Dr. Susan Shaw, Director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute talks about oilspill

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Disaster in Gulf - The Aftermath

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Disaster in the Gulf-5-18-2011

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A House Divided

Louisianans, One Year After the Spill

Following the news about the Gulf of Mexico one year after the Deepwater Horizon disaster can be like reading “A Tale of Two Places.” The ocean, the wetlands, the fish, and the birds are recovering, according to some people. Others say the mess left at the bottom of the sea by the BP blowout threatens to wreak havoc on the ocean food web for years to come. Most people, we hear, are all right. Or, we are told, some are getting sick.

Which tale is true? For many Gulf residents, especially those from Louisiana, the state hardest hit by the spill, the answer might be Both.

The choice of what to say about the BP spill reveals a tension between the private narratives Louisianans tell themselves and their families and the public narratives they share with the rest of the world. Many Louisianans express frustration at the national media’s habit of showing images of oiled birds and dead dolphins; it only depresses tourist bookings and seafood sales, they complain. Other Louisianans say the pictures of destruction are necessary, a way to hold BP accountable for its actions; there’s no use jumping on what one local wit dubbed “The Streetcar Named Denial.”

The tough decisions about how to describe the spill reflect Louisianans’ split loyalties, which are divided between the fishing culture – the heart of the state’s identity – and the oil industry, the backbone of its economy. Since the 1930s, the two have been intimately connected: Many fishermen work the rigs in the off-season, and some of the best fishing spots are found near abandoned platforms, where sea life flourishes. In Louisiana, there’s nothing odd about celebrating the annual Shrimp and Petroleum Festival.

The tension is exacerbated by the widespread resentment over BP’s settlement process. Out of the $20 billion set aside for damage claims, only $3.4 billion has been disbursed by settlement czar Kenneth Feinberg. Some fishermen have been made whole. Others have received nothing. In New Orleans, dishwashers at restaurants unaffected by the spill have received $10,000 checks. Louisianans say the system is opaque, arbitrary, and just plain unfair. There are complaints about the sudden appearance of “Spillionaires.”

Then there’s the issue of the spill’s impact on the health of shoreline communities. Residents whisper darkly about a “Gulf Plague” – odd ailments and illnesses, especially among those involved in the cleanup effort. On YouTube, there are legions of videos featuring fishermen and cleanup workers describing their health problems. Yet not until this March did federal officials decide to launch a long-range study of Gulf residents’ health. While some Louisianans warn of a coverup, others snicker at the conspiracy theories of those they’ve branded “Gulf Truthers.” The pendulum of public opinion swings between paranoia and the glib assurances of the Pollyannas. One local calls it “analysis paralysis.”

The swirl of rumors, the logjam of lawsuits, the annoyance with national reporters who parachuted into the area on April 20 and left the very next day – all of it has cooked into a gumbo of cynicism. If the feelings of Louisianans a year after BP’s disaster seem contradictory, that’s because they are. They are contradictory just like the pain of life, the pain of a place and a people that are wounded. The stories of those wounds can be hard to convey to outsiders. Which is why it’s best to let Louisianans speak for themselves.

photo of a man speaking on a dock near fishing gear

The Sportsman

As the editor of a hunting and fishing magazine called Louisiana Sportsman, Todd Masson hears often from friends, relatives, and readers who are concerned about eating Gulf seafood in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. There’s no need to worry, he tells them. “Our fish, crabs, and oysters are no less safe to eat today than they were two years ago,” he wrote recently. As for those who might have made a killing in the BP settlement process? “If you actually came out ahead, then my hat’s off to you.”

Sport fishing is an essential thread in the fabric of Louisiana’s culture. We have 40 percent of the nation’s coastal wetlands, built over millennia by the Mississippi River, and as such we are the nursery grounds for the Gulf. Our fishing is spectacular, and most weekend family gatherings involve something from our local marshes – fried, boiled, baked, or broiled. When commercial and recreational fishing was outlawed last summer in the wake of the spill, it isn’t overstating things to say that people grieved. It was like a pillar of our society had been severed.

Business is certainly down. The media presented so many misleading stories during the days of the spill that everyone in the country now has the perception that the lower fringes of Louisiana’s marsh are just dripping with crude oil. That’s obviously not the case. I had some national writers down in October, and for three days we fished the marshes all around the mouth of the Mississippi River – ground zero for spill impact – and they were absolutely astounded that we didn’t see one drop of oil.

The BP oil spill had absolutely no impact on the health of current-day seafood or the prospects for its progeny. Unrefined crude oil is a natural substance that is broken down, weathered and absorbed by nature remarkably quickly in a warm, dynamic system like that of the northern Gulf. To wit, there have been literally thousands of studies of Gulf seafood, and not one single sample has come back contaminated. After conducting these studies, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals determined a diner would have to consume nine pounds of fish, five pounds of oysters, or 63 pounds of shrimp every day for five years to reach any level of concern.

The Activist

Linda Leavitt’s Cajun roots go back to the 1700s, and though her family’s tradition of news reporting may not be as long, to Leavitt, whose parents both worked for NBC News, it feels equally strong. “My mother would say, ‘You go on down there, Linda, you get the story.’” Which she has, working as a citizen-journalist to gather photographs and video of the spill’s consequence, coordinating campaigns on Facebook, and watchdogging BP on Twitter. “You got to get the word out,” she says.

It was so sad, when you saw the oil coming over the boom, that we were so helpless engineering-wise to keep this out. That sediment can wash up with the tide, and the sad part is they know there are submerged tar mats. Hurricane season is 45 days away. That tar mat is going to wash ashore.

photo of a woman in a cypress woodland, holding an umbrella with 'save the gulf' written on it
Linda Leavitt

You can rage against the machine all you want, but the reality is you have a corporation that is incredibly negligent from a safety perspective. I’m a great believer in the truth. I’m a great believer in giving people the information so they can make the honest judgments. The more you cover it up, hide it, and whitewash it, then you get crazy-assed conspiracy theorists, everybody out there thinking the worst. That’s what happens in a closed society with closed information. That’s not the America I grew up in. I grew up in an America where information should be made public for public safety.

The dynamic with a lot of people who may be afraid to come forward and talk is fear that other people’s livelihoods are based on the oil companies and they don’t want to rock that boat, or shrimping is their livelihood, so they don’t want to rock the boat. There is a lot of that in small communities, fear of being the first one to come out and say something on the record.

Here’s the crux: There’s always been this unspoken acknowledgement between the oil industry and the fishermen, the Cajuns and other people who made their livelihoods on the water, that if something goes down, if something happens, we’ll take care of you. And that’s not happening. It’s a big disappointment.

The Philanthropist

When BP began spraying Corexit, Joannie Hughes, a single mom from Plaquemines Parish, started worrying about the rain. Could the chemical oil dispersant evaporate and return via precipitation? She had tests run, garnered some local news, then someone posted a sign on her front yard that read, “It’s not the rain water that’s going to kill you.” Frightened for her family, she decided the best she could do was to start a nonprofit, Coastal Heritage Society of Louisiana, to assist out-of-work families. “I backed off, right or wrong, and continued the humanitarian part of the work, because that’s where I felt I could at least make some difference.”

Murky Waters

“A deathtrap of mucus gashing through the water like flypaper.” That’s how Samantha Joye, a professor of marine sciences at the University of Georgia, describes the effect of the oil and gas from last summer’s disaster on the delicate marine organisms that inhabit the depths of the Gulf of Mexico.

When BP’s Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig exploded on April 20, 2010, Joye’s research team was among the earliest on the scene and the first to report huge underwater plumes …more…

It’s been an interesting road. We knew we couldn’t clean up the oil. We knew we couldn’t stop people from drilling. What we could do is feed some families that were suffering who had not been paid. Because legitimate claims have been denied.

We’re a bunch of moms, not a million-dollar organization. We delivered to one family and she asked if another family got a box of food. She immediately called the other family to come over and split the food, so instead of one family eating for five days, two families ate for two and a half days. That’s the kind of community it is. No one can ever say people here don’t help themselves, because they do. So far CHSL has given food box deliveries to over 300 families. We’re very good shoppers.

With saltwater intrusion, we’re losing the cypress at a phenomenal rate, and that’s pre-spill. So if we don’t start restoring by planting new ones, it’s going to be gone before my grandchildren are ever out there in a pirogue.

We are planting seedlings of cypress trees complete with nutria-resistant wire. You can plant a tree in someone’s honor, we send you a picture, GPS coordinates, and long term it helps fight erosion in our wetlands. We’re doing it all the way down in the marsh. We’re literally down there with our waders planting the trees and we love for volunteers to come down and help us plant them too.

I try to explain that we are part of that ecosystem. We haven’t been the best stewards, but we do count at least as much as the grass shrimp.

The Fisherman

Jason Adams has known only shrimping or working for the oil industry. He started fishing with his parents, he says, when “I was in diapers.” When the Macondo well blew out, Adams, a native of the bayou town of Galliano, worked briefly for BP doing cleanup work, but soon became resentful of how many jobs were going to guys from Houston. Today, he’s working as a tugboat captain. But, he says, “I’d rather fish.”

I worked it with my boat and let me tell you, I got into some of that oil with the Corexit. I thought I was going to die. Sick, can’t breathe. And the other side effect, I’m mentally sick because there’s such uncertainty. The postlarva of the white shrimp and the brown shrimp [are in danger] – once that contamination reaches the estuaries and all that, it’s a done deal. You know my little boy, sometimes he cries. He said, ‘Dad, what if I won’t be able to go shrimping anymore?’

photo of a man, thoughtful

It’s fine right now way up in the estuaries. But what’s it going to be like five years from now? The bottom line is that they sunk the oil. I don’t know how many millions of gallons of the Corexit they put in there.

I’m going to tell you what’s going to make that catastrophe – that first tropical depression. The first real southeast wind we had the other day, that’s when the oil came up on the beach.

A lot of the fishermen, it messed up their livelihoods. They can’t work, they’re sick. Their backs are against the wall right now. They tell me, ‘I won’t be able to work, but yet they want to come offer me $300,000, not for my livelihood, they’re offering me that for my life.’ The people that were in it, that got sprayed, that worked in that oil – they’re just buying their life.

Ninety percent of the people would rather be doing what they love to do. Fishermen are resilient people. You think a fisherman wants to collect money from BP and sit in his house? He’d go stir crazy. When it’s in your blood, it’s in your blood. You’re doing what you want to do.

Karen Dalton Beninato is a freelance writer from New Orleans who has covered the BP oil spill for The Huffington Post. Her website is KarenDaltonBeninato.com. A resident of New Orleans and a Bayou Lacombe Choctaw Indian, Stacy Revere’s photography can be viewed at slrevere.photoshelter.com.

This story was partially funded through micro-donations via Spot.Us


NAD metabolism in Vibrio cholerae.

NAD metabolism in Vibrio cholerae. J W Foster and C Brestel Abstract Extracts of Vibrio cholerae were assayed for various enzymatic activities associated with pyridine nucleotide cycle metabolism. The activities measured include NAD glycohydrolase, nicotinamide deamidase, nicotinamide mononucleotide deamidase, and nicotinic acid phosphoribosyltransferase. The results obtained demonstrate the existence in V. cholerae of the five-membered pyridine nucleotide cycle and the potential for a four-membered pyridine nucleotide cycle. The data presented also suggest that most of the NAD glycohydrolase in V. cholerae extracts is not directly related to cholera toxin. Full text Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version. Get a printable copy (PDF file) of the complete article (619K), or click on a page image below to browse page by page. Links to PubMed are also available for Selected References.

The Mississippi Coast as photographed by me on Oct. 7, 2010

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Monday, May 31, 2010

Corexit: the Musical!

Corexit: the Musical!

69 oiled birds rescued; most dead birds not oily | wwltv.com | Local News

69 oiled birds rescued; most dead birds not oily | wwltv.com | Local News

Plaquemines Parish seafood fest attracts thousands - New Orleans News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - FOX 8 Live WVUE-TV Channel 8

Plaquemines Parish seafood fest attracts thousands - New Orleans News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - FOX 8 Live WVUE-TV Channel 8

The Associated Press: Scientists warn of unseen deepwater oil disaster

The Associated Press: Scientists warn of unseen deepwater oil disaster

BP chief to Gulf residents: 'I'm sorry' - CNN.com

BP chief to Gulf residents: 'I'm sorry' - CNN.com

BP Prepared for Spill 10 Times Gulf Disaster, Permit Plans Say - BusinessWeek

BP Prepared for Spill 10 Times Gulf Disaster, Permit Plans Say - BusinessWeek

BP CEO disputes claims of underwater oil plumes | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

BP CEO disputes claims of underwater oil plumes | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Oil spill hearings: Rig had no power to fight fire after engines oversped | NOLA.com

Oil spill hearings: Rig had no power to fight fire after engines oversped | NOLA.com

Corals at risk: Oil spill could threaten Florida Keys | HoumaToday.com

Corals at risk: Oil spill could threaten Florida Keys | HoumaToday.com

22-mile plume nears rich waters | HoumaToday.com

22-mile plume nears rich waters | HoumaToday.com

Former Saint Scott Fujita campaigns for wetlands | DailyComet.com

Former Saint Scott Fujita campaigns for wetlands | DailyComet.com

Islanders give mixed reactions to visit | DailyComet.com

Islanders give mixed reactions to visit | DailyComet.com

3 million feet of boom in Gulf, but does it help? | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

3 million feet of boom in Gulf, but does it help? | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

Oil spill's latest developments

Oil spill's latest developments

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Gulf Oil Spill: Cleanup Has Cost Federal Taxpayers $87 Million So Far

Gulf Oil Spill: Cleanup Has Cost Federal Taxpayers $87 Million So Far

Oil rig companies cut corners on rig say workers | wwltv.com | Local News

Oil rig companies cut corners on rig say workers | wwltv.com | Local News

Ex-Governor Blanco slams response to oil spill | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

Ex-Governor Blanco slams response to oil spill | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

Ex-Governor Blanco slams response to oil spill | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

Ex-Governor Blanco slams response to oil spill | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

Map and Estimates of Oil Spilled in the Gulf of Mexico - Interactive Map - NYTimes.com

Map and Estimates of Oil Spilled in the Gulf of Mexico - Interactive Map - NYTimes.com

Setback Delays ‘Top Kill’ Effort to Seal Leaking Oil Well in Gulf - NYTimes.com

Setback Delays ‘Top Kill’ Effort to Seal Leaking Oil Well in Gulf - NYTimes.com

"Top kill" slowing oil, but leak not stopped yet - New Orleans News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - FOX 8 Live WVUE-TV Channel 8

"Top kill" slowing oil, but leak not stopped yet - New Orleans News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - FOX 8 Live WVUE-TV Channel 8

BP official takes 5th Amendment, won't testify | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

BP official takes 5th Amendment, won't testify | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

3 in hospital receiving treatment for contact with dispersant; 4 more on way | wwltv.com | WWLTV.com News

3 in hospital receiving treatment for contact with dispersant; 4 more on way | wwltv.com | WWLTV.com News

Five questions for Obama on the oil spill

Five questions for Obama on the oil spill

Reuters AlertNet - BREAKINGVIEWS-BP's Gulf bungling puts deepwater in hot water

Reuters AlertNet - BREAKINGVIEWS-BP's Gulf bungling puts deepwater in hot water

The Oil Drum | Live comment thread on the video link from the ROV monitoring the damaged riser - StumbleUpon

The Oil Drum | Live comment thread on the video link from the ROV monitoring the damaged riser - StumbleUpon

BP says it has paid 29 M in claims

http://www.neworleans.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=402113&Itemid=2104

Crisis Commons » Yep! There is an APP for this disaster

Crisis Commons » Blog Archive » Meet Oil Reporter

US - BP America Press Relations - BP Announces Launch of State-specific Response Web Sites

US - BP America Press Relations - BP Announces Launch of State-specific Response Web Sites

Potential storm in Atlantic an early warning | HeraldTribune.com

Potential storm in Atlantic an early warning | HeraldTribune.com

Terrebonne could build its own oil-blocking sand berms | DailyComet.com

Terrebonne could build its own oil-blocking sand berms | DailyComet.com

Oil inspectors took company gifts, watchdog group finds - CNN.com

Oil inspectors took company gifts, watchdog group finds - CNN.com

Environmental warrior takes on industry - CNN.com

Environmental warrior takes on industry - CNN.com

Bill Nye the Science Guy talks oil

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Watergate Summer: QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DISPERSANT :HAVE DEADLY AMOUNTS BEEN USED IN THE GULF ?

Watergate Summer: QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DISPERSANT :HAVE DEADLY AMOUNTS BEEN USED IN THE GULF ?

FOXNews.com - Louisiana Fishermen Helping in Spill Cleanup Report Getting Sick

FOXNews.com - Louisiana Fishermen Helping in Spill Cleanup Report Getting Sick

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Toxic Detergent « Louisiana Bucket Brigade's Blog

Toxic Detergent « Louisiana Bucket Brigade's Blog

Tri-Parish Times

Tri-Parish Times

Environmental activists arrested in Port Fourchon | DailyComet.com

Environmental activists arrested in Port Fourchon | DailyComet.com

BP Played Key Role In Botched Exxon Valdez Response

BP Played Key Role In Botched Exxon Valdez Response

If ‘Top Kill’ Fails, Obama Must Take Reins - Dot Earth Blog - NYTimes.com

If ‘Top Kill’ Fails, Obama Must Take Reins - Dot Earth Blog - NYTimes.com

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Gulf Oil Spill Presidential Commission Named By Obama

Gulf Oil Spill Presidential Commission Named By Obama

THE ENIGMA CAFE: Why the Gulf Matters To Me......

THE ENIGMA CAFE: Why the Gulf Matters To Me......

~~~Just ME in T~~~ Musings and Ponderings: Does BP’s Gulf Gusher contribute to Earths Tectonic Stress?

~~~Just ME in T~~~ Musings and Ponderings: Does BP’s Gulf Gusher contribute to Earths Tectonic Stress?

Black Sludge, Fish Gasping for Oxygen « Liveshots

Black Sludge, Fish Gasping for Oxygen « Liveshots

BP: Mile-long tube collecting less oil than before | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

BP: Mile-long tube collecting less oil than before | New Orleans News, Local News, Breaking News, Weather | wwltv.com | Gulf Oil Spill

Plaquemines officials consider paying for own oil containment effort | wwltv.com | Local News

Plaquemines officials consider paying for own oil containment effort | wwltv.com | Local News

BP: Mile-long tube collecting less oil than before - News - Evri

BP: Mile-long tube collecting less oil than before - News - Evri

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Reuters AlertNet - ANALYSIS-Plan to keep oil off Louisiana coast flawed-experts

Reuters AlertNet - ANALYSIS-Plan to keep oil off Louisiana coast flawed-experts

Reuters AlertNet - BP swamped by criticism; spilled oil keeps coming

Reuters AlertNet - BP swamped by criticism; spilled oil keeps coming

12 Rigs, Oil And Gas, Launched In U.S. This Week Despite Gulf Oil Spill

12 Rigs, Oil And Gas, Launched In U.S. This Week Despite Gulf Oil Spill

A very simple approach to understanding just what "blacktide" means.

Black tide: oil spill, pollution, sources, impact, response, rehabilitation

Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge? - WWL - AM870 | FM105.3 | News | Talk | Sports

Month After Oil Spill, Why Is BP Still In Charge? - WWL - AM870 | FM105.3 | News | Talk | Sports

Syrupy Oil Washes Into Louisiana Marshes For First Time - WWL - AM870 | FM105.3 | News | Talk | Sports

Syrupy Oil Washes Into Louisiana Marshes For First Time - WWL - AM870 | FM105.3 | News | Talk | Sports

YouTube - Billy Nungesser: Twenty-four miles of Plaquemines Parish is destroyed. Everything in it is dead

YouTube - Billy Nungesser: Twenty-four miles of Plaquemines Parish is destroyed. Everything in it is dead

FRUSTRATION MOUNTS AS OIL SEEPS INTO GULF WETLANDS

Frustration mounts as oil seeps into Gulf wetlands

Associated Press

Posted on May 22, 2010 at 7:33 AM

ROBERT, La. (AP) — Anger grew along the Gulf Coast as an ooze of oil washed into delicate coastal wetlands in Lousiana, with residents questioning the federal government and others wondering how to clean up the monthlong mess that worsens with each day.

"It's difficult to clean up when you haven't stopped the source," said Chris Roberts, a councilman for Jefferson Parish, which stretches from the New Orleans metropolitan area to the coast. "You can scrape it off the beach but it's coming right back."

Roberts surveyed the oil that forced officials to close a public beach on Grand Isle, south of New Orleans, as globs of crude that resembled melted chocolate washed up. Others questioned why BP PLC was still in charge of the response. read more here

Engineers will not use hair to soak Gulf oil spill | wfaa.com | Home Page

Engineers will not use hair to soak Gulf oil spill | wfaa.com | Home Page

Sea turtles rescued from oily riptide - New Orleans News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - FOX 8 Live WVUE-TV Channel 8

Sea turtles rescued from oily riptide - New Orleans News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - FOX 8 Live WVUE-TV Channel 8

EPA and DHS Order BP to Stop Hiding Oil Spill Information | OMB Watch

EPA and DHS Order BP to Stop Hiding Oil Spill Information | OMB Watch

Monday, May 17, 2010

"The long-term effects are really unknown," says Mitchelmore. "The dispersant has inherent toxicity.

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100512/full/news.2010.237.html?s=news_rss

Interior official who oversees offshore drilling for MMS resigns

Interior official who oversees offshore drilling for MMS resigns

Environmental Health and Toxicology Information from the National Library of Medicine including ChemIDplus, Dietary Supplements Labels Database, Drug Information Portal, Haz-Map, Household Products Database, LactMed, Tox Town, Tox Tutors, ToxLearn, TOXLINE, TOXMAP, ToxMystery, and TOXNET

Environmental Health and Toxicology Information from the National Library of Medicine including ChemIDplus, Dietary Supplements Labels Database, Drug Information Portal, Haz-Map, Household Products Database, LactMed, Tox Town, Tox Tutors, ToxLearn, TOXLINE, TOXMAP, ToxMystery, and TOXNET

BP Opens claim office in Slidell.

Published on Monday, May 17, 2010 9:43 AM CDT

The St. Tammany Parish government announced that the Slidell / St Tammany parish community outreach center will open to the public at 7 a.m. Monday for processing claims made in respect to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and the resulting oil spill. The center is at 2040 Gause Blvd. Suite 10, of I-10.

Monday morning, phone lines will open to schedule appointments for claims processing. Please call 985 265-6823 or 985 265-5381 to schedule an appointment for claims services. Scheduled appointments for claims processing is preferred; people without appointments will be serviced if and when time allows between appointments.

The community center for the Slidell location does not have authority to physically write checks. The Slidell area claims service center shall include claims adjusters on site whom shall provide services including but not limited to the following:

St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis at the podium Friday explaining what the parish is doing to prevent any oil from getting into Lake Pontchartrain. Joining Davis at the Unified Incident Command Center at Fort Pike are from left, Congressman Steve Scalise, St. Tammany Director of Homeland Security Dexter Accardo, Congressman Joseph Cao, Tangipahoa Parish President Gordon Burgess, St. Charles Parish President V. J. St. Pierre, state Sen. A. G. Crowe, Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

• Assistance setting up new claims

• Checking status of claims presently in the system ~Guidance needed for information required to further process and/or complete claims presently in the system

The center shall also have personnel available to field questions and/or concerns including but not limited to general contact information, the vessel of opportunity program, volunteer information, and present status of operations for boom placement in our area.

The Gulf Coast Oil Spill News from CBS


Study: BP Refineries Produce 97% of Violations Company at Center of Gulf Oil Spill Has Dismal Record on "Egregious Willful" Safety Failures, Group Says
Read Full Story

Blowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Blowout: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Watergate Summer: GULF OIL DISASTER UPDATE FROM WEEKEND...(Scoll down for more from Weekend)May17th,2010

Watergate Summer: GULF OIL DISASTER UPDATE FROM WEEKEND...(Scoll down for more from Weekend)May17th,2010

Think Progress » BP chose more toxic, less effective oil dispersant manufactured by company with ‘close ties’ to oil giant.

Think Progress » BP chose more toxic, less effective oil dispersant manufactured by company with ‘close ties’ to oil giant.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

CDC | 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

CDC 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

National Wildlife Federation Gulf Coast Surveillance Teams - National Wildlife Federation

National Wildlife Federation Gulf Coast Surveillance Teams - National Wildlife Federation

Oil plumes under Gulf are a toxic double whammy - Yahoo! News

Oil plumes under Gulf are a toxic double whammy - Yahoo! News

Oil spill imperils an unseen world at the bottom of the gulf

Oil spill imperils an unseen world at the bottom of the gulf

http://dailycaller.com/2010/05/16/gulf-coast-being-used-as-laboratory-by-bp-observers-say/

http://dailycaller.com/2010/05/16/gulf-coast-being-used-as-laboratory-by-bp-observers-say/

Desperate BP hopes rubbish will stop leak - Times Online

Desperate BP hopes rubbish will stop leak - Times Online

Scientists find vast unreported oil leak from Deepwater Horizon - Times Online

Scientists find vast unreported oil leak from Deepwater Horizon - Times Online

Giant Oil Plumes Found In Gulf Depths

Giant Oil Plumes Found In Gulf Depths

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Community Response as of May 6th

SHEET: COMMUNITY RESPONSE 2
There are five BP community outreach sites training, preparing and engaging volunteers:
• Pensacola, Florida
• Venice, Louisiana
• Mobile, Alabama
• Pascagoula, Mississippi
• Biloxi, Mississippi
A robust process is in place to assure that:
• The skills of volunteers are put to the most effective use using an assessment
process;
• The volunteers are trained in personal safety;
• The volunteers have proper training and certification from the authoritative
organizations and companies required by OSHA for shoreline cleaning of oil
should it reach the beaches of the four Gulf States at risk: Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama, and Florida.
We realize that many people want to help with the response effort. We already have
requests from thousands of people willing to volunteer to clean up the beaches now and
if and when the oil comes to shore. To help organize volunteers we established a phone
line for them to call: 866-448-5816.
The U.S. Coast Guard leads the volunteer effort if shoreline cleanup is needed.
Shoreline cleanup volunteers must have training including hazardous materials training
required by OSHA and EPA. Only volunteers who have been trained and provide
appropriate certification are allowed to assist.
Wildlife
To address potential wildlife impacts, BP has contracted with Tri-State Bird and Rescue.
Tri-State works with trained and certified volunteers to help recover and clean impacted
wildlife. A toll-free number 800-557-1401 has been established to report oiled or injured
wildlife. People are urged not to attempt to help injured or oiled animals, but to report
any sightings via the toll-free number.
Claims
A claims number also has been established: 1-800-440-0858.
click here to read full update

Transocean Q1 profit beats estimates | Reuters

Transocean Q1 profit beats estimates | Reuters

UK regulator warned Transocean on blow-out valves | Reuters

UK regulator warned Transocean on blow-out valves | Reuters

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Oil Spill Map: Hard hit and waiting for another blow

Oil Spill Map: Hard hit and waiting for another blow

g_Captains Blog/Forums

oil_spill

CERT Los Angeles - Natural Disasters and Risks

CERT Los Angeles - Natural Disasters and Risks

Safe Harbor-Great Site! Great Project! Pls check it out

Safe Harbor

LATEST VOLUNTEER UPDATES FROM CRISISWIKKI

Alabama Coastal Foundation (http://www.joinacf.org/)
BP Volunteer Hotling (http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/2931/533811/)
City of Biloxi official site (http://www.biloxi.ms.us/)
City of Ocean Springs (http://www.oceansprings-ms.gov/)
Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (http://www.crcl.org/)
Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant Programs (http://gulfseagrant.tamu.edu/oilspill/index.htm)
Coalition To Restore Coastal Louisiana (http://www.crcl.org/coalitionprograms/oilspillrecovery.html)
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Oil Spill Response (http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/oilspill/)
Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (http://www.msema.org/)
Mississippi Governor Barbour (http://www.governorbarbour.com/index.html)
Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (http://www.mobilebaynep.com/)
National Animal Health Emergency Response Corp (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/emergency_management/naherc.shtml)
Oil Spill Crisis Map (http://oilspill.labucketbrigade.org)
Oil Spill Volunteers (http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com/)
Oiled Wildlife Care Network (http://www.owcn.org/)
Pascagoula River Audubon Center (http://pascagoulariver.audubon.org/)
State of Louisiana's Emergency web site (http://emergency.louisiana.gov/)

Welcome to Matter Of Trust

Welcome to Matter Of Trust

BP Caps 1 Of 3 Leaks, But Oil Flow Won't Be Reduced

BP Caps 1 Of 3 Leaks, But Oil Flow Won't Be Reduced

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

LA Bucket Brigade : Index

LA Bucket Brigade : Index

NOAA Warned Interior It Was Underestimating Threat Of Serious Spill

NOAA Warned Interior It Was Underestimating Threat Of Serious Spill

Breaking News On the Gulf Oil Spill and Lake Ponchartrain

Breaking News, North Shore »
Bobby Jindal, David Vitter, Mitch Landrieu and Kevin Davis discuss Lake Pontchartrain oil spill protection
By Martha Carr, The Times-Picayune
May 04, 2010, 11:19AM

St. Tammany Prepares Lake Pontchartrain for Oil SpillMatthew Hinton / The Times-PicayuneBrandon Leonard, left, and Josh Francois of Coastal Tank Cleaning of Morgan City, La. a sub-contractor of Resolve Marine Group headed by Todd Duke director of emergency response, right, deploy oil booms along the new Rigolets bridge near Fort Pike in New Orleans across the Rigolets from St. Tammany Parish Saturday. St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis has secured 7,500 feet of boom that will deployed later if the oil is expected to approach Lake Pontchartrain later in the week. Resolve was awarded the contract to deploy the booms.Gov. Bobby Jindal and U.S. Sen. David Vitter joined New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and St. Tammany President Kevin Davis Tuesday morning to discuss joint efforts to protect Lake Pontchartrain from being contaminated by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The oil could potentially enter the lake from Chef Pass and the Rigolets, which separates the tips of the two parishes.

The press conference is taking place at the command center that has been set up at the Fort Pike State Historic Site at the foot of the Rigolets Bridge, 27100 Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans.

Jindal was originally scheduled to meet in Venice this morning with commercial fishermen, but that meeting has now been postponed, at least until tomorrow at the earliest.

MAY 4TH UPDATE FROM DEEPWATER HORIZON

DATE: May 04, 2010 09:09:12 CST
Current Operations

May 4, 2010 Operations:

Total Vessels (including tugs and skimmers): 196
Boom deployed: 486,940 feet
Boom available: 668,081 feet
Oil and Water Mix - Recovered: 23,968 gallons
Dispersant Used : 156,012 gallons
Dispersant availailable: 230,000 gallons
Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV): 10
Overall Personnel Responding: 7,484

In addition to the overall personnel responding, more than 2,000 volunteers have been trained to assist in the response effort.


9 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines. These areas include:

Biloxi, Miss.
Pensacola, Fla.
Venice, La.
Pascagoula, Miss.
Port Sulphur, La.
Port Fourchon, La.
Gulfport, Miss.
Dauphin Island, Ala.
Shell Beach, La.

Weather conditions for May 4: Winds from the south at 8 - 9 knots, 2 -3 foot seas.

To report oiled or injured wildlife, please call 1-800-557-1401.

To report spill related damage claims, please call 1-800-440-0858.

To report oil on land, or for general Community and Volunteer Information, please call 1-866-448-5816.

For the latest information visit www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Oil_Spill_2010 or on Facebook at Deepwater Horizon Response.

For media needing more information regarding the Deepwater Horizon incident, contact the joint information center at (985) 902-5231/5240.

AJ video

For all of us living along the Gulf Coast, did you have the worse "sinus infection" of your life this past winter? I sure did. My ears still hurt. Doctor looks at them and sees nothing there causing my ear pain. WHOA, then I came across this video. I am adding a comments box right below this. Please add how you are feeling if you are in any of the Gulf Coast area affected by the BP OILSPILL. Thank you! Leesa