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RRT VI Semi-Annual Meeting
January 20, 2004
The Region VI Regional Response Team Winter Meeting will be held January 27-28, 2004 at the Best Western Richmond Suites Hotel in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Highlights of the two-day meeting include an in-depth discussion on the Marine Transportation Security Act and a field trip to the LNG facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The attached document is a complete agenda for the two-day meeting.
Complete Agenda
Mendicant Oil Spill
December 2, 2003
On December 2, 2003, failure of a 12” pipeline beneath Barataria Bay (due north of Grand Isle near Mendicant Island) resulted in a release of approximately 380 bbls of crude oil. Primary resources at risk for injury were birds rafting in the area and marsh vegetation that came into contact with the crude oil. LOSCO responded to the spill to coordinate the state’s response efforts. Cleanup activities are still ongoing.
Freshwater Spills Symposium 2004
January 20, 2004
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will host the 5th Biennial Freshwater Spills Symposium at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 6-8, 2004. The symposium offers an opportunity for local, state, federal, and industry responders; natural resource trustees and managers; facility response planners; and additional stakeholders to engage in an exchange targeted at the unique problems of freshwater oil spills. This year a special Dispersant Workshop Planning Session is tentatively scheduled for April 8, 2004. The intention of this workshop is for interested parties to discuss the planning of a workshop focusing on dispersant use in U.S. waters. For additional information, please visit www.freshwaterspills.net/fss2004/index.html.
New Orleans Hosts Clean Gulf 2003 Conference and Exhibition
November 19-20, 2003
The Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office co-hosted the 13th annual Clean Gulf Conference and Exhibition November 19-20, 2003 at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. More than 2,000 attended this year's conference and exhibition which transitioned to the new realities of environmental and security concerns, and brought into focus the intertwined relationships between regulatory, operator, and response communities. With key perspectives from the inland, coastal and offshore ports, facilities, pipelines, and shipping and drilling marketplaces, this year's event offered something for everyone. In addition, more than 175 exhibitors showcased products, services, and technologies serving the energy industry as related to oil spill prevention, emergency response, security, clean-up, and fire and salvage. Clean Gulf 2004 will be held November 17-18, 2004 in Tampa, Florida. For additional information, please visit www.cleangulf.org.
Restoration
Begins for T/V Westchester Oil Spill
Septembert 16, 2003
State of Louisiana and federal
natural resource trustees settled with the Responsible
Parties for the November
28, 2000 T/V Westchester oil spill of approximately
500,000 gallons of crude oil into the Mississippi
River at River Mile 38 in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.
With oversight from state and federal agencies, the
Responsible Parties will begin implementing restoration
projects to address the resources injured by the
spill.
Under the terms of the settlement agreement, the
Responsible Parties will implement a marsh restoration
project in the Pass-a-Loutre State Wildlife Management
Area, south of Venice, Louisiana, that will grow
to at least 4.7 acres in size. The project involves
making a cut (crevasse splay) in the riverbank, which
will allow the natural process of sedimentation and
vegetative colonization to occur and form marsh in
the Mississippi River Delta. The marsh will provide
critical nursery habitat for shrimp, fish, and other
aquatic species, nesting and foraging habitat for
birds and other wildlife, and enhanced opportunities
for fishing and hunting.
In addition to the ecological restoration project,
the Responsible Parties will construct a multipurpose
dock to enhance hunting, fishing, and recreational
opportunities at the Pass?a?Loutre State Wildlife
Management Area near the Freshwater Reservoir to
compensate the public for lost recreational opportunities.
Agencies
Seek Input on Draft Regional Restoration Plan Developed
Under New Statewide Program Promoting Restoration
of Natural Resources Injured by Oil
Spills
Septembert 16, 2003
State of Louisiana and federal
natural resource trustees are soliciting public comments
on a draft Regional Restoration Plan to restore natural
resources
injured by oil spills. This draft Region 2 Plan is the first of nine regional
plans to be developed under the statewide Louisiana Regional Restoration Planning
Program. Region 2 encompasses the Breton Sound and Barataria hydrologic basins
and the lower Mississippi River basin, delta plain, and modern Balize (Birdsfoot)
delta, including state waters in the Gulf of Mexico. The following parishes
are located either partly or completely within Region 2: Ascension, Assumption,
Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James,
and St. John the Baptist. The draft Plan describes the affected environment,
biological resources, and associated habitat types,
as well as the natural resources/services that are
likely to be injured by an incident, appropriate
restoration types for each of the potentially injured
resources/services, and available restoration projects
that have been identified to date. One of the key
features of the draft Region 2 Plan is the determination
of a representative unit cost to restore predominant
habitat types in the region as part of a cash settlement.
The proposed predominant habitat types in Region
2 are coastal herbaceous wetlands, oyster reefs,
and coastal-forested wetlands.
The draft Region 2 Plan will be released on or before
September 23, 2003. Written comments should be submitted
by October 23, 2003 to William Conner at the following
address:
William Conner, Chief, NOAA/Damage
Assessment Center,
1305 East-West Highway, SSMC #4, 10th floor,
Silver Spring, MD, 20910, Fax (301) 713-4389, William.Conner@noaa.gov. For more information, please
visit the Programs & Services/RRP
Program page of this website.
Upcoming
Events: La Fete d’Ecologie September 27,
2003 and Clean Gulf 2003 November 19-20, 2003
Septembert 16, 2003
Please visit http://lafete.btnep.org/ for information on the 7th Annual La Fete d’Ecologie, to be
held Saturday, September 27, 2003 10:00 am–6:00
pm in Peltier Park, Thibodaux, Louisiana. Please visit http://www.cleangulf.org/ for information
on Clean Gulf 2003, to be held November 19-20, 2003
at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Notice
of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning in Plaquemines
Parish, Louisiana for the
Lake Washington Oil Spill
Septembert 16, 2003
The Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's
Office (LOSCO) as the trustee coordinator for the
State of Louisiana, in consultation and agreement
with state and federal
natural resource trustees, have determined that the impacts of the March 2,
2003 discharge of 995 barrels of crude oil into Lake Grande Ecaille and surrounding
coastal waters, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, warrant conducting a Natural
Resource Damage Assessment that will include restoration planning.
This Notice of Intent for this oil spill incident
will be published in the September 2003 Louisiana
State Register and will be available online at http://www.state.la.us/osr/osr.htm.
For more
information, please contact the Louisiana Oil Spill
Coordinator's Office/Office of the Governor
at 150 3rd Street, Suite 405, Baton Rouge, LA,
70801 (Attn: Oil Spill/Gina Muhs Saizan), Phone
(225) 219-5800.
Notice
of Intent to Conduct Restoration Planning in Terrebonne
Parish, Louisiana for the Terrebonne Bay Oil Spill
Septembert 16, 2003
The Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's
Office (LOSCO) as the trustee coordinator for the
State of Louisiana, in consultation and agreement
with state and federal
natural resource trustees, have determined that the impacts of the January
30, 2003 discharge of approximately 160 barrels of crude oil into Terrebonne
Bay, Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, warrant conducting a Natural Resource Damage
Assessment that will include restoration planning.
This Notice of Intent for this oil spill incident
will be published in the September 2003 Louisiana
State Register and will be available online at http://www.state.la.us/osr/osr.htm.
For more information, please contact the Louisiana
Oil Spill Coordinator's Office/Office of the Governor
at 150 3rd Street, Suite 405, Baton Rouge, LA, 70801
(Attn: Oil Spill/Gina Muhs Saizan), Phone (225) 219-5800.
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