Efforts Continue Toward Gulf Coast Recovery
Agencies and officials of the federal government continue administrative and research efforts toward the long-term recovery of the Gulf Coast ecosystem after the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.
Primary among the recent efforts are a September report issued by former Mississippi Governor and current Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, and the establishment in October of the Gulf Ecosystem Restoration Task Force.
The Mabus Report, entitled America's Gulf Coast, A Long Term Recovery Plan after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, offers a plan that encompasses five areas deemed critical to the Gulf region's long-term recovery:
- Proposal to Congress to Dedicate Clean Water Act Civil Penalties to the Gulf Coast
- Long‐Term Ecosystem Restoration
- Health and Human Services Recovery
- Economic Recovery
- Nonprofit Sector Recovery
Among other things, the report recommends the establishment of a Gulf Coast Recovery Fund under the management of representatives from all levels of national, state, and local government, with funding from fines imposed against responsible parties in the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The Obama administration established by executive order on October 5th the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, chaired by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. The task force's mission is to coordinate efforts to implement restoration programs and projects in the Gulf Coast region, according to the White House. The task force also will coordinate with the Department of Health and Human Services on public health issues and with other federal agencies on ways to enhance the economic benefits that ecosystem restoration will bring to the region. John H. Hankinson, Jr., was shortly later named as the task force's executive director. President Obama appointed Mimi A. Drew, Dave Stewart and Garret Graves as state representatives to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force. The White House announced that Drew is currently the Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Stewart is the chief of staff to Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, and Graves is chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana, the White House.
On the legislative side, various acts also have been proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate that would impose a civil penalty for Gulf of Mexico oil spills, and require that the bulk of penalties imposed against BP for oil spill damages pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act be set aside for Gulf Coast environmental and economic recovery efforts.
Most recently, the Federal Interagency Solutions Group issued a peer-reviewed report detailing the scientific calculations underlying the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill "Oil Budget Calculator." The calculator seeks to determine what portions of the oil discharged by the BP Deepwater Horizon well were recovered, dispersed, evaporated or otherwise remediated, and how much remains in the Gulf environment. The report is largely consistent with early analysis results released by the federal government. According to those involved, the most significant change is a doubling of the expected amount of oil classified as “chemically dispersed” — revised from 8% to an estimated 16% with a possible range of between 10% and 29%.
The oil budget analysis is intended to provide critical guidance for continued recovery efforts in the Gulf. The necessity of that information became apparent, once more, in late November. On November 24, "out of an abundance of caution," NOAA closed 4,213 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters off Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to royal red shrimping. According to the agency, the precautionary measure was taken after a commercial shrimper, having hauled in his catch of the deep water shrimp, discovered tar balls in his net. The tar balls found in the catch may have been entrained in the net as it was dragged along the seafloor. The tar balls are being analyzed by the U.S. Coast Guard to determine if they are from the Deepwater Horizon/BP spill.
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