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'Cancer Alley' Residents Say Industry is Hurting Town: 'We're Collateral Damage'

Wed, 2017-06-07 09:03 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

In Louisiana’s industrial heart, the shadow of Trump’s deregulation push looms as St James residents fight chemical plants, pipelines and laissez-faire policies

theguardian.com - by Lauren Zanolli in St James, Louisiana. Main image by Julie Dermansky - June 6, 2017

We’re sick of being sick, we’re tired of being tired,” said Pastor Harry Joseph of Mount Triumph Baptist Church, which serves this sleepy riverside town of about 1,000 residents, mostly poor and African American. Once a bucolic village of pasturelands and sugarcane fields on the banks of the Mississippi, St James, Louisiana, is now a densely packed industrial zone in the heart of Louisiana’s petrochemical corridor, commonly referred to as “Cancer Alley” . . . 

 . . . Fifteen large industrial sites – mainly oil storage facilities, pipelines and petrochemical plants – now fill the 13-mile stretch of road that defines the town of St James, also known as the fifth ward of St James parish.

Yet residents here say they’ve seen little economic benefit – either in jobs or tax revenues – from the industry that has taken over the town. Instead, they say, they’ve been saddled with a myriad of health issues, medical bills and environmental degradation.

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Cuba, United States Sign Oil Spill Deal

Tue, 2017-01-10 07:22 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

Cuba, United States sign oil spill deal before Trump inauguration

reuters.com - by Marc Frank - January 10, 2017

Cuba and the United States agreed on Monday to jointly prevent, contain and clean up oil and other toxic spills in the Gulf of Mexico . . .

 . . . U.S. Charge d'Affaires Jeffrey DeLaurentis, upon signing the agreement, said it was one of a series of deals to protect the shared marine environment of the two neighboring countries separated by just 90 miles (145 km) of water . . . 

 . . . Last week a deal was struck to export small amounts of charcoal to the United States and in December Google signed an agreement to place servers on the island to quicken access to its products.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

 

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Flood - Louisiana - Gulf Coast - Information and Resources

Fri, 2016-09-23 10:23 — Kathy Gilbeaux

           

Photograph of Port Vincent and the Amite River on Sunday, taken during a NOAA Remote Sensing Division aerial photography mission. (NOAA Remote Sensing Division)

AN EXPANDING LIST OF INFORMATION ON THE FLOOD EVENT ALONG THE GULF COAST (CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW)

CLICK HERE - MAP - LA Flood Rescue Efforts - South Louisiana Stranded - Addresses for those in need of rescue in South Louisiana

CLICK HERE - LA Flood Rescue Efforts - Submit your rescue status update

CLICK HERE - Louisiana Department of Health - Emergency Preparedness - Zika Information and Resources

CLICK HERE - Louisiana - Office of the Governor - Registration Details Released for Shelter at Home Program

CLICK HERE - FEMA - Disaster Assistance (1 page .PDF file)

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NOAA: Salt Marshes Combat Climate Change

Sat, 2015-12-26 18:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

             

Shorebirds feed in the shallows of Estero Bay State Preserve.  In the background are black mangroves, which are part of a salt marsh, which absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide.  (Photo: File photo by Andrew West)

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - PLOS One - Living Shorelines: Coastal Resilience with a Blue Carbon Benefit

news-press.com - by Chad Gillis - December 24, 2015

Natural, living shorelines in areas like the Gulf of Mexico absorb a lot of carbon dioxide and will help blunt the effects of climate change.

And coastal wetlands store several times the amount that can be absorbed by mature tropical forests, the research shows.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration studied wetlands in North Carolina and reports that plants, sand and rocks are better for the environment than man-made features like concrete sea walls and high-rise condominiums.

The report, published earlier this month in the journal PLOS One, shows that natural features in coastal areas help keep atmospheric carbon dioxide levels lower.

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BP cherry-picks study to dodge blame for massive deaths of gulf dolphins

Sat, 2015-02-21 21:38 — Maeryn Obley

BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform burns in April 2010, fouling the Gulf Coast: Is it responsible for a massive die-off of dolphins? (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

Image: BP's Deepwater Horizon oil platform burns in April 2010, fouling the Gulf Coast: Is it responsible for a massive die-off of dolphins? (Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

latimes.com - February 16th 2015 - Michael Hiltzik

In the years since its Deepwater Horizon oil spill befouled huge stretches of the Gulf of Mexico, oil giant BP has honed its skill at cherry-picking scientific studies to duck responsibility for the spill's environmental impacts.

Its latest effort concerns a study of a massive die-off of bottlenose dolphins in the gulf from 2010 through June 2013, occurring mostly after the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout caused the worst oil spill in history. The peer-reviewed study, led by Stephanie Venn-Watson of the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego, was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and published last week in the open-access journal PLoS One.

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Millions of Gallons of BP Oil Found on Ocean's Floor

Mon, 2015-02-02 18:21 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Dr. Brian Stacy, NOAA veterinarian, prepares to clean an oiled Kemp's Ridley sea turtle found almost 40 miles from the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, June 14, 2010.
NOAA's National Ocean Service

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - Using Natural Abundance Radiocarbon To Trace the Flux of Petrocarbon to the Seafloor Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

digitaljournal.com - by Karen Graham - January 31, 2015

While Gulf Coast residents are feeling pretty good about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, thinking it's now less harmful than originally thought, scientists have found almost 10 million gallons of BP's oil, sitting on the bottom of the Gulf.

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A Talk by Dr. Riki Ott: EPA National Contingency Plan and the Gulf

Fri, 2014-06-20 11:26 — Kathy Gilbeaux

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB7IIN098IM

Pensacola, Florida - June 10, 2014

Objective: By April of 2015, the ALERT pilot study will conduct health evaluations and environmental baseline monitoring, and establish networks of informed health care providers, in two regions of the country at-risk from petrochemical exposure----Gulf Coast communities harmed by the 2010 BP DWH disaster and Keystone XL corridor communities. ALERT will test for evidence of chemical exposure and provide training for treatment for oil-chemical related illness in these exposed communities. An important component of the ALERT project will be focused on educating community leaders and the public on the risks and health effects of petrochemical exposure to work toward solutions for treatment of current illnesses and protect against future exposure events.

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Telltale Rainbow Sheens Show Thousands Of Spills Across The Gulf

Mon, 2014-04-21 20:59 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

npr.org - wwno.org - by Bob Marshall - April 20, 2014

. . . more than 54,000 wells were planted in and off this coast — part of the 300,000 wells in the state. They're connected by thousands of miles of pipelines, all vulnerable to leaks.

And leak they do.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

(ALSO SEE SAME ARTICLE HERE)

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Wildlife in Gulf of Mexico Still Suffering Four Years After BP Oil Spill: Report

Thu, 2014-04-10 23:19 — Kathy Gilbeaux

nwf.org

Environmental campaign group finds ongoing symptoms of oil exposure in 14 species – from oysters to dolphins

theguardian.com - by Suzanne Goldenberg - April 9, 2014

The BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico caused dangerous after-effects to more than a dozen different animals from dolphins to oysters, a report from an environmental campaign group said on Tuesday.

Four years after the oil disaster, some 14 species showed symptoms of oil exposure, the report from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) said.

"The oil is not gone. There is oil on the bottom of the gulf, oil washing up on the beach and there is oil in the marshes," Doug Inkley, senior scientist for NWF, told a conference call.

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U.S. Agrees to Allow BP Back Into Gulf Waters to Seek Oil

Thu, 2014-03-13 23:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A BP cleanup crew shovels oil from a beach on May 24, 2010 at Port Fourchon, Louisiana (Getty/AFP/File, John Moore)

nytimes.com - by Clifford Krauss - March 13, 2014

HOUSTON — Four years after the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, BP is being welcomed back to seek new oil leases in the Gulf of Mexico.

An agreement on Thursday with the Environmental Protection Agency lifts a 2012 ban that was imposed after the agency concluded that BP had not fully corrected problems that led to the well blowout in 2010 that killed 11 rig workers, spilled millions of gallons of oil and contaminated hundreds of miles of beaches. . .

. . . Under the agreement, BP will be allowed to bid for new leases as early as next Wednesday, but only as long as the company passes muster on ethics, corporate governance and safety procedures outlined by the agency.

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