WSJ: Oil, Saltwater Mar Louisiana Coast, Threaten Future

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Dangerous Mix

Oil, Saltwater Mar Louisiana Coast, Threaten Future

Katrina Dumps 193,000 Barrels Over Damaged Marshlands; Fishing Areas Are Polluted
Hurricane Rita Delays Work

By KEN WELLS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
September 23, 2005; Page A1

NAIRN, La. -- More than three weeks after Katrina came ashore in Louisiana, the Coast Guard says the storm's surges and winds unleashed at least 40 oil spills -- 10 of which are major -- from ruptured pipelines and battered oil-storage facilities. In total, at least 193,000 barrels of oil and other petrochemicals were blown or driven by tides across the fragile marshy ecosystems and populated areas of the Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes, southeast of New Orleans. The spills, the largest ever loss of oil in the state, approach the scale of the famous 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill, which dumped 240,000 barrels of crude oil in the fish-rich waters of Alaska's Prince William Sound.

Katrina simultaneously set in motion another toxic event along the battered coast of Louisiana. A monumental surge of saltwater flooded tens of thousands of acres of vulnerable freshwater marsh. Much of the water has been trapped for three weeks by the levees designed to keep it out and has become a stew mixed with other effluent from ruined houses, businesses, cars and sewage-treatment plants. Large swaths of salt-burned wetlands may take years to recover.

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In Plaquemines and St. Bernard, salt tides inundated farmlands, fresh water marshes and cheniers -- the ancient, oak-clad ridges that are a peculiar and scenic feature of this lowland geography. Plaquemines officials fear that in some cases, the mucky residue left behind in storm-ravaged neighborhoods will be so tainted that it will delay or even prevent rebuilding efforts. The mixture of sewage, rotting vegetation and oil -- particularly when oil is a heavy component -- has been devastating to aquatic birds. More than five million migratory birds, including a number of rare and endangered species, make use each year of the Louisiana estuary's marshes, swamps, bays and bayous. Coastal Louisiana also harbors the largest nesting population of bald eagles in the lower 48.

The state holds the earth's seventh largest wetland, America's largest estuary and 30% of all U.S. coastal marshes. In its midsection sits the Atchafalaya Basin holding the Atchafalaya Swamp, at one million acres the largest contiguous hardwood swamp in North America. Yet the state's coastal ecosystem is less well known than places such as Chesapeake Bay, whose fishery production it dwarfs. It receives far less adulation than the Florida Everglades, though it shelters far more species of wildlife, fish and birds. One reason Louisiana's coast suffers on the public-relations front is because it features almost no resort beaches nor is it home to a significant national park. It is also among the most industrialized wetlands in the world, with working oil wells and production facilities sharing the marshes and bayous with fishing camps. It's the portal through which 13% of the nation's imported oil and a third of the Gulf of Mexico's domestic production enters the U.S. Though most state residents see this as a plus, Louisiana's estuary as a result isn't the nominally pristine place that national environmental groups like to rally behind.

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The storm represents a dispiriting turn of events for a coast already under siege. It has been shrinking at a rate of about 25 square miles per year, owing in part to federal flood-control measures on the lower Mississippi River, begun in the 1920s. The flood system channeled the river between giant levees that largely shut off the 8,000-year-old silting process that had gradually built the Louisiana delta. Wetlands help protect inland areas from floods by slowing tides and creating miles-deep buffers that absorb the energy of wind and waves. The natural erosion of the wetlands has been exacerbated by the dredging, over the past 50 years, of thousands of miles of bee-line canals. Dug with state and federal approval mostly by the oil and gas industry, the canals allowed salt water into the freshwater marshes and swamps, killing them off. The result: a massive pooling effect in which wetlands died off and sunk, leaving open water in their wake. This in turn exposes more marsh and even uplands to further erosion.

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Some scientists such as Kerry St. Pe, who has worked on coastal restoration for the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, say the conditions of the wetlands of the St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes contributed to the number of oil spills during Katrina. One example: Pipelines originally buried under the marsh 20 years ago had become more vulnerable to Katrina's surges as the landscape changed... Some scientists say it's fruitless to repair Katrina's damage to New Orleans and other areas if a serious effort isn't made to fix the coast. Gary Fine, who runs a U.S. Department of Agriculture lab at Golden Meadow, La., is attempting to develop hurricane-hardy, salt-water tolerant plants to replenish Louisiana's coastal marshes. Rebuilding the delta would be "relatively cheap compared to what Katrina will likely cost," he says. "And what's the point of spending all that reconstruction money if, in the next hurricane, it's all washed away again?"

URL for this article:
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[gulfcoastliberal]

1. I bought a copy of "Bayou, Farewell"

After seeing the author on a History Channel special about the Louisiana coastlines devastation pre and post Katrina. The guys they interviewed pulled no punches; talked about the corps of enghineers budget cuts, the fact that 100s of acres of wetlands are washed into the gulf every year, etc. Louisiana is screwed.

Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast
Mike Tidwell

FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Mike Tidwell knew nothing of the disappearing bayou country when he first visited the Cajun coast of Louisiana, but the evidence was all around him: the skeletons of oak trees killed by the salinity of the groundwater, whole cemeteries sinking into swampland and out of sight, telephone poles in deep, standing water. Thanks to human hands, the storied Louisiana coast was eroding, subsiding, and joining the Gulf of Mexico - making it the fastest disappearing landmass on Earth. Yet no one seemed to know how to talk about the problem. Tidwell, a celebrated travel and environmental writer, decided to begin the much-needed conversation, and this vivid, elegiac book is the result." Tidwell introduces us to the surprisingly varied population of the area: the Cajun men and women who work the seasonal shrimp harvest, the Vietnamese fishermen, the Houma Indians driven to the farthest ends of the bayou by the first European settlers. He describes the food, the music, the culture, and the life of all those who live along the bayous. And under his keenly observant eye, the bayou itself becomes a compelling character - reminding us of how much we stand to lose if we fail to address the problems facing this most vibrant of places.

If you're interested,

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=yV1mrqACep&isbn=0375725172&itm=1