting the beaches of Elmers Island, Lousiana.   We filed a report to alert the Coast Guard to the location of the oil, which made sure BP's crews were mobilized to clean up the tarballs.  Without GRN’s eyes on Elmer’s Island, who knows how long those tarballs may have sat there?

Members like you make our outreach efforts and these monitoring trips possible. Please consider making a donation today, so we can continue spotting the oil and seeing that BP pays the largest fines possible.

Cyn Sarthou is GRN's Executive Director.