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Wednesday, 09 November 2011 18:18 |
By George Altman, Washington Bureau – Press-Register - al.com – November 5, 2011Environmental advocates worried Friday that without public oversight and participation, the billions of recovery dollars that could be headed to the Gulf Coast as a result of last year’s oil spill will be squandered, and Gulf ecosystems will continue to suffer. NRDA is tasked with repairing the Gulf environment to its condition just before the spill began. But with lost wetlands and other ecological damage done to the area throughout the years, that’s not good enough, panelists said. To read full story, click here. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 09 November 2011 18:29 |
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Monday, 03 October 2011 18:53 |
NOAA - September 2011 Natural resource trustees, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of the Interior, and trustee agencies from the states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, are leading efforts to assess and restore affected Gulf resources. The Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) is the process used to evaluate the impacts to natural resources and lost human use of those resources. The trustees continue to collect information on natural resources to assess potential impacts to fish, shellfish, marine mammals, turtles, birds, and other sensitive resources, as well as their habitat (e.g., wetlands, beaches, and coral). Lost recreational human uses, such as fishing, hunting, and beach enjoyment also are being assessed. For full report, click here.
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Last Updated on Monday, 03 October 2011 18:59 |
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Thursday, 01 September 2011 18:10 |
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The report contains information about EPA's work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including better protection of water quality in Appalachia from the harmful effects of surface coal mining operations and information about OWOW’s response to the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill. To view in PDF, click here.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 01 September 2011 18:15 |
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Monday, 10 October 2011 00:00 |
Environmental Protection Agency
One year after President Obama established the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, the group issued its strategy for reversing the decline of the region's ecosystem. The Task Force says its preliminary report is the first formal agreement on what the priorities should be for coastal restoration. The Task Force includes representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as the five Gulf States and 10 other federal agencies. They held over 40 public hearings before preparing this plan. The report's major recommendations are - Restore and conserve habitat. Stop the loss of critical wetlands, sand barriers and beaches, and key habitats for a wide range of fish and other animals.
- Restore Water Quality such as Nutrient Flow into the Gulf. The "Dead Zone" in the Gulf - the largest hypoxic zone in the US and second-largest in the world - is caused by the input of excess nutrient pollution to the Gulf, most of which comes from upstream from states along the Mississippi River.
- Enhance Resiliency Among Coastal Communities. The task force proposes to work with each Gulf state to build greater integrated capacity through effective coastal improvement plans, such as community planning, risk assessment and smart growth implementation.
For the full report, Gulf of Mexico Regional Ecosystem Restoration Strategy (Preliminary), click here. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 24 October 2011 17:29 |
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Monday, 19 September 2011 16:20 |
By Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement – September 14, 2011
“BP, as the designated operator under BOEMRE regulations, was ultimately responsible for conducting operations at Macondo in a way that ensured the safety and protection of personnel, equipment, natural resources, and the environment. Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon, was responsible for conducting safe operations and for protecting personnel onboard. Halliburton, as a contractor to BP, was responsible for conducting the cement job, and, through its subsidiary (Sperry Sun), had certain responsibilities for monitoring the well.” For full report, click here. |
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Monday, 27 June 2011 20:25 |
Applied Minerals, Inc. - June 27, 2011
Applied Minerals, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (the "CRADA") with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's National Risk Management Research Laboratory (the "EPA") to pursue the development of its Dragonite(TM) Halloysite Clay sorbent technology used for the bio-remediation of oil from contaminated salt marsh and wetland environments. For more information, click here. |
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Last Updated on Monday, 27 June 2011 20:27 |
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In April 2010, the B.P. owned Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf through several complex system failures. ASWM has been tracking news of the spill's impact on coastal wetlands in the Gulf. If you're looking for Gulf oil spill news stories,