[StBernard] St. Bernard Parish President meets with Admiral Thad Allen and BP COO Doug Suttles

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard Parish President meets with Admiral Thad Allen and BP COO Doug
Suttles

All parish presidents and mayors affected by the BP oil spill were in
attendance for a meeting this morning in New Orleans with National Incident
Commander Admiral Thad Allen and British Petroleum Chief Operating Officer
Doug Suttles. This meeting was called to develop a framework to identify
triggers for the remaining phases of operations of the oil spill response.
While the meeting was somewhat contentious at times, it served as a forum to
layout actionable items for the parishes, the US Coast Guard, state agencies
and the responsible party. 

It was determined at the meeting that parishes will coordinate with state
officials who will act as a liaison with the US Coast Guard to determine the
transition of operations based on milestones to dictate the point at which
"rightsizing" should begin. This is to include resource management, asset
control, personnel required, etc. All current operational plans will remain
in place until permanent kill to the well has been accomplished.

All parishes were assured that local involvement is absolutely necessary and
welcomed, but the US Coast Guard is balancing the relationship between
itself and the state. The meeting identified the need for down-range
logistics to connect top-level executive messages to Houma and branch level
actions. 

The US Coast Guard and BP recommitted to seeing the oil spill response to
the end and identified the need to start forward thinking of the Natural
Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process. After an oil spill or hazardous
substance release, response agencies like the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency or the U.S. Coast Guard clean up the substance and eliminate or
reduce risks to human health and the environment. But these efforts may not
fully restore injured natural resources or address their lost uses by the
public. Through the NRDA process, agencies conduct studies to identify the
extent of resource injuries, the best methods for restoring those resources,
and the type and amount of restoration required. 

Unseen oil was identified as a problem that continues to be a challenge and
an issue requiring resolution. Admiral Allen committed to tracking this to
completion with scientific resources at his disposal.

Parishes will submit a severe weather plan to incorporate various degrees of
storm intensity, to secure assets in the most local but safe and protected
site based on the best storm data available. Parishes will also submit a
plan of action to incorporate the local commercial fishing fleet (Vessels of
Opportunity for other parishes) into the work assignments and safety
concerns of what comes next in the cleanup operations.

Other topics covered were the need for mental health support, tourism and
marketing and seafood testing.

BP committed to an August round of claims payments for those whose
livelihood has been affected by this disaster.

It was agreed by all present that meetings between the parish
presidents/mayors and the National Incident Command and BP COO would occur
more frequently.