[StBernard] Tiered reconstitution at St. Bernard Parish Branch oil spill operations

[Westley Annis]

Tiered reconstitution at St. Bernard Parish Branch oil spill operations 

 

Following the passage of Tropical Depression #5, the Unified Command of the
St. Bernard Parish Branch has ordered tiered reconstitution of response
operations at all parish staging areas. A flyover was conducted over parish
waters this morning to investigate any oil impacts that may have occurred
while operations were stood down. On this morning's flyover, Coast Guard
Commander Benjamin Cooper noted that boom had been displaced in several
areas due to the recent inclement weather. Commercial Fishing Fleet and Oil
Spill Response Organization vessels are being staged today with tactical
assets such as hard and soft oil containment boom for deployment and
reconnaissance tomorrow as weather allows. Skimming assets will also be
deployed as needed tomorrow as part of this tiered approach. 

 

Vessel captains involved in the current rotation of response for the
Commercial Fishing Fleet are involved in meetings today to conduct an "After
Action Review" to assess what has gone well, what hasn't gone well and what
can be improved in regards to oil response and cleanup activities. This is
meant to be an informal open forum for the fishermen to provide their
feedback and suggestions. The meetings are being conducted by the Safety
Branch, U.S. Coast Guard and Operations personnel of the St. Bernard Branch.


 

At these meetings today, the fishermen are also being familiarized with a
Shoreline Treatment Recommendation that was issued by the Environmental Unit
at the Unified Command post in Houma. This directive delineates how to
properly recover boom that is stranded on the shoreline. It provides
guidelines for the removal of stranded boom from marshes where no access is
allowed, from marshes where access is being allowed, and removal of stranded
boom from sandy shorelines where land access is allowed. These guidelines
have been put into place at the direction of the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, the
Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration and other agencies involved.
Removal of stranded boom from certain environmentally sensitive areas will
be done with the direct involvement of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
and/or the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. This would
include areas that are important state refuges and bird nesting areas. This
is being implemented to avoid environmental impact on these sensitive areas.

 

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