Oil Spill 2010

Your place for local information.

10-112-SB
Sept. 2, 2010
NOAA Re-opens Federal Waters off Mississippi to
Commercial and Recreational Fishing
BILOXI, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (DMR) announces that
effective Sept. 2, 2010 at 5 p.m. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) will re-open federal waters adjacent to Mississippi waters to commercial and
recreational fishing previously closed in response to the BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The re-opened area was originally closed because oil was present in the area; however, no
oil has been documented in the area since July 12, and only scattered light sheens since July
29. Trajectory models show the area is at a low risk for future exposure to oil. NOAA
collected shrimp and finfish samples from this area, including commercially and recreationally
important species, such as red snapper. Sensory testing showed no detectable oil or
dispersant odors or flavors in the samples, and the results of chemical analysis were well
below levels of concern.
NOAA continues to work closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the
states to ensure seafood safety. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources,
Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, NOAA and the FDA are working together
to sample seafood from inside and outside the opened area, as well as dockside- and
market-based sampling.
Permit holders are reminded to maintain their federal vessel permits by submitting timely
reporting requirements and renewal applications, even if the vessel is not currently engaged
in fishing activities.
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources is dedicated to enhancing, protecting and
conserving marine interests of the state by managing all marine life, public trust wetlands,
adjacent uplands and waterfront areas to provide for the optimal commercial, recreational,
educational and economic uses of these resources consistent with environmental concerns
and social changes. Visit the DMR online at www.dmr.ms.gov.

Click here for the link to Press Release.

By HARRY R. WEBER
Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A vessel has latched onto a key piece of evidence in the oil spill investigation so crews can raise the 300-ton device to the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

BP says the Helix Q4000 latched onto the blowout preventer a mile beneath the sea on Friday morning.

Click here to read the complete article.

By NICOLE DOW – ndow@sunherald.com

 

PASS CHRISTIAN — The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources will be taking an extensive sampling of major oyster reefs to look into the oyster mortalities discovered Wednesday and Thursday during sample dredges, said Scott Gordon, director of the DMR shellfish bureau.

Click here to read the complete article.

Frustrated Gulf residents still waiting for BP payments

By ANITA LEE -

 

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg said Thursday his independent oil-spill claims process already has a better track record than BP’s, despite complaints that payments are far slower than promised, with many claimants still waiting for checks 10 days after Feinberg took charge.

Click here to read the complete article.

By MICHAEL NEWSOM – mmnewsom@sunherald.com

The Unified Command has been meeting with scientists from across the Gulf of Mexico this week to get their ideas on how to find and clean up oil and dispersants lingering in the area.

Scientists and others from the Mississippi–Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, the Northern Gulf Institute and various government agencies under the Unified Command met in Biloxi on Wednesday. The meetings conclude this week — and a final draft of the plan could be complete by the end of next week.

Click here to read the complete article.

ATLANTA — The opening scene was too familiar. Black smoke rising from a burning oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico and workers plucked from the sea. But Thursday’s fire on an oil-production rig 100 miles off the Louisiana coast appears to have ended without disaster.

Click here to read the complete article.

 

LONDON — BP says it has so far spent $8 billion responding to the disastrous oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

Click here to read the complete article.

PASS CHRISTIAN — Officials from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources took oyster fishermen out on the reefs off the Pass Christian Harbor on Wednesday to give them a preview of what to expect from the upcoming oyster season.

Catches resulting in an abundance of empty oyster shells led some fishermen to doubt the viability of the season, which typically begins in September or October.

Click here to read the complete article.

GULF OF MEXICO (WLOX/AP) – The Coast Guard is responding to a oil rig fire south of Grand Isle. A worker near the scene told WLOX News that the rig is in the block known as “Vermilion 398,” and that people are in the water.
Click here to read the complete article.

GRAND ISLE, La. — An offshore oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the April blast that caused the massive oil spill.

Click here to read the complete article.