NOAA Continues to Investigate Resource Impacts for Oil Spill in New Orleans

On July 23, a 600-foot chemical tanker and 200-foot fuel barge collided on the Mississippi River. The barge was torn in half, spilling several hundred thousand gallons of fuel oil into tthe river near the French Quarter in downtown New Orleans. The released oil spread 100 miles down the Mississippi River, resulting in injury to roughly 200 miles of shoreline.

Photo of visible oiling on the river near the downtown Riverwalk area.

After more than five weeks, NOAA staff are still working with other federal and state agencies (collectively known as the "Trustees") on pre-assessment activities at the spill site. Recent field activities have been focused on shoreline cleanup and the evaluation of bottom sediments in the Mississippi River where oil from the barge may have been deposited. Of the 198 miles of shoreline that have been assessed for oiling and cleanup by response personnel, 84% is considered clean. The remaining shoreline under active cleanup is primarily rip-rap habitat in highly visible area. The Trustees will use information from the cleanup in combination of aerial and ground habitat oiling surveys, as well as other information, to determine whether injuries to natural resources and services occurred from the incident. The assessment activities occurring in the New Orleans area also will inform approriate restoration activities to compensate the public for any loss of natural resources resulting from the spill. 

Any eventual restoration project resulting from this spill will contribute to addressing the larger challenge of protecting and restoring Louisiana's coastal ecosystem, which is losing an estimated 24 square miles of coastal wetlands a year.

Oiling continuing to leak from barge against bridge.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, there were an average 1,500 reported oil spills a year in Louisiana between 1991 through 2004, or about four reported spills a day. This is in part due to the large volume of oil and gas which pass through Louisiana's coastal zone: a network of nearly 9,300 miles of oil and gas pipelines and associated energy facilities are located there. Another major factor that contributes to the large number of spills is Louisiana's receding wetlands, which increase exposure of this aging infrastructure to natural and man-made threats (e.g., tropical storms and vessel collision).

For more information about the Louisiana oil spill, please contact Rachel Brittin at Rachel.Brittin@noaa.gov or Michael Jarvis at Michael.Jarvis@noaa.gov.

Recent Boat Tours Highlight NOAA's Protection and Restoration Efforts

On August 11, staff from the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee, the Offices of Senator Maria Cantwell and Representative Norm Dicks joined staff from NOAA's Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP), NMFS Northwest Region, NMFS Montlake Lab, and NOAA Legislative Affairs for a boat ride across Puget Sound, a tour of the NMFS Manchester Lab, and a boat tour of South Elliott Bay, and the Lower Duwamish River, WA. On a second boat tour held that same week, DARRP and NOAA partners hosted Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator and David A. Sampson, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Commerce. The goal of these events was to provide a short overview of NOAA activities in Puget Sound and how these efforts are coordinated with other Federal and State agencies.

On each of the two tours, the attendees were given an overview of NOAA's responsibilities under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) and the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) - from response and assessment and ultimately through negotiations and restoration of the public's injured natural resources. The tour also highlighted a number of Superfund sites where NOAA is assessing injury along the river, including the East Waterway and Lower Duwamish River sites, where NOAA is providing advice on cleanup approaches and negotiating compensatory restoration. For more information, please contact Jennifer.Steger@noaa.gov or Mary.Baker@noaa.gov.

Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet Assessment Project

Congress requested NOAA to evaluate the potential environmental impact of the federally owned vessels in Suisun Bay, California. These vessels are maintained by the United States Maritime Administration and include more than 70 obsolete or decommissioned ships, sometimes referred to as the "Reserve" or "Mothball Fleet."

The State of California and several bay area environmental groups have raised concerns about the environmental impacts, and plans to move the vessels through San Francisco Bay for eventual scrapping and disposal. Issues range from the potential presence of heavy metals in paint that is peeling and falling off, to antifouling agents used in bottom paint on the hulls, to PCBs and other hazardous materials that may have been released from the ships.

NOAA will be conducting a field investigation and preparing documents to help address these concerns.

Read more about the Suisun Special Project for more information, or view the latest, July 2008 Status Report