Plaquemine Parish In Recovery From Katrina

I finally made it to the Oil Disaster Zone, specifically to Plaquemine Parish and the Zion Travelers Cooperative Center.  ZTCC has been doing great work organizing for an effective response to the effects of the BP oil disaster on communities in the path of the oil.

But Plaquemine received the first direct hit from Hurricane Katrina.  When a group of us went to Louisiana in December 2005 to meet activists working on Katrina recovery we went to meet Rev. Tyrone Edwards in Phoenix Louisiana.  As Rev. Edwards noted today, "The place was tore up."  Someone's house was teetering on the edge of the levee.  Houses reduced to piles and the community cemetery had been decimated.  Body bags were strewn about the grounds among broken crypts and toppled headstones.

Today, 90% of Plaquemine residents have returned.  ZTCC has been a leader in helping the African-American community recover.  There are repaired homes, new manufactured housing, a new community center about to open.  And while I think the air might still be a little toxic from the BP disaster (more on this later), it made my heart sing to see such a vigorous recovery. 

Oh, and the last four bodies that had been ripped from their rest were re-interred on the 5th  anniversary.

The Containment Strategy Hasn't Worked -- Updates and Air Monitoring Analysis

There aren't any graphics in this post since the NOAA site is not responding.  But there is valuable information, all of it based on the excellent communications gathered by Amber Valentin of the Gulf Coast Fund:

Fisherfolk are among the front line defenders of the fragile ecosystems of the Gulf Coast.  Twice BP has attempted to cast responsibility for safety oversight onto the shoulders of those who have stepped forward to clean up the mess that BP has made.  First, Alabama fisherpeople went to court seeking and successfully receiving an order that stop BP from forcing egregious indemnification agreements onto volunteers.  Now the Louisiana courts have issued an amendment order to these so-called "charter agreements."

Federal officials from the EPA will be making the rounds at community meetings in Mississippi on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  They will be calling on officials from other government agencies (Homeland Security, NOAA, Coast Guard) to join them.

Louisiana Environmental Action Network has posted Wilma Subra's analysis of EPA air monitoring results:

Evaluation of EPA Air Monitoring Results from Venice, LA for the period of April 28, 2010 - May 7, 2010

by Wilma Subra

Hydrogen Sulfide

Odor Threshold for Hydrogen Sulfide: 0.5 ppb
Physical Reaction Symptoms: 5 to 10 ppb

Acute Physical Health Symptoms:

Irritates eyes

Irritates nose, throat and lungs

Nausea, dizziness, confusion, headache

Venice Hydrogen Sulfide Air Monitoring Results for the period of April 28, 2010 - May 7, 2010
Date:	Hydrogen Sulfide (parts per billion):
April 28	None Detected
April 29	No Data
April 30	No Data
May 1	No Data
May 2	30 ppb
May 3	1,192 ppb
May 4	46 ppb
May 5	1,010 ppb
May 6	1,000 ppb
May 7	280 ppb

The results of the Hydrogen Sulfide air monitoring in Venice indicates that the concentration from May 2 through May 7 exceeded the odor threshold and Physical Health Symptom concentrations. (emphasis mine) The Hydrogen Sulfide concentrations on May 3, 5 & 6 exceeded the Physical Reaction Symptoms concentrations by a factor of 100 to 120 times (emphasis mine). The Physical Reaction Symptoms have been reported by individuals living and visiting in Venice.

Volatile Organic Chemicals

Louisiana Ambient Air Standards for Volatile Organic Chemicals:

The Louisiana Ambient Air Standards for the most toxic Volatile Organic Chemicals range from 0.25 ppb to 3.76 ppb Annual Average.

• 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane 0.25 ppb
• Benzene 3.76 ppb

The Ambient Air Standards for the remaining Volatile Organic Chemicals range from 5.49 to 61.25 ppb Annual Average.

• 1 and 2-nitropropane 5.49 ppb
• Methylene Chloride 61.25 ppb

Acute Physical Health Symptoms:

Irritation of eyes, skin, skin rashes

Irritate nose, throat and lungs

Headaches

Dizziness, light headed

Weakness

Nausea

Confusion

Venice Volatile Organic Chemicals Air Monitoring Results for the period of April 28, 2010 - May 7, 2010
Date:	Volatile Organic Chemicals (parts per billion):
April 28	None Detected
April 29	None Detected
April 30	3,084 ppb
May 1	923 ppb
May 2	3,416 ppb
May 3	780 ppb
May 4	1,243 ppb
May 5	37 ppb
May 6	483 ppb
May 7	None Detected

The results of the Volatile Organic Chemicals air monitoring indicates that the concentrations from April 30 through May 6 may have exceeded the Louisiana Ambient Air Standards for specific species of Volatile Organic Chemicals. The Volatile Organic Chemical concentrations on April 30 and May 2 may have exceeded the highest concentration of Annual Average Standard by as much 50 times (emphasis mine. Specific chemicals that make up the total Volatile Organic Chemical concentrations are needed to further evaluate the results. This information has been requested from the Environmental Protection Agency. The Acute Physical Symptoms associated with the Volatile Organic Chemicals have been reported by individuals living and visiting in Venice.

What's Pristine? And an Oil Spill Update

A New York Times news analysis on Tuesday, May 4, sought to put the current Gulf Coast crisis in perspective.  The article reminded readers of  larger and more devastating oil spills.  And that makes a certain kind of sense -- we forget that the largest environmental disasters are caused by war -- but then went on to declare, "The gulf is not a pristine environment and has survived both chronic and acute pollution problems before."  I guess it matters how one defines survival.

Large sections of the gulf region are referred to as cancer alley due to the prevalence of cancers that seem directly attributable to the region's other nickname, chemical alley. Hundreds of thousands of people suffer the multiple effects of poorly regulated air pollution, the occasional refinery accident (explosions, devastating releases of toxins to ground water,  gas flares that fill the sky with flames and toxic smoke) and medical facilities unwilling or unable to address the health effects of these conditions.  And of course a major pollutant of the Gulf Coast in the past five years was Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  The oil industry failed to acknowledge and largely escaped accountability for the spills that occurred in the wake of these hurricanes. The Institute for Southern Studies points out that in the past 10 years there have been 172 oil spills of more than 2100 gallons. 


And let's not forget all that detritus of human settlement that filled up the marshes and levees in Katrina's  wake: refrigerators, automobiles, roofs from people's houses, photos of loved ones, children's toys.  Oh, and let's not forget what else got washed away -- arguably the 135 persons yet to be accounted for after the storm. 

As for pristine.  This country lost the possibility of pristine when the Europeans arrived.


Oil Spill Update

Folks along the Mississippi Gulf Coast are gathering today to clean the beaches in preparation for the oil eventually reaching their shores.  They will be removing trash and the detritus that washes up from the ocean.  This will make clean up easier, giving the oil fewer surfaces to wash over and cling to.

The last report is that the oil has reached the fragile barrier islands off Louisiana's coast.

The containment structure that is being lowered 5000 feet over the source of the largest of three outflows is a complex and risky engineering proposition.  Oil flowing out of the earth at that depth is much warmer than the ocean water it is being pumped through or into which it is leaking.  This presents the possibility that portions of the containment unit could freeze going down to the leak, that the temperature differential between oil and water in the containment unit could cause a rupture or explosion or that the pressure at 5000 feet will make the whole operation unsuccessful.

Here's the NOAA  Oil Spill Trajectory Map for the next 48 hours:

And this disturbing bit of information from the clean up after the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska: Only 5% of creatures rescued from the spill survived.

60,000 Barrels

Just as Dr. Wilma Subra had predicted, the estimates of oil flow from the Gulf catastrophe have proved to be wildly unpredictable.  BP suggested earlier today that 60,000 barrels are flowing right now and warned Congress that as many as 2 million gallons (100,000 barrels) could flow into the Gulf of Mexico if  they aren't able to cap the broken well.

Local folks (100 regional activists, fisherfolk, funders and concerned citizens), through the leadership of Derrick Evans of Turkey Creek Community Initiative (MS) and the Gulf Coast Fund and Amber Valentine of the Fund, are strategizing to monitor effects of the oil spill, organize the most effective local responses possible and to advise everyone of the health effects of the spill on humans and the ocean.

Part of this monitoring includes holding BP to the legal agreements that gained them access to the oil drilling leases they now possess.  These agreements include how they will manage local relationships when an emergency occurs, how compensation for losses will be handled and environmental rules they must follow.  On May 2 an Alabama court ordered BP to withdraw volunteer charter agreements that, among other things, required volunteer fisherfolk to indemnify BP against any mishap that might happen while people are volunteering.  You can view the charter agreement and other legal filings here.

Oil Spill Trajectory through Friday morning.