[StBernard] ONE YEAR LATER: ST. BERNARD PARISH REFUSES TO BEND TO BP OIL SPILL

[Westley Annis]

ONE YEAR LATER: ST. BERNARD PARISH REFUSES TO BEND TO BP OIL SPILL

 

St. Bernard Parish is a proud resilient community recovering strong from
Hurricane Katrina that is fighting together for the recovery of its marshes
and fisheries from the BP oil spill. One year later, commercial fishing
remains a critical component of the fabric of life in St. Bernard. From the
beginning of the oil spill response, St. Bernard Parish President Craig P.
Taffaro, Jr. and the Parish Council ensured that local officials and
fishermen worked together to do their part to protect the parish’s marsh and
coastline and their way of life. Local businessmen stood together to assist
in the response and local restaurants provided thousands of meals to
responders on a daily basis. The community’s ability to address its own
problems while working with outside agencies was essential to its successful
response to Katrina and served St. Bernard well during the oil spill
disaster. 

 

“We learned in Katrina to take a pro-active approach to disaster response,”
Taffaro said. “Our fishermen, our business owners, our residents, and our
public officials acted swiftly in our fight to protect our coast and the
unique Gulf seafood industry. Admittedly we have a long way to go, and we
will not rest until we have ensured that BP and all responsible parties,
‘Make it right.’”

 

More than 1,300 local commercial fishermen were chosen by random drawings to
participate in efforts to limit the impact of the oil on our waters. The
commercial fishing fleet of more than 440 was composed of large and small
fishing vessels as well as trawling vessels fitted with skimming equipment
and manned with crews of local residents who worked diligently to lay over
137 miles of hard oil containment boom and soft absorbent boom in an attempt
to limit the oil’s impacts on St. Bernard’s marsh and coastline. Command
Centers in the affected areas were set up and manned from May 5 to Nov. 23
to facilitate on-the-ground rapid response. Despite these efforts, the oil
impacted St. Bernard dramatically with several key bird rookeries being
severely impacted and tons of oysters destroyed. Over 300 miles of coastline
and marsh were impacted by oil, not including devastated oyster reefs and
the possible impact to future offspring of numerous species of fish, shrimp,
crabs, and other types of seafood. The long term effects of the oil and
dispersant are still unknown. Parish and state officials continue to push
for further testing and remediation of all impacted areas.

 

Fishermen are now faced with a threat to their way of life and an uncertain
future. As a result of the oil spill:

·       Shrimp prices fell by more than half and have only risen about 18%.

·       Shrimp catches were down 90% for the first 6 months, and 70%
thereafter.

·       Crab sales are down 50%. 

·       Oyster sales are down 95%. 

·       Most oyster leases have been reopened, but 40% of oysters are dead.
The remaining product is damaged and not spawning. 

The Gulf Coast Claims Facility Administrator Kenneth Feinberg continues to
fall short on his promises to assist St. Bernard Parish residents in
resolving their oil spill claims. Feinberg released his Final Rules
Governing Payment Options, Eligibility and Substantiation Criteria and Final
Payment Methodology on February 18, 2011. Out of 1,269 St. Bernard claimants
who have filed for their Interim Payment with the GCCF which can be
reapplied for every 90 days, only 66 claimants have been paid an average of
$7,650. Out of 1,165 claimants who have filed for a Full Review Final
Payment with the GCCF, only 99 claimants have been paid an average of
$11,432. This has left parish officials and residents with the impression
that the GCCF is holding out on claimants, in hopes that these claimants
might accept a Quick Payment which would absolve the GCCF and BP of any
further obligation both legally and financially. Several requests have been
made by parish representatives to have Feinberg return to St. Bernard Parish
to assist in getting questions answered for the affected claimants and get
the broken process fixed. Feinberg has yet to set a date.

St. Bernard officials are planning for the future and looking to jumpstart
the recovery and to ensure the proper clean-up continues. St. Bernard
currently has a full-time environmental planner who has been working with BP
evaluation and clean-up teams to address five oiled locations in St. Bernard
Parish. These locations typically are shoreline locations that either could
not be reached last year because of bird nesting or weren’t discovered until
after winter storms moved shell deposits and revealed oil mats.

 

Additionally, there are plans to create an oyster research and restoration
center at the former BP command center at Hopedale, using a partnership with
the Nature Conservancy. This project would create 2½ miles of vertical
oyster reefs in St. Bernard marsh using a triangular steel ReefBLK system,
devised by Coastal Environments Inc. The vertical oyster reef will provide
natural living shoreline erosion protection and increase the oyster
productivity of the area by introducing additional oyster spats or larvae
that will enhance the oyster production in private oyster leases in the
area. Work should begin in about a month, with additional projects on the
drawing board.

 

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