News

According to public records, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) has backed off initial threats to assess penalties for BP’s violations of state law “until ongoing investigations of the oil spill are completed.” This decision was reached at a June 8th meeting attended by eight BP representatives and 8 representatives from LDEQ.This meeting was …

Louisiana Declines to Immediately Penalize BP for Drilling Disaster Read More »

Yesterday, I went on another mission into Louisiana’s Barataria Bay to document and monitor the impacts, clean-up, and containment efforts in and around Barataria Bay. Having flown above the Louisiana coast on numerous occasions and witnessed massive amounts of oil flowing into Barataria Bay, what I saw came as no surprise to me. And while …

Bird’s Eye View: BP Oil In Barataria Bay Read More »

Assessing the damage caused to the Gulf by the BP deepwater drilling disaster is a monumental task, but is necessary to ensure that BP pays for the restoration of the coast and ocean that they have destroyed. The formal mechanism to assess these damages comes from the 1990 Oil Pollution Act (OPA), which states that …

GRN Shadows NOAA-Led Damage Pre-Assessment Read More »

Raleigh Hoke is GRN’s Mississippi Organizer

The newest edition of Wave Maker’s News, GRN’s quarterly update on the pressing issues facing the health and quality of the Gulf region’s waters and wetlands, has just been released. GRN’s Healthy Waters team is continuing our efforts to protect the rivers, streams, wetlands and coastal waters of the Gulf region. Since oil began spewing …

Wave Maker’s News: BP’s Oil Drilling Disaster Read More »

Recently, I had the pleasure of leading an amazing crew of GRN volunteers to the Bonnaroo Music Festival in middle Tennessee. Bonnaroo, which is in its 9th year, draws over 80,000 people to a huge field in rural Tennessee for a weekend of sweaty camping, great music, and an incredible festival atmosphere. Bonnaroo has also …

Bonnaroo 2010 and the BP Drilling Disaster Read More »

(Carolyn Cole/LA Times/June 14, 2010) – Blair Witherington, a research scientist with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, helps the rescue effort.Two very disturbing reports about the BP drilling disaster’s affects on Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles were published recently1. The offshore oil slick and Gulf of Mexico currents mix to create a deadly combination.”Young …

Sea Turtles – very bad news from the BP drilling disaster Read More »

Have you ever had a week that felt like a month? This week was another one of those for me. As I look back on the past 7 days, I’m amazed at the volume of news created by the oil drilling disaster, and how many moving pieces are at play. The week started with President …

BP Deepwater Drilling Disaster: DC Digs in Read More »

Kemp’s Ridley hatchling courtesy of Sea Turtle Inc.Once there were tens of thousands of adult Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico. As unbelievable as it sounds, there is a 1947 film that shows an estimated 42,000 nesting on one Mexican beach in a single day!Ridley’s are now the most endangered sea turtle …

Sea turtle update – track a Ridley from your computer Read More »