Restore the Mississipi River Delta

Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 3, 2013

Gulf oil a heartbreaker for bellwether fish
By Matt Smith, CNN. May 2, 2013.
"(CNN) — Lingering oil residue at the bottom of Gulf Coast marshes caused heart defects and hindered reproduction in a small fish seen as an environmental bellwether, researchers said Thursday…" (Read more)

Gov. Bryant makes major announcement
WTVA-TV. May 3, 2013.
"JACKSON, Miss. (WTVA) — Gov. Phil Bryant announced $69 million in early restoration projects for the Mississippi Gulf Coast following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill…" (Read more)

Shannon Nickinson: Tide turns for Florida Gulf Coast
The Pensacola (Fla.) News-Journal. May 2, 2013.
"This is one of those breaks we’ve been waiting for.

Now let’s prove we are worth the investment…" (Read more)

NWF blasts Ala. BP funding for luxury hotel
By Laurie Wiegler, Examiner. May 2, 2013.
"The National Wildlife Federation today chastised the choice of projects funded from monies flowing from the Natural Resources Damage Assessment process in Ala. Specifically, today Gov. George Bentley announced that his state will fund three projects as part of the early NRDA restoration process resulting from the BP oil spill…" (Read more)

Ex-BP executive seeks trial delay
The Associated Press. May 3, 2013.
"NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former BP executive has asked a federal judge to delay his trial on charges he concealed information from Congress about the amount of oil that was leaking from the company's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010…" (Read more)

Documentary chronicles a dying delta in Wellfleet film fest
By Loren King, GateHouse News Service. May 3, 2013.
"Wellfleet — “I want to keep living on our land but I’m inheriting a dying delta,” says Monique Verdin early in “My Louisiana Love,” a poetic documentary that’s also a valentine to her native southeast Louisiana…" (Read more)

Colby students mark anniversary of BP oil spill
By Kaitlin Schroeder, The Morning Sentinel (Waterville, Maine). May 2, 2013.
"WATERVILLE — A group of Colby College students staged a demonstration Thursday marking the third anniversary of the BP oil spill…" (Read more)

Louisiana House Bill 118: A commitment to coastal restoration

By Cynthia Duet, National Audubon Society

With the first phase of the civil trial for the BP oil disaster in the books, we are one step nearer to seeing Clean Water Act penalties assessed for the largest oil spill in our nation’s history. While the ultimate amount of the fines remains uncertain, their destination does not: Thanks to last year’s historic RESTORE Act, 80 percent of Clean Water Act penalties from the disaster will go to Gulf Coast states. Louisiana, with its hundreds of miles of oiled shoreline and battered wetlands and wildlife, stands to receive more RESTORE Act dollars than any other state. Used as intended, this money has the chance to help restore areas impacted by the spill and to address some of the state’s long-term coastal challenges.

The RESTORE Act is the direct result of over two years of hard work. This landmark bill would not be possible without the bipartisan group of legislators who pushed it through, the diverse coalition of state and local leaders, businesses, and NGOs, who raised awareness and support for the act, and the mass of citizen activists who voiced their support. After so much dedication, it’s important to ensure that the dollars received by the state are applied to the projects and programs that will bolster the restoration and protection of the coastal areas hit hardest by the oil spill.

Louisiana can do this through House Bill 118, a constitutional amendment that will require Clean Water Act monies received by the state be deposited into the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund and used for their intended purposes. The RESTORE Act provides the framework for use of the spill dollars, and Louisiana statutes require monies received by the state to be placed in its coastal trust fund. Constitutional protection of these dollars will solidify the application of these dollars toward implementation of critical coastal project development for many years, transcending potentially distracting discussions of uses of the funds for purposes other than those truly intended by federal and state law. Earlier this week, House Bill 118 was passed on the floor of the Louisiana House of Representatives unanimously by a vote of 98-0. The next step is the Louisiana Senate.

The passage of a constitutional amendment by a two-thirds vote of senators, later ratified by a vote of the people of Louisiana, will define Louisiana’s strong commitment to restoration of the Gulf ecosystem and the economies and communities on which a resilient Gulf depends. 

"Ecosystem restoration is the intent of the RESTORE Act and is the ultimate dream of the thousands who worked to secure its passage."

Ecosystem restoration is the intent of the RESTORE Act and is the ultimate dream of the thousands who worked to secure its passage. Now is the time to send a strong signal to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, the entity in charge of dispersing RESTORE Act dollars, that Louisiana is SERIOUS about restoring the coast. By passing House Bill 118, Louisiana can prove that it’s ready and prepared to use restoration dollars quickly and wisely in the wake of the BP oil disaster.

After millions of barrels of oil and decades of coastal land loss, Louisiana’s coast is even more fragile than before. Supporting House Bill 118 and affirming a constitutional commitment to coastal restoration is the right thing to do.

Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 2, 2013

Mud Wrestling: Skeptics question plans for rebuilding coastal Louisiana
By John Snell, Fox 8 Live. May 1, 2013.
"Breton Sound, La. — George Ricks yanks a clump of Spartina grass from a dying marsh in St. Bernard Parish…" (Read more)

Coastal restoration bill easily passes Louisiana House
By Lauren McGaughey, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). May 1, 2013.
"Any money Louisiana receives from Deepwater-Horizon-BP oil spill cleanwater fines would be used solely for coastal protection and restoration programs under a bill approved by the state's lower chamber Wednesday. The constitutional amendment passed easily by a vote of 98-0 and will head to the Senate for further debate…" (Read more)

Exposure to BP oil-contaminated sediment causes defects in killifish, study says
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. May 1, 2013.
"Exposure of embryos of a tiny Gulf of Mexico fish to sediment from Louisiana wetlands contaminated with oil from the BP Deepwater Horizon spill causes defects to the growing fish's heart and cardiovascular system, delays hatching, and reduces overall hatching success, according to a new study co-authored by two Louisiana State University scientists…" (Read more)

Federal fisheries officials say 'honeymoon over' – six red snapper violations issued
By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune. May 1, 2013.
"In an ongoing fisheries fight between Louisiana and federal officials, the acting special agent in charge of southeast federal fisheries enforcement said on Wednesday that "the honeymoon period, the education period, is over." Otha Easly was referring to six red snapper citations issued off the Louisiana coast over the weekend – the first citations issued in the disagreement over where the federal and state water line really rests…" (Read more)

Gov. Scott Announces $58 Million for Restoration Projects
By Kevin McVay, WMBB-TV (Panama City, Fla.). May 2, 2013.
"Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees have proposed $58 million in early restoration projects for Florida. To date, Phases I and II of early restoration projects for Florida have totaled $11.4 million…" (Read more)

Stop stripping funds from artificial reef development
Editorial, The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, La.). May 1, 2013.
"With the Louisiana legislative session in full swing, dollars get added and dollars get stripped from both good and bad funds. One good fund that is facing having its funds stripped is the Artificial Reef Development Fund, founded some 25 years ago…" (Read more)

Latest Mississippi River Delta News: May 1, 2013

Louisiana's Coastal Master Plan will destroy fishing, harm coast, opponents say at Monday meeting
By Todd Masson, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). April 30, 2013.
"About 300 fishing guides, commercial fishers and marina owners packed the St. Bernard Council Chambers Monday night to show solidarity and discuss a strategy to combat the state's Coastal Master Plan…" (Read more)

BP's $340 million will restore 4 barrier islands, build 2 fisheries labs
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. April 30, 2013.
"Louisiana will receive $340 million from BP in early Natural Resource Damage Assessment money for four projects to restore barrier islands and to finance two coastal science centers, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Tuesday in a news conference in Jean Lafitte. The money comes from $1 billion that BP set aside in 2011 to build early projects to compensate for damages to natural resources resulting from the three-month flow of oil resulting from the blowout of BP's Macondo well in April 2010…" (Read more)

State allocates BP oil leak funding
By Amy Wold, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.). April 30, 2013.
"LAFITTE — Four barrier islands and two fishery research stations will be beneficiaries of $340 million in funding approved as early restoration money in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Tuesday…" (Read more)

Counties upset over 'Triumph Gulf Coast' bill
The Associated Press. April 30, 2013.
"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A consortium of eight Gulf Coast counties is raising an alarm about a Florida Senate bill that creates a nonprofit board to manage money from settlements from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A consortium of eight Gulf Coast counties is raising an alarm about a Florida Senate bill that creates a nonprofit board to manage money from settlements from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill…" (Read more)

Bloomberg lists New Orleans among the 'Top 12 American Boomtowns'
By Mark Waller, The Times-Picayune. April 30, 2013.
"The Bloomberg news service has listed New Orleans among its "Top 12 American Boomtowns," citing the city's population recovery from Hurricane Katrina…" (Read more)

Latest Mississippi River Delta News: April 30, 2013

Washed away
By Amy Wold, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.). April 29, 2013.
"Yellow Cotton Bay, officially, no longer exists…" (Read more)

New output, trading lift BP profits above forecast
By Andrew Callus, Reuters. April 30, 2013.
"(Reuters) – BP Plc profits beat analyst expectations by almost $1 billion (644 million pounds) in the first quarter, helped by two new oilfields and a strong performance from its trading division…" (Read more)

BP faces wave of 2,200 lawsuits over Deepwater Horizon disaster
By Guy Chazan, The Financial Times. April 30, 2013.
"BP has been hit with a flurry of 2,200 lawsuits linked to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster as individuals, companies and government entities scramble to meet a three-year deadline for spill-related claims against the energy group…" (Read more)

Army Corps of Engineers awards contract for Plaquemines Parish levee
By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). April 29, 2013.
"The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $41.6 million levee enlargement contract for the west bank of Plaquemines Parish that will raise a section from Oakville to La Reussite to create protection from a so-called 50-year storm. It will be built to protect against storm surge created by a hurricane with a 2-percent chance of occurring each year…" (Read more)

Rising Mississippi River prompts inspections, restrictions on work near levees
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. April 29, 2013.
"A rising Mississippi River has prompted the Army Corps of Engineers to activate the first phase of its flood-fighting program, including increased levee inspections and restrictions on work within 1,500 feet of any river levee…" (Read more)

What We Think: Three years later, recovery continues
Editorial, The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, La.). April 29, 2013.
"It’s hard to believe three years have passed since the BP oil spill grabbed national headlines and airtime…" (Read more)

Latest Mississippi River Delta News: April 29, 2013

Empty nets in Louisiana three years after the spill
By Matt Smith, CNN. April 27, 2013.
"Yscloskey, Louisiana (CNN) — On his dock along the banks of Bayou Yscloskey, Darren Stander makes the pelicans dance…" (Read more)

Nature Conservancy wants RESTORE Act money for environment in South Mississippi
By Christina Steube, The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.). April 27, 2013.
"The Nature Conservancy wants to make sure ecological restoration is on the same level of economical restoration, representatives told the Sun Herald last week…" (Read more)

Arcadis Wins Order to Evaluate Lower Manhattan Flood Protection
By Martijn van der Starre, Bloomberg News. April 29, 2013.
"Arcadis NV (ARCAD), the biggest Dutch designer of bridges and dikes, won an order to evaluate options for flood prevention in New York as the city works to avoid a repeat of the destruction last year by superstorm Sandy…" (Read more)

Restoring Gulf Coast environment supports regional, national economy
The Dayton (Tex.) News. April 28, 2013.
"As the third anniversary of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster approaches, Ducks Unlimited remembers the 11 lives lost and reminds decision makers that Gulf Coast ecosystems intrinsically linked to the regional and national economy are still in a devastating state of decline…" (Read more)

Rep. Richmond bill would add national economic effects to levee construction decisions
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). April 26, 2013.
"U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-N.O., introduced legislation Friday that would require the Army Corps of Engineers to consider financial effects on the national economy, including product cost increases caused by the shutdown or flooding of refineries and chemical plants, when weighing the costs and benefits of building new river and hurricane flood protection levees…" (Read more)

New York City Employee Pension Funds Sue BP Over Gulf Oil Spill
By Karen Gullo, Bloomberg News. April 26, 2013.
"New York City pension funds sued BP Plc (BP/) for at least $39 million in investment losses, saying the oil company failed to disclose the risks and safety issues leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico…" (Read more)

Latest Mississippi River Delta News: April 26, 2013

BP oil spill trial: Federal judge issues order outlining key questions
By Richard Thompson, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). April 24, 2013.
"The federal judge overseeing the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill litigation issued an order Wednesday (April 24) outlining what he believes are the key questions from the first phase of the sprawling civil trial, which wrapped up a week ago…" (Read more)

Analysis: BP's legal gamble may trim spill bill by billions
By Kathy Finn and Braden Reddall, Reuters. April 22, 2013.
"(Reuters) – BP Plc's attempt to get a U.S. federal court to pin at least a sizeable amount of the blame for the Deepwater Horizon disaster on other companies may have saved it billions of dollars…" (Read more)

A Deadly Paradox: Scientists Discover the Agent Used in Gulf Spill Cleanup Is Destroying Marine Life
By David Kirby, Take Part. April 25, 2013.
"Three years ago, when BP’s Deepwater Horizon began leaking some 210 million gallons of Louisiana Crude into the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. government allowed the company to apply chemical “dispersants” to the blossoming oil slick to prevent toxic gunk from reaching the fragile bays, beaches, and mangroves of the coast, where so much marine life originates…" (Read more)

Landrieu's re-election appeal: 'I'm indispensible' for restoring Louisiana's coast
By Bruce Alpert, The Times-Picayune. April 23, 2013.
"WASHINGTON — Preparing to run for a 4th term next year in a state significantly more conservative and Republican then when she won her first Senate campaign in 1996, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is laying out the major argument she'll make to voters: That she has the seniority and relationships on Capitol Hill to get things done for her state…" (Read more)

States Sue Feds Over Red Snapper Season
By Cameron Langford, Courthouse News Service. April 25, 2013.
"BROWNSVILLE, Texas (CN) – Texas and Louisiana sued Uncle Sam to try to block a rule that would shorten the red snapper fishing season in the Gulf of Mexico…" (Read more)

Editorial: Keep RESTORE local
The Pensacola News Journal. April 25, 2013.
"We remain cautiously optimistic that state Sen. Don Gaetz and his colleagues in Tallahassee will continue to allow Escambia and Santa Rosa counties to decide how best to spend money that will be sent here as compensation from the 2010 oil spill…" (Read more)

Latest Mississippi River Delta News: April 25, 2013

What BP Doesn’t Want You to Know About the 2010 Gulf Spill
By Mark Hertsgaard, The Daily Best. April 22, 2013.
""It’s as safe as Dawn dishwashing liquid.” That’s what Jamie Griffin says the BP man told her about the smelly, rainbow-streaked gunk coating the floor of the “floating hotel” where Griffin was feeding hundreds of cleanup workers during the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico…" (Read more)

Buzzing of insects falls silent in oiled coastal marshes
By Amy Wold, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.). April 23, 2013.
"Louisiana’s coastal marshes can be noisy places with insects buzzing and chirping constantly, but that’s no longer the case in some places…" (Read more)

Gulf oil spill judge poses questions on gross negligence issue
By Harry R. Weber, FuelFix, April 24, 2013.
"The federal judge who must decide whether BP and its partners were grossly negligent in connection with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill is offering some clues as to how he will formulate his decision…" (Read more)

Meetings set to make sure recreational fishing gets big chunk of BP fines
By Todd Masson, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). April 25, 2013.
"The money that will eventually be coming into Louisiana through fines levied on BP and other companies for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill will quite possibly make fishing better in the state, according to Chris Macaluso with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership…" (Read more)

Baucus’ retirement could put Louisiana Democrat in charge of energy panel
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, April 25, 2013.
"U.S. Sen. Max Baucus’ decision to retire sets in motion a chain of events that could end with Sen. Mary Landrieu taking the helm of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, putting the Louisiana Democrat in the driver’s seat for big debates on offshore drilling and natural gas production…" (Read more)

Louisiana bill reducing buffer zone for Orleans Parish levees indefinitely deferred
By Sheila V. Kumar, The Times-Picayune. April 23, 2013.
"Legislation to decrease the state-mandated buffer zone along levees and floodwalls on the Orleans Avenue, London Avenue and 17th Street drainage canals from 15 feet to 6 feet was voluntarily deferred by a House panel Tuesday after a compromise was tentatively reached that will not require a state law…" (Read more)

Fairhope seeking RESTORE Act money to settle ongoing lawsuit
By Gabriel Tynes, Lagniappe (Mobile, Ala.). April 17, 2013.
"For 10, 20, 30 and now more than 40 years, the land has been in limbo. It’s the gateway to Fairhope and for two generations the family that owns it has advocated for its development…" (Read more)

Planned Gulf lease sale to open 21 million acres for oil, gas drilling
By Richard Thompson, The Times-Picayune. April 24, 2013.
"Federal regulators plan to put more than 21 million acres in the western Gulf of Mexico up for bid to offshore energy producers in August, the Obama administration said Wednesday…" (Read more)

Latest Mississippi River Delta News: April 23, 2013

Mississippi River to crest below flood stage in Vicksburg
By Greg Hilburn, Gannett. April 22, 2013.
"Though some communities in Illinois and Missouri are fighting floodwaters from the Mississippi River, it's expected to crest below flood stage throughout most of Louisiana…" (Read more)

DEO bill would re-route oil spill fine dollars from 8 Gulf counties
By Bruce Ritchie, The Florida Current. April 22, 2013.
"A proposed amendment to a Senate bill dealing with the Department of Economic Opportunity would remove eight Panhandle counties from the decision-making process for spending money from fines in the 2010 Gulf oil spill, according to commissioners from those counties…" (Read more)

Gaetz creates non-profit to protect oil spill settlement money
By Mary Ellen Klas, Naked Politics Blog (Miami Herald). April 22, 2013.
"Deep within the massive 100-page amendment to SB 1024, the Senate's giant economic developmment bill, is a lengthy new initiative offered up by Senate President Don Gaetz designed to shield any potential proceeds from the lawsuit against BP and Halliburton over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill…" (Read more)

Latest Mississippi River Delta News: April 22, 2013

Deepwater Horizon: Surviving the oil spill – interactive video
BBC News. April 18, 2013.
"Three years on from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which devastated the Gulf Coast of the US, the residents of Grand Isle, Louisiana, are still living with the effects of the disaster…" (Read more)

Congress needs to hold the corps accountable: Editorial
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). April 21, 2013.
"U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval spoke for South Louisiana residents last week when he expressed frustration that there is no way to hold the Army Corps of Engineers legally accountable for levee failures during Hurricane Katrina…" (Read more)

BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill draws wide array of comments on 3rd anniversary
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. April 19, 2013.
"A variety of elected officials and representatives of industry and environmental organizations are marking Saturday's third anniversary of the blowout of the BP Macondo well…" (Read more)

BP Spill Trial Testimony Ends For First Phase Of Case
By Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press. April 17, 2013.
"NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Testimony concluded Wednesday for the first phase of a high-stakes trial over the deadly 2010 rig explosion that led to the nation's worst offshore oil spill, but the presiding judge didn't immediately rule in the case…" (Read more)

Graham says Gulf is safer since spill, but needs restoration
By Chip Skambis, WUFT (Gainesville, Fla.). April 19, 2013.
"Saturday marks the third anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico…" (Read more)

Florida Sues BP On Third Anniversary Of Gulf Oil Spill
By James L. Rosica, The Associated Press. April 20, 2013.
"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The state of Florida filed a lawsuit Saturday against oil company BP and cement contractor Halliburton over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, becoming the fourth state to seek damages for the 2010 disaster…" (Read more)

BP Spill: Three Years On Oil Still Lingers in the Gulf Coast
By Maureen Nandini Mitra, Earth Island Journal. April 20, 2013.
"Three years after an explosion at British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers, injured dozens, and set off the worst oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry, the waters along Gulf Coast seems almost back to normal…" (Read more)

Fishermen on Three Years of BP Disaster: "How are we ever going to get through this?"
Bridge the Gulf. April 19, 2013.
"Three years since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico set off the worst oil disaster in United States history, BP Chief Bob Dudley says everything is fine in the Gulf of Mexico…" (Read more)

Louisiana and other coastal states deserve a fair share of oil revenues: Mary Landrieu
By Sen. Mary Landrieu for The Times-Picayune. April 19, 2013.
"It has been three years since the Deepwater Horizon exploded, killing 11 men and injuring dozens of others, severely impacting the economy of the Gulf Coast and polluting our fragile ecosystem with millions of barrels of oil…" (Read more)