RESOURCE

Oil Spill – Archived EDEN Topic Page

July 8, 2010

This page contains information that was preserved in August 2017 when the EDEN website moved to this new system. The information here has not been, and will not be, updated. For more information on this topic, please use the EDEN Website Search function in the header. If you reached this page from a bookmark, please update that bookmark.

Now in the Gulf!

Oil is spilling into the Gulf of Mexico from a location on the gulf floor 50 miles southeast of Venice, La. As efforts are made to halt the release, emergency responders and volunteers are working to keep the oil from reaching wetlands, fisheries and beaches in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and to contend with oil that has begun washing on shore.

EDEN and eXtension have recognized and supported Gulf Coast Sea Grant members’ lead in providing information and expertise. In addition to linking to the Sea Grant oil spill website, EDEN has added the disaster to its Response Notes utility, an online feature that allows delegates to capture and share their disaster situations, needs and activities. Extension directors in five Gulf states first conferenced on May 6 to discuss Extension’s response, and those calls continue on a weekly basis. This site is developed to help implement their developing strategy.

Challenges for Extension

Cooperative Extension and Sea Grant program directors in the five-state area have identified their current issues and program directions. EDEN is working with the directors, using this site to help implement their strategy for educational response to these challenges:

Maintaining consumer confidence in Gulf seafood safety and quality
Assessing damage and economic impacts on various sectors
Managing volunteers and donations
Responding to media inquiries and calls for experts
Helping fishermen and others impacted by the spill understand recovery opportunities and assistance
Helping communities adjust to the spill-induced economic and social stresses
Understanding the response structure, fiscal responsibilites, and legal frameworks for a disaster not governed by the Stafford Act
Remediating the effects of the oil in the water and on our coasts

If you are experiencing a challenge that is not reflected in this list, please let your Extension director or program leader know and make that need known through the Reponse Notes utilit

EDEN/Extension Next Steps

Directors have appointed members to the gulf response task forces. These task forces will help develop our EDEN, eXtension and Sea Grant websites, guide our response and recovery efforts, and respond to inquiries. The initial areas for which expert teams have been assembled include the following:

Communications and public relations
Damage assessments and disaster assistance for fisheries and aquaculture
Seafood safety, quality and confidence
Family Stress and Finance
Oil spill remediation (not yet formed)

Information for the public will be provided through eXtension. Links to that information and to recent oil spill RSS feeds from eXtension can be found in the Oil Spill/eXtension section of this web site.

Commercial Fishery Disaster Assistance

“Disaster relief may be provided by the federal government to assist the fishing industry when it is affected by a commercial fishery failure. A commercial fishery failure occurs when fishermen endure hardships resulting from fish population declines or other disruptions to the fishery. The Department of Commerce can provide disaster assistance under either § 308 of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act (16 U.S.C. § 4107), as amended, or § 312(a) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C § 1861(a)). The National Marine Fisheries Service plays a central role in determining whether a disaster has occurred and in allocating federal funding to states and affected fishing communities. Congress plays a pivotal role by appropriating funds and providing oversight of the process.” (Opening paragraph of the Summary of a Congressional Research Report for Congress, updated May, 2008.)

The Department of Commerce can provide disaster assistance under either the MSFCMA or the IFA. Differences exist under each law with regard to the causes of a fishery failure, and the use of funds. Several recent fishery failures have been declared under both laws, providing program managers greater latitude in matching relief with the needs of recipients. A table showing causes and uses for funds for these declarations in included in the report.

Louisiana began requesting a declaration of fisheries failure in early May, 2010, for impacts of the Gulf oil spill.

Oil Spill Current Situation

Gulf of Mexico spill update

July 12 -Gulf of Mexico spill update: Since the April 20 oil rig disaster, BP continues to collect & disperse oil that has reached the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. Several methods are currently being used to contain or remove the oil, they include: dispersants, skimming, in-site burning to reduce the amount of oil on the water and help reduce the impact to the environment, skimmers- floating boom system to sweep oil across the water surface and Vessels of opportunity independent vessel owners are contracting their boats in a variety of oil recovery activities. For more information on the current situation go to: Deepwater Horizon

NOAA provides daily forecasts, climate monitoring, fisheries management and coastal restoration. NOAA’s Daily Update on the the oil spill

EDEN delegates can use the Response Notes utility to share situations, needs and response activities for this disaster.

FTC Warns of Oil Spill Scams

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says it is likely that scammers will use emails, websites, door-to-door collections, flyers, mailings & telephone calls to contact consumers & solicit money on behalf of oil spill victims. If you suspect that someone is committing fraud related to the spill, contact the National Center for Disaster Fraud Calls at 1-866-720-5721.

The FTC works to prevent fraudulent deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them, To file a complaint call toll- free, 1-877-382-4357.

IRS has Information for Gulf Oil Spill Victims

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has established a special telephone line for taxpayers affected by the Gulf oil spill. Individuals who have questions about the BP payments or who are experiencing filing or payment hardships because of the oil spill should contact the IRS at 866-562-5227. The special services line operates from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time.

For further information, including the tax treatment of BP compensation payments go to Questions & Answers about the Gulf oil spill on the IRS website, www.IRS.gov.

University and VOAD Responses and Regional Oil Spill Task Force

Universities in the affected states are looking for opportunities to put their research and outreach capabilities to use in the face of this disaster. An Oil Spill Academic Task Force has been organized in Florida with fifteen universities participating. The task force is working with NOAA and EPA on pre-assessment sampling.

Similarly, the state Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (VOADs) are engaged. Louisiana VOAD had a first conference call May 3. Representatives of several environmental associations with on-going activities in coastal protection and restoration participated. A major challenge in Louisiana and across the Gulf coast is managing volunteers, volunteer training, and donations.

While there has been information on the eXtension site since early June, there is now an official landing page located under the Disaster Issues Resource Area http://www.extension.org/oil spill. Content includes feature articles, Frequently Asked Questions, news stories and the ability to categorize incoming Ask an Expert questions with the “oil spill” tag. The new Oil Spill Community of Practice has 13 members and 3 identified leaders and work is underway to develop new content and membership. The regional task forces identified by the Gulf state Extension and Sea Grant directors are developing this eXtension content. Other Communities of Practice, including Financial Security for All, are contributing content, as appropriate. Resources on eXtension for the public are complementary to educational packages for Extension educators hosted on the EDEN website.

Oil Spill Louisiana Specific

Flow of oil into the Gulf has stopped

August 3, 2010 “After two weeks of no oil spilling from the Deepwater Horizon well, BP is set to plug the well permanently,” according to Darryl Bourgoyne, director of Petroleum Engineering Research Lab at LSU.

Today BP will begin “static kill” which uses mud to force the oil back into its vast underground reservoir, which would then be sealed with cement. Engineers would then recover the oil in the reservoir using a relief well.

LSU AgCenter’s Response to the Oil Spill

The LSU AgCenter along with Directors and faculty from the five Gulf states impacted by the oil spill have regular communication calls and have developed four task forces: Damage Assessment, Family Stress and Financial Management, Food Safety and Confidence, and Oil Spill Communications.

Many LSU AgCenter agents are members of their Emergency Operations Centers and/or members of their respective oil spill contingency planning teams.

Resources on eXtension for the public are complementary to educational packages for Extension educators hosted on the EDEN website.

Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant Program Response

Louisiana Sea Grant (located on the LSU campus) is responding to the oil spill along with other state and federal agencies by:

Hosting and Organizing Public Forums
Organizing Seafood Working Groups
Engage Legal and Extension Specialists with Fishing Communities
Share Information Through National Experts and Regional Website
Conduct Hazmat Training for Cleanup Activities

Information on the Oil-response Extension, Outreach and Extension Activities by the Gulf of Mexico Sea Grant College Programs can be found at: www.gulfseagrant.org

Financial Assistance for Shrimpers, Catfish Producers, Small Business Owners and Homeowners

Louisiana shrimpers and catfish producers can take advantage of the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program. “To become certified, shrimpers and catfish producers have to show they have had s greater than 15% reduction in the price received in the petition year versus the three-year average and prove that the majority of the decrease in price was related to an increase in imports,” according to LSU AgCenter economist Kurt Guidry.

Producers who are interested in the program can find more information and download an application at: www.LSUAgCenter.com. Parish LSU AgCenter offices and Farm Service Agency offices also have applications and additional information.

-Through the National Home Affordability program, local mortgage services can temporarily suspend payments in full or reduce payments no more than 31% of the homeowner’s gross monthly income; even of that income is solely from unemployment. For more information go to: www.makinghomeaffordable.gov

-NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Remediation & Restoration Program collaborates with federal, state, tribal entities, clean-up agencies (such as EPA), and local organizations both public and private.

Who Insures Louisiana Seafood is Safe?

There is a great deal of concern over the safety of seafood since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform and subsequent oil spill. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), other federal agencies, and state authorities in the regions affected by the oil spill to ensure that marketed seafood from the Gulf of Mexico is not contaminated.

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDAF) recently offered additional information as to the state’s procedures for reopening fishing areas to recreational and commercial fishermen. Precautionary closures were based on the best information the Secretary of LDAF receives from field biologists, staff and trajectory models from NOAA. These models can be found on the NOAA site at:

Other Resources on Seafood Safety

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has available fact sheets containing information on the health threats of light crude oil, which is located at http://www.cdc.gov

The fact sheet entitled Light Crude Oil and Your Health includes information on:

What is light Crude?
How to avoid the health threats of light crude oil?
How does light crude spread?
What are the health threats of light crude?

Other Sources:

NOAA, FDA, and Gulf Coast State Officials Affirm Commitment to Ensuring Safety of Gulf CoastSeafood a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, June 29, 2010. http://www.fda.gov?NewsEvents/Testimony/ucm215494.htm

Determining Seafood Safety in an Oil Spill a report made available from the Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter, June 24, 2010 http://www.gulfseagrant.org

Evaluating Seafood for Petroleum Contamination, made available by eXtension Oil Spill Community of Practice, July 7, 2010

Louisiana Department of health & Hospitals http://www.DHH_OilSpillSurvelance_2010_02HealthComplaints