NOAA Opens Another 4,000 Square Miles In Gulf

by Miles Wolf Tamboli - the Talk Radio News Service

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reopened over 4,000 square miles of Gulf waters in western Louisiana to recreational and commercial fishing, Friday, according to a press release issued by the Deepwater Horizon Response Joint Command.

No oil has been reported in the area since July 18, excluding a light sheen on July 29, and trajectory models show that no contamination is expected to enter the area.

The NOAA sampled fish and shrimp in the region from July 26 to July 29 and have declared all samples, “well below the levels of concern.” The NOAA will continue to monitor the area for oil, and will conduct fish sampling to and testing to assure that the seafood is safe.

“We have confidence that seafood harvested from this area is free from harmful oil residues and can be enjoyed by consumers around the nation,” said Margaret Hamburg, M.D., Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

Over 48,000 square miles of the Gulf remain closed as the administration works to determine the ecological and health effects of the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the highly criticized heavy use of chemical dispersants following the spill. 

More Than 5,000 Square Miles Of Gulf Waters Reopened

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News Service

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association announced Tuesday that 5,144 square miles of ocean in the Gulf of Mexico are now safe for fishing, according to the NOAA with collaboration from the FDA and Gulf states. 

The NOAA and US Coast Guard report that they have seen no significant oil in the area since July 3rd, and have deemed the zone safe from any future exposures to oil.  According to an NOAA press release Tuesday, “fish caught in the area and tested by NOAA experts have shown no signs of contamination.”

“Consumer safety is NOAA’s primary concern, which is why we developed rigorous safety standards in conjunction with the FDA and the Gulf states to ensure that seafood is safe in the reopened area,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco; “we are confident that Gulf fish from this area is safe to eat and pleased that recreational and commercial fisherman can fish these waters again.” 

The organization reiterated consumer safety as its highest priority, but emphasized that the decision was influenced by the importance of fishing to the livelihoods of many living on the Gulf Coast. 

52,395 square miles are still off limits to commercial and recreational fishing, constituting nearly a quarter of the Gulf’s federal waters - and area roughly the size of the state of Louisiana.

Environmental Expert Warns Of Health Threats In Gulf Region

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News

A House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee held a field hearing Monday on the "Local Impact of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill" in Chalmette, Louisiana. During the hearing, environmental experts offered up to date information on how the spill will affect human health in the region.

The use of dispersants and the fumes created by burning oil off the surface of the water have created "crude oil aerosols," which "have resulted in health impacts including headaches, nausea, respiratory impacts, irritation to eyes, nose, throat and lungs and asthma attacks," according to Wilma Subra, a leading environmental scientist and president of the Subra Company.

"BP ... failed to provide adequate protective gear to the fishermen [and] workers exposed to the crude oil and the workers experienced health impacts," Subra said. "The workers were afraid to speak up due to the potential to lose their jobs. Those fishermen who attempted to wear respirators while working were threatened to be fired by BP."

In addition to the health effects, Subra said that attempts to mitigate the massive oil spill have also negatively impacted the local ecology.

"The actions have had detrimental impacts to the water column, sediment, biota and wetland areas by dispersing the crude oil into the water column, sediments and wetland areas," Subra explained. "The dispersing of the crude oil also has resulted in a much larger area of impact in the Gulf of Mexico than has been covered by the surface crude oil spill."

Lake-Destroying Mining Operation OK, High Court Rules

The Supreme Court today blessed a gold mining operation in Alaska that is virtually guaranteed to kill all the wildlife in a nearby lake — although the mining company promises it will later "reclaim" the lake, filling it with organic material to make it an even better wildlife habitat.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had already approved the project, which was being disputed by a coalition of Alaskan environmental groups. In upholding the agencies' approval, the Court upheld its familiar rule that federal agencies are entitled to deference.

The case stemmed out of a proposal by Couer Alaska to reopen the Kensington Gold Mine, near Juneau, which had been closed since 1928. Couer hoped to make the mine profitable by using a technique called "froth flotation" to pull gold-bearing minerals to the top of a tank of roiling water. Couer would then dispose of the crushed rock and water slurry in the Lower Slate Lake, three miles away in the Tongass National Forest. The slurry would almost completely fill the 23-acre lake, currently 51 feet deep at its maximum, transforming it into a 60-acre lake about one foot deep. In the process, all the fish and fauna in the lake would die.

The alternative, Coeur argued, was to place the slurry on nearby wetlands, creating a pile that would rise twice as high and cover three times the area of the Pentagon. This would permanently destroy dozens of acres of wetlands.

Couer needed federal approval before it could proceed with its plan. Two separate provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA) seemed to give authority over the discharge of slurry to both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which has jurisdiction over the creation of wetlands, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which is responsible for monitoring levels of waste in the water.

The Army Corps approved the gold mining plan, finding it was the "least environmentally damaging" way to dispose of the slurry, and that the damage would only be temporary, since in the future the reclaimed lake will be an even better wildlife habitat. The EPA declined to veto the Corps permit.

The permit was challenged by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC), a coalition of 12 Alaskan environmental groups. According to SEACC, the Army Corps did not have the authority to approve the mining operation because a section of the CWA forbids even tiny solid waste discharges -- and that includes the slurry discharge, 30% of which is solid waste. The company and the federal government argued that another section of the CWA grants the Army Corps blanket authority to permit the discharge of the slurry.

In light of the ambiguities in the CWA, the Court looked to the agencies' interpretation -- and found that the agencies had resolved the problem "in a reasonable and coherent way." An internal EPA memo explained that the prohibition on solid waste discharge applies not to the initial discharge of slurry into the lake, but to any further discharge into downstream waters.

The Army Corps had the sole authority to grant the permit, the Court ruled, because the slurry would fall under the regulations for "fill material," which is solely under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps, not the EPA.

Three justices dissented, arguing that the use of waters as "settling ponds" for harmful mining waste runs "antithetical to the text, structure and purpose of the Clean Water Act."

The case was Coeur Alaska, Inc. v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (07-984/07-990).