What’s happened in a year

If you’re curious as to what’s happened in a year in the Gulf Coast since the unfortunate BP Oil Spill – first year anniversary was last Thursday – then here it is in a nutshell. Granted, it’s not all good news but that’s life and I don’t intend to temper the reality here; however, knowing the facts can give awareness that brings call to action and allows this post to end positively.

• “There’s still oil out there,” as Brian Vastag writes in The Washington Post and the article is summarized below.

• For further information, The Times Picayune, New Orleans’s local newspaper is all over it with even more details.

• There was nearly 200 million gallons of oil released into the Gulf and 1.8 million gallons of chemical dispersants added to break it up.

• After a year Environmental effects are:

— More than 100 square miles of marshland is unstable and sickly.

— Algae has slowed in production. (Algae affects the oxygen in this ecosystem and many fish and herbivores eat algae.)

— A layer of thick muck coats the sea bed causing death to corals, sea stars, worms and much of this sea life community.

— Countless (ones we don’t know about) fish, seal life (oysters, clams, crabs — seafood we eat) and birds and turtles are also dead.

You may have some questions about where did the oil go, what’s the outcome to the environment and the industry that relies on it?

• According to NOAA, a quarter of the oil evaporated or dissolved back into the water.

• Another 13 percent automatically became small droplets as it gushed out from the broken riser pipe.

• A giant oil plume (16 percent) was created at the wellhead and drifted out to sea.

• Chemical dispersants broke up another 16 percent, which became a part of this drifting plume, which  was eaten by natural oil-eating bacteria. (Research from Terry Hazen in the journal Science.)

• The Unified Command, supervised by the US Coast Guard collected and discarded another third:

— 17 percent collected by the “top hat,” which covered the broken riser pipe, was recovered, loaded onto tankers and sent to refineries

— 3 percent by way of skimming, which proved ineffective

— 5 percent through flaring or burning at the surface

• About 30 percent (for the tens of millions of gallons of oil) plus 11 percent (residual) is unnaccounted-for.

• 2,000 workers and a “couple hundred” boats are still cleaning the coastlines of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.

• Roughly 66 miles of shoreline remains “moderately to heavily” oiled — down from 1,050 miles.

• Cleanup in protected islands has paused with the hope that leaving the oil mats may prove less damaging than disturbing them.

• Efforts continue in the marshes of the Mississippi delta, particularly among the grasses to allow the roots to grow back.

• 130 square miles of hurricane protective and shrimp thriving marshes failed, however, more than the usual 24 square miles per year.

• 1,000 plus square miles of fisheries remain closed and this is down from 84,000 at the height of the crisis.

• Seafood Industry After a Year

• Mostly good news on seafood production study according to Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M, presented to Kenneth Feinberg, the administration’s Gulf Coast Claims Facility administrator:

— Shrimp fisheries should rebound in one to two years.

— Blue crab populations should be normal this year.

— Commercial fish “are not believed to have been  significantly affected.”

— Oyster beds, however, will take up to 10 years to recover. This closed the famous, 130 year old P&J Oyster House and this is bad news for renown Acme Oyster House, which still operates along with others. (Luckily I don’t like oysters, but those poboys….)

• There were 153,  an unusual amount, of dead bottle-nose dolphin that washed ashore and most were young or fetal carcasses.

• 8 out of the 15 in most recent dead dolphins were confirmed to have Deepwater Horizon oil on them; although, NOAH is not confirming that this was their cause of death.

All this data will be a part of the Natural Resources Damage Assessment, which will determine the tally for ecological harm and be presented to BP at which time it can dispute. Note, according to the NOAA about 90 percent of DRDA’s have been settled out of court.

Now all this seems pretty grim BUT there are many organizations out there that are helping, including the two on our right side bar, LA Gulf Response and Greater New Orleans Foundation.  We single these out because all Casart Coverings partners are from New Orleans and we’re doing our part to aid in the cleanup and restabilization effort for the environment as well as the people who depend on it.

• Please go to our Gulf Coast Recovery page or via our icon at top left to see our designs with proceeds going to the efforts from these two volunteer groups.

• Our Casart Carryalls with Gulf Coast related designs also contribute to this effort via these groups. So far, the Gulf Coast mural bag and the Crabs with Cotillion on the reverse have been the most popular.

• Just last week we gave away 3 bags on Modenus to some very lucky winners and a portion of these proceeds will go to these groups’ efforts as well.

• It’s not just our Carryalls but also our wallcoverings that make a difference — not only in a charitable way but also in transforming your room.

• Did you know that this dancing crawfish design comes in a staggering 29 different patterns and 16 different color combos and if you want something different, they can all be customized. Purchasing these has more financial impact toward these Gulf Coast Recovery efforts than the Carryalls.

• Here are our previous posts on Gulf Coast Recovery efforts.

With everyone’s help we can make a difference in what appears to be a longtime effort. We’re already making a difference but let us know how else you can help us to help this situation. We welcome your input and suggestions.

— Ashley