[StBernard] 26 confirmed oil sightings in St. Bernard Parish in 24 hours

[Westley Annis]

26 confirmed oil sightings in St. Bernard Parish in 24 hours

Government study says only a quarter of oil released from BP Deepwater
Horizon is still in water or onshore and most is light sheen believed by
federal experts to not pose too much additional risk 


St. Bernard Parish oil spill operations has received confirmation of 26 oil
sightings in the past 24 hours. These sightings range from sheen, tar balls,
dark brown and reddish brown patches of oil, contaminated boom and snare
boom, and impacted marsh and wildlife. These sightings were reported in the
following areas: west of Bayou Frenepiquant, Sniff Lake, east of Shell Bank,
Isle au Pitre, north of Sundown Island, southwest of Rawhead Island, Scow
Pass, east of Scow Point, Lake Eugene, Le Petit Pass, east of Holmes Island,
southwest of Curlew Island, northern part of the Chandeleur Islands, White
Fog Lake, Comfort Island, and Christmas Camp Lake. Reports of oil continue
to stream into operations today and crews are confirming these sightings.
Affected marsh areas will be assigned to the Marsh Flusher to remediate as
needed. Contaminated boom will be removed and replaced as needed.

A federal government report was issued Wednesday that said only a quarter of
the oil from the Deepwater Horizon leak is still in the water and that it
should mostly break down on its own. The report, issued by a committee of
federal scientists, says three-quarters of the oil from the Deepwater
Horizon leak has evaporated, dispersed, been captured or otherwise
eliminated - and that most of the rest is diluted to a point that it poses
very little risk of harm. The report finds that about 26 percent of the oil
released by BP is still in the water or onshore in a form that could, in
principle, cause new problems. But most is light sheen at the ocean surface
or in a dispersed form below the surface, and federal scientists believe
that it is breaking down rapidly in both places.

 "We are still experiencing and finding new oil sightings daily." Taffaro
said. "Our concern is the challenge of balancing the need for a continued
response to the oil that we are encountering while proving that our response
is reasonable.  It is unclear what the reality of the threat of the oil is
to our community and to the commercial fishermen as a whole.  The pressure
to downsize must be incorporated into an awareness of the need to continue
to protect the social, economic, and psychological well being of our
residents. There is still a tremendous amount of work to be done to ensure
the safety and long term recovery of St. Bernard's wetlands and marshes and
as we move toward a recovery focus, our protection from the oil must be
maintained.  We will continue to monitor and respond to oil impacts in our
parish and get these issues resolved so we can be whole again as a
community."

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