Oil-soaked waste worries landfills’ neighbors

By LESLEY CLARK AND FRED TASKER – McClatchy Newspapers08/01/10 MOUNT VERNON, Ala. — At a sprawling landfill some 50 miles from the oil-spotted coastline, trash bags brimming with tar balls, oil-soaked boom, sand and tangles of sea grass are dumped. Though workers in the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history wear protective gloves and coveralls […]

Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ largest on record, overlaps BP spill zone

  By Deborah Zabarenko; editing by Doina ChiacuMon Aug 2, 2010 1:36pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) – This year’s low-oxygen “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the largest ever, about the size of Massachusetts, and overlaps areas hit by oil from BP’s broken Macondo well, Louisiana scientists report. The area of hypoxia, […]

Some say effects of Deepwater Horizon spill will be felt for years to come – Dispersants helped bacteria digest oil

By Ben Raines, Press-RegisterSunday, August 01, 2010, 5:24 AM MOBILE, Ala. — Now that BP’s damaged Gulf well appears under control, scientists are struggling to answer two questions: How much oil ended up in the Gulf, and what will be the long-term effects? Federal estimates of the flow rate from the Deepwater Horizon well covered […]

Gulf of Mexico recovery depends on marsh grass survival

By David A. FahrentholdWashington Post / August 2, 2010 ON TAMBOUR BAY, La. — In the next act of the drama of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, two of the most important heroes don’t look like heroes. They are just thin green stalks, sticking out of blackened patches of grass. They are cordgrass and […]

Gulf of Mexico has long been dumping site — ‘Too far gone to salvage’

By CAMPBELL ROBERTSONPublished: July 29, 2010 HOUMA, La. — Loulan Pitre Sr. was born on the Gulf Coast in 1921, the son of an oysterman. Nearly all his life, he worked on the water, abiding by the widely shared faith that the resources of the Gulf of Mexico were limitless. As a young Marine staff […]

BP / Gulf oil spill — 68,000 square miles of direct impact

Fingers crossed: it looks like the cap on BP’s Macondo well will hold until the relief well intercepts and permanently plugs it, and no more oil from this blowout will enter the Gulf. So here’s a map showing the cumulative oil slick footprint for the BP / Deepwater Horizon oil spill, created by overlaying all […]

Sea Shepherd flight observes Gulf dolphin swimming ‘frantically in circles’

By Bonny SchumakerMonday, July 26, 2010 Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s “aviation wing” has been extremely busy in the Gulf of Mexico for the past couple of months, and especially this past month. In keeping with the strong emphasis being put on collaboration, Sea Shepherd has been working with other NGOs as well as local people […]

Storm blows oiled boom into Louisiana wetlands

By JEFFREY BALL JULY 27, 2010 GRAND ISLE, La.—To keep crude oil out of Louisiana’s sensitive marshes, workers have spread barriers known as boom in unprecedented amounts. Now the marshes face a new threat—from the boom itself. Recent storms have tossed dozens of miles of oil-soaked boom into the marshes, mowing down grass and threatening […]

BP hires prison labor to clean up spill while coastal residents struggle

By Abe Louise YoungPublished on Friday, July 23, 2010 In the first few days after BP’s Deepwater Horizon wellhead exploded, spewing crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, cleanup workers could be seen on Louisiana beaches wearing scarlet pants and white t-shirts with the words “Inmate Labor” printed in large red block letters. Coastal residents, […]

At least 105 people treated for oil-related conditions in coastal Alabama

By Casandra Andrews, Press-Register Published: Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 1:50 PM MOBILE, Ala. — At least 105 people have gone to local emergency rooms, clinics and urgent care centers since May 14 complaining of ailments thought to be related to the oil spill, Alabama Department of Public Health officials reported today. That compares with 47,316 […]

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