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LOUISIANA
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION NETWORK AND REPRESENTING ATTORNEY STUART SMITH
CREATE WEBSITE FOR PUBLIC EXAMINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING DATA IN
AREAS IMPACTED BY BP CATASTROPHE
For
weeks, Attorney Stuart Smith and researchers Dr. William Sawyer and
Marco Kaltofen have been providing evidence contrary to the federal
government's assertions that the oil from the BP DEEPWATER HORIZON
catastrophe is gone and that seafood from oil-impacted waters are not
compromised.
Now,
citizens can examine for themselves data compiled by Gulf Oil Disaster
Recovery and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) at a
public website maintained by Dr. Kaltofen's company, Boston Chemical
Data.
"We are thrilled
about this new resource," said Marylee Orr, Executive Director, LEAN.
"This website allows anyone interested to see what chemicals were
found, where they were found, and how much was found. We feel the
public has the right to this information."
The website, http://bostonchemicaldata.com/LEAN/
provides oil spill data and mapping resources. You can compare where
EPA, universities and independent labs have sampled. An individual must
download Google Earth in order to view the site's various downloads and
maps.
"This should be
useful to environmental groups and the unified command," said Mr.
Smith. "We've always believed there should be more transparency in this
process."
Most recently,
Mr. Smith's team has documented a large oil plume offshore of northwest
Florida which is killing seafood. Samples have been sent to Canada for
independent assessment.
"As
state and federal officials continue to open Gulf waters to fishing, we
have to again point to evidence that the 'all clear' is being sounded
way too early," said Mr. Smith, who represents the United Commercial
Fishermen's Association, the Louisiana Environmental Action Network,
public entities in the Gulf Coast, as well as private property and
business owners. "One of the cautionary notes is that our experts have
documented that toxic chemicals remain in the water and food chain -
and pose a significant health risk. Those studies have shown that PAHs
(polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are present in shrimp from the
impacted area. And the PAHs in off-shore Florida are at levels 43 times
the levels of shrimp from inland, low-impact inland areas sampled in
Louisiana. In our estimation, it may take eight months before the toxic
soup has had substantial enough biodegradation to announce an 'all
clear' on seafood."
###
Dr.
William Sawyer: Chief Toxicologist of Toxicology Consultants &
Assessment Specialists, LLC., Sanibel, FL (Registered d/b/a 1990,
Incorporated January, 1994, 2009-FL)
Marco
Kaltofen, P.E.; President of Boston Chemical is a Registered
Professional Engineer (Civil, Massachusetts) and an environmental
scientist with more than 25 years experience in environmental,
workplace and product safety investigations in North America and
Eastern Europe.
CONTACT:
S. Smith: (504) 593-9600 C. Brylski/H. Harper (504) 897-6110
Results of sampling performed by the Lower Mississippi River Keeper in the Lower Atchafalaya Bay area on August 2, 2010
Collecting oysters from Oyster Bayou Collecting oysters from Oyster Bayou
The shore of the Gulf of Mexico east of Oyster Bayou, where the Atchafalaya Bay meets the Gulf of Mexico, contained visible oil on the vegetation along the shore line. Soil in this location contained Carbon Disulfide, 378 mg/kg Hydrocarbons and six Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) (0.222 mg/kg). The oiled vegetation contained 2.3% Hydrocarbons and 31 PAHs (0.554 mg/kg) that corresponded strongly to the PAHs in the Deepwater Horizon Crude Oil spill. Samples of Blue Crab and Fiddler Crab contained 2,230 mg/kg hydrocarbons.
Oysters sampled from a reef on Oyster Bayou in Atchafalaya Bay contained 8,815 mg/kg Hydrocarbons.
Results of sampling performed by the Lower Mississippi River Keeper in the Mississippi River Delta on August 3, 2010
Taking samples in the Mississippi River Delta Taking samples in the Mississippi River Delta
At the mouth of Pass-a-Loutre, in the reed vegetation along the shore of an island, a sediment sample was collected. The sediment contained 71 mg/kg Hydrocarbons and 14 PAHs (0.8713 mg/kg). The PAHs in the sample weakly support that the contaminants in the sediment are associated with the crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon. A muscle sample collected at this location contained 6,900 mg/kg Hydrocarbons and seven PAHs (0.386 mg/kg).
A sample of oysters was collected from oysters growing on an abandoned crab trap between Pass-a-Loutre and Redfish Bay. The oysters contained 12,500 mg/kg (1.25%) Hydrocarbons and two PAHs (0.063 mg/kg).
Along a beach area near Redfish Bay, samples were collected from a stained area along a sandy beach area and from a vegetated area behind the beach. The beach area had clean-up waste materials and supplies left behind by cleanup crews. A small water body adjacent to the beach had a boom in the water and a small boat used to place the poles that secured the boom was stained with oil. The beach area contained a number of tar balls.
The sandy soil sample contained Carbon Disulfide, Hydrocarbons (146 to 779 mg/kg), and 29 to 38 PAHs (3.7259 to 3.934 mg/kg). The PAHs support reasonable evidence that the sandy soil is contaminated with crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon.
Samples were also collected from the vegetated area (reed vegetation) behind the beach. The vegetated area contained oil sheens on the vegetation and on the water that collected in the sampling area. The soil/sediment samples contained Carbon Disulfide, 2-Butanone (MEK), Toluene, 0.4 to 1.16 % Hydrocarbons, and 20 to 40 PAHs (49 to 189 mg/kg). The PAHs in the soil/sediment strongly support that the soil/sediment is contaminated with crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon.
We continued our sampling efforts last week in Terrebonne Bay with Chief Chuckie Verdin of the Pointe Au Chien indian community.
LEAN's relationship with Pointe Au Chien began after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita when we delivered relief supplies there at the request of Chief Chuckie. LEAN was again contacted by the Pointe Au Chien community in recent days with concerns about impacts from the BP oil spill disaster on the bays and estuaries that they depend on. On Thursday, August 19, 2010 LEAN/LMRK sampling team (Technical Advisor Wilma Subra, Michael Orr, Jeffrey Dubinsky and myself) went on a sampling trip into Terrebonne Bay led by Chief Chuckie and Kurt Dardar.
We were also accompanied by Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau and environmentalist and filmmaker in her own right, and her crew. Last year Alexandra and the crew traveled to Louisiana to learn about the impacts of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone on locals from Wilma. This year they returned to document Wilma's work on the BP oil spill disaster so we took them out with us on a sampling mission.
In "Julia," the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper Boston Whaler and a local fishing vessel we made our way south from Pointe Au Chien across Lake Chien and Lake Felicity to Modoto Island. What we encountered there stunned us all. The ground was littered with dead birds. So many dead birds that we aren't sure how many were out there, many dozens of dead birds just in the small area which we surveyed on the island. The dead appeared to included mostly seagulls and terns though some were badly decayed and identification was difficult. It was clear to me by the various states of decay, from scattered bones to a tern that couldn't have been dead for more than a day and everything in between, that this is an ongoing situation.
We also saw a juvenile gull that was in distress. It could hardly walk and was very unsteady when it took a step it also had very little energy. By the time we finished our sampling and were ready to leave the island the bird had died. I asked Kurt if he had seen anything like the dead birds and he said that he had been visiting this island his entire life and he has never seen dead birds in the numbers we were seeing. It is clear to me that these birds are somehow being poisoned by the BP event.
The Lower Mississippi RIVERKEEPER (Paul Orr) along wtih Chemist Wilma Subra and Michael Orr, operations Coordinator for LEAN/LMRK spent two days taking various soil and water samples in the area affected by the BP Oil Spill.
LEAN member and New Orleans photographer Jerry Moran revisited Raccoon Island on August 8, 2010 to find more of the same death and destruction that he found on his visit on July 18, 2010.
"death is everywhere and I mean everywhere, even though visible oil is much less an issue, which concerns me greatly. A lot of the birds that weren't dead, were obviously poisoned, almost acting drunk and dazed. Some were hardly walking, and some were alive, but lying where they will surely expire, some were actually fighting each other for food(surely contaminated).......It is really hard for me to believe that nothing can be done to curb what is no less than the extermination of our beloved state bird, along with thousands of other birds and animals. There are not many times where I have just stopped shooting and left....yesterday was one of those day's."
"The difference this time was that there were not as many (living) birds...... probably at least 60% less but just as much death if not more. Pelicans, Seagulls, Bull Redfish, Drum....you name it it was dead on the beach. Oil had hit Raccoon Island last week and the island was obviously manicured, BP had set up tents on the 2 adjoining Islands. All of the boom that was on the island and on top the jetties was gone, and the island was flat where it once had a more natural terrain....two of the pelicans had died very recently, and it was most disturbing that one of them was hooked to a sparkle beatle (a kind of fishing lure) which was tangled in dead mangrove.......I have no doubt that either Wildlife and Fisheries or BP workers had to have seen this Pelican while alive and just left him there to die. A lot of the dead birds stomach cavaties were open and a brown sludge covered the inside, with the scent of oil."
