76 weeks after the Deepwater Horizon exploded then sank into the Gulf of Mexico, triggering the worst accidental marine oil spill in U.S. history both the House and the Senate have bills introduced which would direct the historic Clean Water Act fines from BP's deepwater drilling disaster to tackle the ongoing challenges facing the Gulf.
In principle the bills are simple, and seek to redirect this windfall fine ($5 - $21 billion) from the Oil Spill Response Trust Fund and the general treasury to Gulf restoration efforts instead. It's hard to argue that the Gulf doesn't deserve the funds, as it has been the nation's energy sacrifice zone for decades pre-BP, and continues to face a coastal wetlands crisis, an enormous seasonal Dead Zone offshore, and increasingly vulnerable coastal communities. Precious little was being done to address any of these issues well before April 20, 2010.
The Senate bill, a result of compromises across the region and across parties, and introduced by 9 of the 10 Gulf Senators with the backing of Environment and Public Works Committee Chair (and committed environmentalist) Barbara Boxer, was a strong opening gambit. Unfortunately, the House bill, introduced by Rep. Steve Scalise and 24 congressional colleagues, is a bit weaker, and includes some troubling elements limiting the ability of the fine monies to be spent on NOAA-directed research, or the use of the funds to acquire federally managed habitat around the Gulf.
Jean Lafitte Park and EPA lead the way to healing the injuries our coastal marshes
To heal a patient, first stop the bleeding. After decades of Coastal Restoration, Louisiana still has not applied the pressure needed to restore the most obvious damage to its marshes. Over the decades, these open wounds have cost the coast millions in ecosystem services, and it is past time to heal these flagrant damages.
Degraded banks off Yankee Pond in Jean Lafitte Park. A golden meadow once again.
Last Week, EPA and National Park staff took non-profit staff and parish, state, and federal officials on a tour of a recently backfilled canal on Park property. The EPA has proposed a CWPPRA (Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act) project to degrade these spoil banks, to restore the marsh underneath and to restore the natural flow of waters and animals into the surrounding marshes.
Photo by Anthony SchoeneckerOn Sunday, October 9, GRN supporters came out to Mondo in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans to attend the fifth annual fundraiser, Defend Our Coast, Defend Our Culture. Funds raised from the event support GRN's ongoing fight for healthy waters, sustainable coastal areas, and vibrant offshore ecosystems that are essential to resilient communities and healthy wildlife.
Attendees enjoyed delectable hors d'oeuvres by Chef Susan Spicer and Sous Chef Nancy Berg and bluegrass music by the Tangler Trio while bidding on artwork and unique offerings celebrating the the culture of the Gulf Coast.
Oliver Houck of the Tulane Law School captivated the audience and brought levity to the challenges of fighting for a healthy environment with humorous stories of his experiences addressing environmental issues when he first arrived in Louisiana in the early 1970s. GRN's work in the Gulf today builds upon decades of effort, loss, and victories for the environmental movement. Houck is the author the recent Photo by Anthony Schoeneckerbook Down on the Batture which chronicles observations from his long walks between the levee and the Mississippi River around New Orleans.
Many thanks to all our supporters who attended and contributed. Special thanks to Oliver Houck, Susan Spicer, Jenni Lynch, Nancy Berg, and the wonderful staff of Mondo.
And a big round of applause to our event host committee and many supporters:
Event Host Committee Nancy and Don Adams Denise Berthiaume, LeMieux Galleries Jo Billups Sig Greenebaum, Rehage Entertainment Karen Harvill Caroline Helwick and Jose Miranda Beverly and Ray Nichols Susan Norris-Davis and Mark Davis Susan Spicer, Bayona and Mondo Tippy Tippens, BirdProject
Event Supporters BirdProject Emery Clark Spike Lee Prytania Theater Sig Greenebaum, Stephen Rehage, and Rehage Entertainment St. James Cheese Company New Orleans Saints Steve Shepard The Tanglers Trio: Ian Cunningham, Graham Robinson, and Matt Rota Joe Tomasovsky The Wine Seller
Last week, the White House's Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force (Task Force) took a significant step towards restoring the Gulf of Mexico in the wake of BP’s oil drilling disaster, but there is still, of course, a long road to restoration. Created by the President and lead by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the Task Force has been charged with creating a framework and plan for restoring the Gulf in the wake of the BP drilling disaster.
The preliminary strategy for restoration lays out good basic prescriptions for restoring the Gulf, and we're certainly encouraged to see such engagement from the federal government. Unfortunately, the "new" strategy provides little beyond what was previously known and lacks the specifics we had hoped to see.
While we support the Draft Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Strategy‘s Gulf-wide scope and apparent intent to achieve a functioning and productive Gulf ecosystem, the strategy should provide an overarching framework to address both injured natural resources and lost ecological services due to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, as well as more systemic problems, such as the on-going loss of coastal wetlands and formation of the hypoxic zone at the mouth of the Mississippi River. The strategy fails to set forth a focused restoration agenda with measurable goals and objectives. Nor does it identify funds that can be directed to identified priorities and effective programs or projects.
Hattiesburg South lagoons, as seen from space. Photo courtesy of Google Maps. Last week, the city of Hattiesburg, Mississippi held a press conference and released a statement acknowledging that the city’s South Sewage lagoons are “under enormous pressure†and have “quite simply…not kept pace with the tremendous growth in population and industry†that the city has experienced in the last half century. We agree, and applaud the city of Hattiesburg for admitting that it has a problem. For years, Hattiesburg's sewage lagoons have been polluting the Leaf and Bowie Rivers, and causing a disgusting stink that plagues the city during warmer months.
The next step, of course, is for city leaders to offer up real, long-term solutions for dealing with the systematic problems with its sewage treatment lagoons. On Tuesday, city officials touted two “short-term improvements†to the Hattiesburg South lagoons: an effort to dredge sludge from the lagoons, and the installation of new aerators that will theoretically improve the lagoons’ ability to process sewage. They also made vague references about working “to identify sustainable long-term solutions.â€
These efforts could have positive impacts, but as many Hattiesburg residents can attest, this isn’t the first time that city leaders have come out with a plan for quick and easy solutions that ultimately failed to clean up the gross Hattiesburg stink, and protect local rivers from pollution.
According to the news release, the Hattiesburg South lagoons are among the “biggest in the country in both size and capacity.†While these lagoons might have been adequate in the 1960s, they clearly aren’t up to the task now. The city’s proposals ignore ongoing pollution from the North lagoons, and are unlikely to fix the long-term problems with the aging and outdated South lagoons.
Ultimately, city leaders only took these initial steps because residents and groups like GRN have kept the pressure on, and we will be continuing to keep that pressure on until the city releases, and executes, long-term plans to update their aging, and outdated sewage treatment infrastructure.
Come out to Mondo in Lakeview this Sunday and join us for an evening of great discussion, food, and music to benefit Gulf Restoration Network, and learn how your contributions can help protect and restore the natural resources of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. With an exclusive focus on the ecological health of the Gulf region, Gulf Restoration Network is committed to protecting and restoring the resources of the Gulf, including addressing the aftermath of the BP drilling disaster.
We look forward to your attendance and support of our continued fight for healthy waters, robust coastal wetlands, and vibrant offshore ecosystems that are essential to resilient communities and healthy wildlife.
This article is excerpted from Wave Maker's News, our quarterly update on all things water in the Gulf of Mexico, check out the full newsletter here.
Harmful algal bloom on the Caloosahatchee River. The story of water is Florida’s story. Our beaches, rivers, wetlands and springs are the lifeblood of the state’s economy, and each family that calls Florida home has a stake in the health of these waters. Sadly, many politicians and industry leaders don’t seem to understand this and throughout the state they are assaulting water protections. These short-sighted efforts to cut costs and rollback protections that were carefully crafted over decades of bi-partisan action will inevitably imperil both the environment and the state’s fragile economic recovery. This attitude was on full display at an August 9th Congressional Field Hearing inflammatorily titled: "EPA’s Takeover of Florida’s Nutrient Water Quality Standard Setting: Impact on Communities & Job Creation."
For decades, harmful algal blooms such as Red Tide and freshwater blooms of green slime have threatened Florida’s waterways with toxins and dead zones. These HABs are largely fed by runoff of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution from our lawns and wastewater. Despite this ongoing threat to state waters, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) spent ten years dragging its feet on establishing numeric nitrogen and phosphorus criteria for state waters that could help fix the problem. As a result, a coalition of environmental stakeholders sued EPA in July 2008 for its failure to fulfill its mandatory duties under the Clean Water Act and establish scientifically based numeric nitrogen and phosphorus criteria in Florida. In 2009, our allies prevailed in court. Unfortunately, industry, politicians, and bureaucrats in the FDEP are now doing everything they can to stop these new, more protective rules from being implemented.
At the hearing on August 9th, the Congressional Field Panel and the invited stakeholders ignored sound science, public opinion, and the judicial decisions that support the establishment of new numeric nitrogen and phosphorus criteria. Instead, the hearing served as a forum for industry and politicians to air their one-sided views, and grill Gwen Keyes Fleming, EPA Regional Administrator for Region 4, and Earth Justice Attorney David Guest. Perhaps most frustrating of all, this taxpayer funded charade ignored the opinions held by the majority of Floridians who overwhelmingly support water protection.
This issue has languished for 13 years and in that time the threat to Florida’s economy and communities from harmful algal blooms has only grown. The EPA continues to express a willingness to work with FDEP to address perceived issues with the new water protections, but they have yet to find a willing partner. It’s time for FDEP to come to the table with EPA and create a working blueprint for protecting Florida waters, and GRN will continue to work to make sure that happens.
Join us this Thursday evening for a reception at Inman Gallery with paintings by artist Kristin Musgnug and a short presentation by Gulf Restoration Network. GRN, active in the Gulf since 1995, will discuss our work responding to the BP oil drilling disaster and our campaign for clean water in the Gulf of Mexico region.
Gather your friends, family, and colleagues and come out to Inman Gallery this Thursday. The event is free and open to the public. With questions, call (504) 525-1528 x210 or e-mail
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.
Hope you can join us at this great event.
Unnatural Histories,
Unnatural Waters
Thursday, September 29, 2011 6 to 8 p.m.
Inman Gallery 3901 Main Street, Houston, Texas www.inmangallery.com
On September 9th, the Department of Energy announced the cancellation of the last ongoing environmental study for the Richton salt dome project, effectively halting any further progress on the project. This irresponsible oil storage scheme would have required the removal of 50 million gallons of water a day from the Pascagoula River for five to six years to dissolve underground salt deposits. The extremely salty, polluted byproduct from this process would have then been discharged south of Horn Island, potentially creating a large dead zone where little sea life could survive.
GRN commends the Department of Energy on their decision. The people who live, work, and play in South Mississippi rely on a healthy Pascagoula River and Mississippi Sound and they shouldn’t be forced to sacrifice these amazing natural resources for a destructive and expensive boondoggle like the Richton salt dome project.
Since the Richton project was first proposed, a large and diverse coalition of concerned citizens, and community and conservation groups have weighed in against this environmentally and economically damaging project. Hundreds of individuals attended hearings to call for a halt to the Richton salt dome project, and thousands of people signed petitions or wrote emails urging the Department of Energy to cancel it. Ultimately, this effort paid off.
“Hearing that the project is officially dead for now is great news to the Gulf Conservation Coalition and virtually everyone in South Mississippi. The civics lesson that this event provides is that a single voice of reason may have difficulty being heard. Hundreds or thousands of like voices get heard, and can accomplish great things,†said Eric Richards, Spokesperson for the Gulf Conservation Coalition.
You may recall reading a blog post from July 1st where I talk about a leak that has been ongoing on the Gulf since 2004. Well, oil is STILL leaking from the site of the Taylor Energy platform (Platform 23051) that was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The ongoing leak gained national attention during the BP disaster after the government released detailed satellite images of the Gulf’s surface. Skytruth, a watchdog group that uses satellite images to monitor environmental problems, first called attention to the ongoing spill. You may also recall reading news reports calling attention to the leak from the Press-Register, NPR, and others. I also have had the priviledge to fly on several fligths with On Wings of Care to document the leak from the air.
So, with all of this attention and scrutiny why is seemingly nothing being done, and why is this leak still ongoing? Take a look at these photos I took a few days ago while on a boat on a sampling trip with the National Wildlife Federation. On this day, once again, there were no skimmers, no boats, no nothing. All that we could see was a buoy (presumably marking the downed platform) and a slick that stretches for miles. We were able to get right in the middle of the slick so sampling was possible. Check out some of the photos here:
As promised, I filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to hopefully get some of these questions answered: Why is it still leaking? Can it be stopped? Is there a timeline on stopping it? Has Taylor energy been fined for violating the Clean Water Act? If not, why not? In the response that I received from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) they notified me that penalties enforced against companies for violations occurring in the Gulf can be found on their website. Well, no kidding. There are none regarding this leak which is one of the reasons why I had to file the FOIA in the first place. Also in their response, BOEMRE notified me that if I wanted all of the documents that I requested that they would charge GRN a pretty significant fee which they are unwilling to waive, despite our non-profit status. They suggested either narrowing my request or paying the fee. So, we are appealing and, hopefully, will prevail with the fee waiver, receive the documents, and begin to scrutinize the information to find out just what the heck is going on.
With this leak and others like it continuing to foul our Gulf, and very little action by the Coast Guard, BOEMRE, or any other entity to prevent them (much less report them or penalize companies for violations), it is high time for the establishment of a Regional Citizens's Advisory Council. So, please take action today by clicking here to send Congress and the White House a message demanding an RCAC and a healthy Gulf.
Jonathan Henderson is the Coastal Resiliency Organizer for GRN.
On September 9th, the Department of Energy announced the cancellation of the last ongoing environmental study for the Richton salt dome project, effectively halting any further progress on the project. This irresponsible oil storage scheme would have required the removal of 50 million gallons of water a day from the Pascagoula River for five to six years to dissolve underground salt deposits. The extremely salty, polluted byproduct from this process would have then been discharged south of Horn Island, potentially creating a large dead zone where little sea life could survive. 
