[StBernard] Hurricane Evacuation Plans Finalized for St. Bernard Parish Oil Spill Operations

[Westley Annis]

Hurricane Evacuation Plans Finalized for St. Bernard Parish Oil Spill
Operations

 

A Hurricane Evacuation Plan has been finalized and is in place for St.
Bernard Parish Oil Spill Operations.  St. Bernard Parish Emergency
Management officials have been working in coordination with oil spill
contractors to finalize the plan to evacuate personnel and material in the
event of a tropical weather event. Evacuation plans for oil spill operations
have been tailored so as to not interfere with the St. Bernard Parish's
overall evacuation plan. The level of evacuation necessary is entirely
dependent on the size of the event.

 

All work oil spill work sites will be evacuated 72 hours prior to tropical
force winds hitting the Louisiana coast. A staging area is being secured
inside of the levee system to permanently relocate all oil spill response
resources for the parish. Resources will be transported to the appropriate
work areas as needed, thereby negating the need to evacuate resources each
time a weather event threatens the area. The decision to remove already
deployed boom from the water will be made at the appropriate time depending
upon the particular weather event the area is threatened by. 

 

In the event that the parish is affected by a major storm and this storm
happens to push water containing oil into the areas outside of the levee
protection system, that area will become a hot zone. Post storm damage
assessment teams comprised of St. Bernard Parish Fire Department, Sheriffs
Department, Public Works, Atmos, Entergy, DEQ, EPA, US Coast Guard and
pollution investigation experts from BP will inspect the affected areas to
determine the level of contamination. Once the inspection is complete, the
necessary actions will be taken to clean up these areas. Residents will not
be allowed into the affected areas until they have been declared safe, at
which point residents may return to their homes and businesses. 

 

In order to facilitate the most effective planning for both oil spill
related and general parish evacuations, two separate command structures have
been put into place. One dedicated for each evacuation. 

 

At this point, it is far too early to know what, in any, impacts Tropical
Storm Alex will have on St. Bernard, but parish officials are closely
monitoring the storm and will keep residents updated. Stay tuned to local
media and www.sbpg.net for updates.

 

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