Latest news: January 10, 2012
By United Press International. January 9, 2012.
“WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (UPI) — Ravenous bacteria helped rapidly cleanse the Gulf of Mexico of much of the oil and gas released in the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010, researchers say…”
By the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. January 9, 2012.
“By combining detailed chemical measurements in the deep ocean, in the oil slick, and in the air, NOAA scientists and academic colleagues have independently estimated how fast gases and oil were leaking during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico…”
By Nikki Buskey, The Houma Courier. January 8, 2012.
“Debate continues over whether the Coast Guard has switched its emphasis too early from oil-spill cleanup to restoration.
State and local officials continue to argue that Louisiana’s heavily oiled shores require more long-term monitoring and quick response to re-oilings than the plan would provide…”
By Scott Eustis, Gulf Restoration Network. January 9, 2012.
“Over a year and a half into the BP oil drilling disaster, restoration seems to come too slow. Even as we see oil uncovered by successive storms, the Coast Guard has declared the Gulf coast “clean,” Congress has yet to act to direct BP’s fines to the Gulf, and we rely on the laws written after Exxon-Valdez with Alaskans in mind to restore the Gulf of Mexico…”
By Rebecca Mowbray, The Times-Picayune. January 9, 2012.
“Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has asked the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to throw out District Judge Carl Barbier’s order for the state to set aside 4 percent of any settlements from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster for possible payment to the committee of plaintiff attorneys driving the litigation. Caldwell’s petition says the state’s sovereignty has been disrespected, money for Louisiana’s environmental recovery is in jeopardy because of the order, and the attorney general has been raising these concerns since the inception of the litigation without being able to get a proper hearing…”
By Greg Hilburn, The News Star (Monroe, La.)
“A rising Ouachita River that’s spilling into the Mollicy unit of the Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge has caused the postponement of two volunteer tree plantings there…”