5 Years Post-Katrina, President Obama Applauds Resilience, Reform, & Recovery

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - The Talk Radio News Service

President Obama travelled to New Orleans, Sunday, to deliver an address to a city that, five years earlier, experienced the catastrophic effects of a category five hurricane, named Katrina, which changed the lives of millions along the Gulf Coast. 

In his address, the President focused on the progress the city has made since the disaster, and the inimitable resilience of the Coast’s residents.

“We’ve seen many return to their beloved city with a new-found sense of appreciation and obligation to this community,” said the President.

Obama detailed the recent achievements and successes of New Orleans’ housing system, justice system, and the recent re-opening of Charity Hospital, and specifically mentioned the hard work of New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) for striving to build the city’s infrastructure to a level higher than it had been before the disaster.

The President also enlightened residents on a decision the administration adopted on Friday to direct $1.8 billion to Orleans parish schools so that they may continue to become, “a model of innovation for the nation.”

“You’re not just rebuilding,” said the President; “you’re rebuilding stronger than before.”

The administration promises to have rebuilt the levees by next year, and pledges to improve emergency planning and response so that, “never again in America is somebody left behind in a disaster because they are living with a disability, or because they’re elderly, or because they’re infirm,” assured the President.

President Obama also remarked on his continued commitment to holding BP accountable for the oil spill that has made recovery from the prior disaster that much more difficult.

Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast on April 29th, 2005, taking the lives of nearly 2,000 and leaving over $81 billion in damage in its wake.

Administration Arranges "Dockside Chats" To Alleviate Gulf Seafood Concerns

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News Service

The Obama administration announced Wednesday that they will soon begin conducting “dockside chats” to inform the public on the safety of seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. 

Only a few days after the first official day of the shrimping season in Louisiana, many still fear that Gulf seafood may be unsafe for consumption due to the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which gushed for more than three months and spewed millions of barrels of crude oil into Gulf waters.

The administration has scheduled eight of these chats in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida in order to address these fears and keep the public up-to-date on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) rigorous safety measures to ensure that tainted seafood does not reach consumers.

“We are committed to making sure that Gulf seafood is the safest in the world and to reassuring consumers that Gulf seafood is safe to eat,” NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said Wednesday.

State and federal teams will meet with commercial fishermen, shrimpers, crabbers, oystermen and local officials to answer questions, discuss concerns and “correct misinformation.” 

Pressure Tests Determine Oil In Annulus; Officials Debate How To Proceed

by Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News Service

In a conference call with reporters, Friday, National Incident Commander Thad Allen reported the status of pressure tests on the Macondo deepwater well - the well responsible for the months-long oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - which resumed Thursday after storms passed through the Gulf.

Allen told reporters that the tests had revealed, “something that is between the annulus and the reservoir that is not allowing the flow of hydrocarbons … the question is, what to do about that moving forward.” 

Crews have determined that there may be as much as 1,000 barrels of “stagnant” oil suspended in the well, which could compromise the success of the bottom kill. “Tt remains a work in progress,” said Allen; “we’re trying to assess the options that we have. Everyone is in agreement that we need to proceed with the relief well - the question is how to do that.”

There is a risk that pumping mud and cement into the bottom of the well could increase the pressure beyond the threshold of the machinery now holding the well shut. “To increase the pressure in the blowout preventer and the capping stack in excess of 7,500 PSI would put that link in between them at risk, and we’re trying to figure out what that means and how we could mitigate that risk,” said Allen. 

Officials report that they are still wholly committed to completing the relief well and executing the bottom kill, and Allen reported that despite pressure test results showing a possible situation in which conducting a bottom kill could endanger the well’s integrity, BP officials would be “delighted” to show that they could, “drill down over 17,00 feet below sea level and hit a 7-inch pipe.” 

“The relief well will be finished, and that is the end result. How it gets finished will be determined on risk mitigation and the way forward that’s being discussed right now. The relief well will be finished - we will kill the well,” Allen concluded. The well will take about 96 hours to complete once drilling has resumed, according to administration officials.

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.

Relief Well Drilling Suspended Due To Weather

By Miles Wolf Tamboli - Talk Radio News Service

As heavy storms brew in the Gulf of Mexico, National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen reports that drilling will halt on the relief well that may finally put an end to the months-long BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill until the weather system has passed.

The Development Driller III, which has drilled to within about thirty feet of the crippled Macondo well, will disengage from the well itself but will remain onsite through the storm. Allen told reporters that the joint command had expected to complete the relief well on Thursday or Friday of this week - “this could potentially delay the final portion of the relief well for two to three days.”

The response team does not expect the storms to reach hurricane status, but are executing safety measures “as a precaution.”

In the meantime, the team, “will continue our aggressive search for oil that’s onshore in the marshes, to make sure we’re being responsive to the oil that does appear.”

“As we near the completion of the relief well, we’ll kind of assess where we’re at because we are moving into a new phase, where we’ll be focusing on locating any oil that remains out there - surface or subsurface - focusing on cleanup, and starting with the long-term recovery issues, and making sure that BP maintains their commitment,” said Allen.