Spike in baby dolphins deaths in the Gulf

Baby dolphins, some barely three feet in length, are washing up along the Mississippi and Alabama shorelines at about 10 times the normal number for the first two months of the year, researchers are finding.

As now February 17th, seventeen young dolphins, either aborted before they reached maturity or dead soon after birth, have been collected on the coasts of the states in the past two weeks, both on the barrier islands and mainland beaches.

This is the first birthing season for dolphins since the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; however, Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, said it’s too early to tell why they died.

Today the count is up to 24 stillborn or infant calves that have washed ashore in the two states.

What’s happening here falls under the formal designation of an Unusual Mortality Event, which requires special scrutiny by a panel of scientists and experts, and gives high priority to samples collected.

But scientists caution about jumping to conclusions because a number of factors can cause dolphin deaths.

We'll be keep our eye on this story as it develops. Stay tuned.

Read more:

17 Dead Baby Dolphins found in Gulf waters

Spike Reported in number of stillborn dolphins on coast

Fourth baby dolphin found dead on Horn Island

Baby Dolphin Deaths get fed's attention

Oil Spill Commission Report Finds Systemic Failure

The President's Oil Spill Commission, who was charged with determining the cause of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster and making recommendations to guard against future oilspills, released their report today.

The report is a scathing indictment of the industry for failing to have adequate response plans in place for rig blow outs and of the government for decades of lax oversight. The report makes it clear that the Deepwater Horizon spill is not an isolated incident, but the result of a systemic failure of the management and oversight of the offshore oil drilling industry.

Further, the report makes clear current practices put us in dire risk of another spill and calls for serious reform of the governments oversight of the oil industry. The report's conclusions can be summarized in three broad categories: managerial foul-ups, systemic failure and regulatory weakness. The report also suggests that the liability cap for oil spills should be dramatically increased and that most of the mitigation funding for the spill go the Gulf for restoration.

A more thorough summary of the recommendations can be found here

The report makes it clear that Obama's decision to prohibit leases in the continental US is a wise decision and is necessary to avoid another spill of this magnitude along our coasts.

See the statement released by Environment America and the Surfrider Foundation here.

More on the Oil Spill Commission and the full report can be found on their official site here.

More stories on the commission report:

Failure in the Gulf

Oil and Gas Journal - Spill panel: More government, industry reforms needed

Panel Spreads Blame For BP Oil Rig Explosion

The Oil Industries Haven't Learned

The oil industry, its lobbyists and its Congressional allies are predictably furious at the Obama administration’s decision not to allow exploratory oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic coast. The decision was unquestionably the right one.

The industry and its well-paid allies say that delaying drilling will increase America’s dependence on foreign oil. That ignores a simple truth: A nation using one-quarter of the world’s oil while controlling only 3 percent of the world’s known reserves cannot drill its way to independence. The estimated 7.5 billion barrels the eastern gulf and Atlantic coast are thought to contain are just about what this country consumes in a year.

Read more from this excellent NY Times editorial.

Cartoon: Economics of the ban on drilling in VA

Oil lurks beneath sand six months later

Follow UGA's Marine Science Departments research on the "lost" oil

Scientists at UGA were amongst the first to find signals of the underwater oil plume and more recently a thick layer of oil on the seafloor that was reported on NPR.

Dr. Samantha Joye, who is leading some of this research, has created a blog so you can flow along: http://gulfblog.uga.edu/

Sylvia Earle Talks About The Gulf Disaster and Saving Our Seas

Former NOAA chief scientist and passionate advocate for our oceans Sylvia Earle recently sat down with Treehugger.com and talked about, among other things, what the Gulf oil spill means for the ocean’s ecology.

Listen and read the full interview here.

4.9 Million Barrels

Today, federal officials released a revised estimate of the flow rate and total amount of oil spilled during the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

They estimate that the flow rate varied from 62,000 to 53,000 barrels a day over the 87 days that oil was spilling.

The new estimates reflect the collaborative work and discussions of the National Incident Command’s Flow Rate Technical Group (FRTG), led by United States Geological Survey (USGS) Director Marcia McNutt, and a team of Department of Energy (DOE) scientists and engineers, led by Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Note, the serious underestimates made by Coast Guard in the first weeks of the spill.

Read more here, here & here

Letter to BP from 3rd Graders

Surfrider received a copy of the following letter from a 3rd grade class at Children's Day School in San Francisco:

Dear Tony Hayward of BP,

We are respectfully asking for an inspection of the Atlantis. We have been following how the Horizon leak has affected the creatures and the people living in and around the Gulf of Mexico.

We know some of the effects of oil in the environment include fish gills getting clogged with oil, and native plants and habitats being destroyed. We learned that birds cannot fly or stay warm with oil on on their wings, and that they will ingest the oil when cleaning themselves and get sick. It may also prevent them being able to hatch their eggs. Oil limits the amount of oxygen available in the water for animals, and may alter the migration paths of animals. Threatened animals may become endangered or extinct.

We know that some of the human impacts include people's eyes and lungs burning. People might leave and businesses would suffer. The oil may contaminate the drinking water. Fishermen are not able to fish or make a living. Communities outside of the gulf are suffering as well.

We respect what your company does but sometimes you need to stop, and make it safe for others. Stopping the pumps will cost money, but another disaster like this may destroy your company. Think of your employees, your customers and people everywhere. What you do affects everyone.

If you don't prevent another leak from happening you are setting yourself up for disaster.

Please consider what we are saying.

Sincerely,

The Blue Jays

State of the Spill - Week 3

Spill Size/Extent

Size: 20,748,000 gallons
Continuing rate of spill: 1,092,000 gallons per day.

More details:
http://oilonthebeach.blogspot.com/2010/05/updated-oil-spill-counter-gulf-oil.html

http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-new-spill-rate.html

Analysis of aerial photographs by Skytruth on May 9 indicated slicks and sheen covering an area of about 4,384 square miles. Oil has been reported hitting the beach at South Pass, near Port Eads, Louisiana and also on the Chandeleur Islands. Earlier reports documented oil on Dauphin Island, Alabama.

State of Efforts to Stop Flow

Today the Washington Post published an article titled "Engineers trying multiple tactics in battle to plug oil well in Gulf of Mexico" that discussed Plans 'A through F' to try to deal with the ongoing oil well blowout. Plan A was the blowout preventer valve that either did not close off or only partially closed. Plan B was the 40-foot-tall steel containment dome or 'coffer dam' that failed when gas hydrate crystals clogged the inside of the dome. Plan C is a smaller dome that may not capture as much of the flow but may be less resistant to clogging. That plan may be tried in the next few days. Plan D is a "hot tap" which would attempt to cut into the damaged riser pipe and connect another pipe to collect the oil. Plan E has been termed a "junk shot" or "top kill" which would inject a mixture of solid material, ranging from shredded tires to golf balls, to clog up the well, followed by drilling mud and cement to permanently seal it. Plan F is to drill a new well (actually two wells are being drilled simultaneously) to intercept the leaking well 3-1/2 miles below the ocean floor and inject cement to kill the well.
More info

Volunteer Response Resources

Surfrider volunteer oil spill toolkit

Response websites:
http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com/
http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/
http://tinyurl.com/audubonvolunteer

Volunteer Phone numbers: (state-specific contact information below)

Deepwater Horizon Incident Volunteer Hotline: 866-448-5816
Vessel of Opportunities Program - fishermen should phone 425-745-8017

Fact sheets related to oil spills in general and this spill: http://www.piersystem.com/go/doctype/2931/53023/ http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon http://gulfseagrant.tamu.edu/oilspill/index.htm

Official Response Resources

United incident command
Twitter: http://twitter.com/usnoaagov
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/usnoaagov
Podcasts: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast.html
NOAA Roles and Tools: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/topics/oceans/spills/
EPA: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/

Phone numbers:

NOAA media inquiries: keeley.belva@noaa.gov or 301-713-3066
For response inquiries: Joint Information Center (JIC) at 985-902-5231 or 985-902-5240
BP Horizon Response Hotline: 281-366-5511
To report oil, or general Community and Volunteer Information: 866-448-5816
To report oiled or injured wildlife: 866-557-1401

Florida Specific Volunteer Information:

Oil spill related clean up: http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/
Opportunities will be posted as they become available.

If you live in these areas and want to help:
Okaloosa County call: 850-651-7150 


Bay County call: 763-6587 


Walton County: go to http://www.waltonso.org/

Florida Palm Beach/Treasure Coast area volunteers can email Surfrider's Florida Regional Manager Ericka Davanzo: edavanzo@surfrider.org

Donations Needed

Help already trained personnel prepare for animal response by giving supplies or donating. The Wildlife Sanctuary in Pensacola: www.pensacolawildlife.com/ is looking for the following donations:
--Baby blankets
--Towels
--Heating pads (w/o auto shut off if possible)
--Large Rubbermaid containers with lids
--Heating lamps
--Rubbermaid troughs (can be purchased at Tractor Supply)
--Large backyard portable pools like found at Wal-Mart

The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores is looking for volunteers and donations of the following supplies:
--Linens
--Kennels
--Towels
--Sheets
--Dawn dish detergent
--Pepto-Bismol and toothbrushes

The sanctuary is a local dropoff center for the donations at 18328 Gulf Blvd., Indian Shores. It is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. See its website for details or call (727) 391-6211 for information, or e-mail jessicag@seabirdsanctuary.com.

Florida Information Numbers and Websites:

DEP Related Media Questions: Amy Graham at 850-245-2112 or -2113
Florida Emergency Information Line: 800-342-3557
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) incident response website: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm

CRCL encourages pre-veterinary students, veterinary technicians, and anyone with HAZWOPER training to volunteer. Anyone with experience in wildlife handling, rehabilitation, or hazardous materials clean up is also strongly encouraged to volunteer.

Resources in Other Gulf States:

Mobile Bay National Estuary Program
Mississippi Department of Marine Resources - (228) 374-5000
Galveston Bay Foundation www.galvbay.org/volunteer_oil_signup.html

Ecological Damage

Breton National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana has been closed to public entry. The US Fish and Wildlife Service has established 10 staging areas that are ready to protect sensitive shorelines (Biloxi, MS; Pensacola, FL; Venice, LA; Pascagoula, MS; Port Sulphur, LA; Port Fourchon, LA; Gulfport, MS; Dauphin Island, AL; Shell Beach, LA; Slidell, LA) . FWS has seen very few oiled birds, but they did recover 2 dead birds that were oiled (unknown species of tern and unknown species of egret). Two treated birds (northern gannet and brown pelican) have been released at the Archie Carr NWR.

NOAA’s Fisheries Service has modified the area closed to fishing in the Gulf of Mexico due to the BP oil spill, which will include federal waters seaward of Louisiana state waters in the vicinity of Timbalier Island to waters off Florida’s Choctawhatchee Bay.

More Information & Call to Action

Help us track oil spill impacts at: http://oilspill.skytruth.org/

For more information: http://www.nottheanswer.org/
Urge Obama and Congress to ban new drilling: http://www.surfrider.org/nodrilling
Join the Surfrider Foundation: http://www.surfrider.org/join

State of the Gulf Spill - Week 2

Spill Size/Extent

Size: 13,104,000 gallons
Continuing rate of spill: 1,092,000 gallons per day.

More details:
http://oilonthebeach.blogspot.com/2010/05/updated-oil-spill-counter-gulf-oil.html

http://blog.skytruth.org/2010/05/gulf-oil-spill-new-spill-rate.html

State of Efforts to Stop Flow

On Sunday the NY Times reported: “On Monday, BP hoped to install a shut-off valve on one of the three leaks. But the biggest leak, at the end of the riser pipe, which is the source of most of the spewing oil, cannot be shut off this way. The company intends to address that leak by lowering a containment dome over it and then pumping the oil to the surface. That effort is still at least six days away. Another containment dome, for the third leak, which is on the riser near the wellhead, would follow two to four days after the first.”

Crews broke ground on the sea bed shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday as work began to drill a relief well. That work will take at least two months at best to complete.

Volunteer Response Resources

Surfrider volunteer oil spill toolkit: http://oilonthebeach.blogspot.com/2010/04/oil-spill-volunteer-toolkit.html


Response websites:

http://www.oilspillvolunteers.com

http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org

http://tinyurl.com/audubonvolunteer

Volunteer Phone numbers:

Deepwater Horizon Incident Volunteer Hotline: 866-448-5816

Vessel of Opportunities Program. Fishermen should phone 425-745-8017

Fact sheets related to oil spills in general and this spill:

http://www.piersystem.com/go/doctype/2931/53023/

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon

http://gulfseagrant.tamu.edu/oilspill/index.htm


Official Response Resources

United incident command:

www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com


Twitter:

http://twitter.com/usnoaagov


http://www.facebook.com/usnoaagov


Podcasts:

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast.html

NOAA Roles and Tools:

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/topics/oceans/spills/


Phone numbers:

NOAA media inquiries: keeley.belva@noaa.gov or 301-713-3066

For response inquiries: Joint Information Center (JIC) at 985-902-5231 or 985-902-5240

BP Horizon Response Hotline: 281-366-5511

To report oil, or general Community and Volunteer Information: 866-448-5816

To report oiled or injured wildlife: 866-557-1401

Florida Specific Volunteer Information:

Oil spill related clean up; http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org

Opportunities will be posted as they become available.

If you live in these areas and want to help:

Okaloosa County call: 850-651-7150 



Bay County call: 763-6587 



Walton County: go to www.waltonso.org

If Florida Palm Beach/Treasure Coast area volunteers email the Florida Regional Manager: Ericka Davanzo: edavanzo@surfrider.org

Donations Needed

Help already trained personnel prepare for animal response by giving supplies or donating. The Wildlife Sanctuary in Pensacola: www.pensacolawildlife.com/ are looking for the following donations:

--Baby blankets
--Towels
--Heating pads (w/o auto shut off if possible)
--Large Rubbermaid containers with lids
--Heating lamps
--Rubbermaid troughs (can be purchased at Tractor Supply)
--Large backyard portable pools like found at Wal-Mart

The Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary in Indian Shores is looking for volunteers and donations of the following supplies:

--Linens
--Kennels
--Towels
--Sheets
--Dawn dish detergent
--Pepto-Bismol and toothbrushes

The sanctuary is a local dropoff center for the donations at 18328 Gulf Blvd., Indian Shores. It is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. See its website for details or call (727) 391-6211 for information, or e-mail jessicag@seabirdsanctuary.com.

Florida Information Numbers and Websites:

DEP Related Media Questions: Amy Graham at 850-245-2112 or -2113

Florida Emergency Information Line: 800-342-3557

Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) incident response website:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm

CRCL encourages pre-veterinary students, veterinary technicians, and anyone with HAZWOPER training to volunteer. Anyone with experience in wildlife handling, rehabilitation, or hazardous materials clean up is also strongly encouraged to volunteer.

Mobile Bay National Estuary Program

Mississippi Department of Marine Resources - (228) 374-5000 www.dmr.state.ms.us

Galveston Bay Foundation www.galvbay.org/volunteer_oil_signup.html


"If the oil reaches the shore it will kill all the shrimp, all the crabs and all the oysters," Kim Vo, owner of the largest shrimp distributor in Venice, LA, Sharkco Seafoods International, told the Wall Street Journal. The oil, which will likely also devastate nesting birds and whales, is also threatening two national wildlife refuges, in addition to the tourism and fishing industries of dozens of coastal communities.

Commercial and recreational fishing in the Gulf of Mexico waters affected by the massive oil leak have been restricted for 10 days, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Sunday. The closings are from Louisiana state waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River to waters off Florida's Pensacola Bay. There are fish, crabs, oyster and shrimp near the spill and officials are working to prohibit harvesting from affected areas, NOAA said. The closure will be in effect until 12:01 a.m. local time May 12, 2010, unless conditions allow NOAA Fisheries Service to terminate it sooner.

For more information: http://www.nottheanswer.org

Urge Obama and Congress to ban new drilling: http://www.surfrider.org/nodrilling

Join the Surfrider Foundation: http://www.surfrider.org/join


Link to this entire document as: http://www.surfrider.org/files/StateoftheSpill_week2.pdf"

Oil from Gulf spill is reaching Louisiana coastline

With an oily stench permeating the air across southeastern Louisiana, a massive oil spill was expected to start coming ashore in the Mississippi River delta early Friday, triggering all-out efforts to stave off an enironmental and fishing industry disaster as some state officials feared a repeat of the botched response that doomed the region during Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.

Read more...

Detailed Map of the Growing Monster......and a Projected Landfall

These images are from the response team's website.

Lessons From the Disaster

The LA Times today published a great editorial regarding lessons learned (or lessons that should be learned) from the ongoing oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Here are a few excerpts:

"Last week’s oil rig disaster should remind us that expansion of the environmentally risky practice is not the way to go.

Here's what we've already learned: Offshore drilling is more dangerous than industry apologists claim (11 men are believed to have died in the explosion), and it can have environmentally devastating impacts.

This kind of environmental tragedy isn't unprecedented — a similar rig explosion happened last year off Australia — and we'll probably be seeing it more often if Congress expands drilling off U.S. shores. There's a better way of using our coastal resources to generate energy. On Wednesday, the Obama administration approved the country's first offshore wind farm, a 130-turbine project off Massachusetts that is guaranteed never to foul beaches with tar or emit carbon into the atmosphere. Cape Wind is the future; the sunken Deepwater Horizon drilling rig represents a tarred past."

Oil Spill Counter: Gulf Oil Disaster is spilling 210,000 gallons a day

This is an explanation of how we determined what number to use to count the total amount of oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

We based our calculation on the approach used by SkyTruth, which is explained below.

Using their method it is estimated that 5,000 barrels or 210,000 gallons of oil has been spilling each day since the incident began.

U.S. Coast Guard estimates:

When the Deepwater Horizon initially caught fire at 11 PM on Thursday, April 20th and burned until it sank mid morning on Thursday, April 22nd, the U.S. Coast Guard estimated that approximately 8,000 (or 336,000 gallons) barrels of oil was leaking per day.

On early Friday, April 23rd, the U.S. Coast Guard reported that the leak appeared to have stopped.

Sometime on Saturday, April 24th, the U.S. Coast Guard reported that oil was leaking from the sea floor (5000 feet below the surface) at 1,000 barrels (or 42,000 gallons) per day. Until today, that was the number they were reporting.

To our knowledge, the U.S. Coast Guard has not provided any specific justification for how these numbers were estimated.

SkyTruth estimates:

The folks at SkyTruth took a different approach. On April 27th (approximately Day 6 of the spill) they calculated the total volume of the spill based on satellite observations and divided by the amount of time that oil had occurred. This approach yields a conservative estimate that the spill is leaking approximately 5,000 barrels (or 210,000 gallons) of oil each day. It does not account for the oil that burned or has been cleaned up to that point, which, if accounted, for would make the daily estimate higher. This estimate is based on empirical evidence - the area and minimum thickness of the spill to be visible.

You can read this post by SkyTruth here to see precisely how this calculation was made.

February 21, 2011 Update: SkyTruth wanted us to note that Dr. Ian MacDonald from FSU was the one who initially calculated the 26,500 barrel a day estimate. Read here.

Oil Spill Continues; Slick Grows; Coasts Threatened

National Geographic reports:

Response teams were deploying remote-operated submarines in an urgent effort Sunday to stop the flow of oil from the site of the accident in the Gulf of Mexico that destroyed the BP-leased rig, the Deepwater Horizon.

If the gambit fails, it could take months to stop the leak-now estimated at 42,000 gallons per day of crude oil, according to the joint U.S. government and oil industry task force.

Response teams were deploying remote-operated submarines in an urgent effort Sunday to stop the flow of oil from the site of the accident in the Gulf of Mexico that destroyed the BP-leased rig, the Deepwater Horizon.

The best hope is that the remote-operated submarines-at least four are deployed at the scene--would be able to activate a huge device on the sea floor called a "blow-out protector," a series of valves meant to control pressure in the well. "This is a highly complex operation," said Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP's exploration and production division. "And it may not be successful."

If that operation fails, the next option is to drill a relief well-a process that would take at least two to three months, said Suttles. A BP rig equipped for this task is to arrive at the scene by Monday.

In the above graphic, note the Wildlife Reserves in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Also, should the oil become entrained in the Florida Loop Current it could be transported along the Florida Reef Tract, through the Keys and to the Florida east coast. A recent aerial photograph of the oil slick, plus additional images of the Deepwater Horizon blowout can be seen here.

-- UPDATE: 1:30 PM PST --

According to the NY Times, "Coast Guard officials said Monday afternoon that the oil spill near Louisiana was now covering more than 1,800 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico, and they have been unable to engage a mechanism that could shut off the well thousands of feet below the ocean's surface." Also "The unified command is monitoring the situation and is working closely with officials from Fish and Wildlife, National Marine Fisheries Service and NOAA to understand the impact the spill and response activities may have on whales and other marine wildlife in the area."

Coast Guard: "We are dealing with a very serious spill"

The U.S. Coast Guard announced today that the agency has found not one, but two leaks in the line below the wreckage of the Deepwater Horizon rig, which sank 50 miles off the Louisiana coast this week. After using submersibles to survey the site, Coast Guard officials announced that the breaches were leaking approximately 42,000 gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.

"We thought what we were dealing with as of yesterday was a surface residual (oil) from the mobile offshore drilling unit," said Rear Admiral Mary Landry. "In addition to that is oil emanating from the well. It is a big change from yesterday ... This is a very serious spill, absolutely."

News agencies are reporting that the surface slick, which measured just a few miles yesterday, had grown 25 times that size overnight and was now nearly 20 miles long by 20 miles wide.

According to the Minerals Management Service fixing the leaks will not be easy given the depth (nearly 5,000 feet).

Both government officials and environmental organization are preparing for the worst. When asked about the situation, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal acknowledged that the spill could impact not just his state, but the Mississippi, Alabama and Texas coastlines as well.


"This type of accident is certainly one of the worst-case scenarios you can imagine," said Jindal.

According to a Coast guard spokes person, high winds and 10 foot seas are hampering clean-up efforts.

Obama: "Not the last time there will be a spill"

Even as a foul mix of crude and marine fuel continues to spew forth from the wreckage site of the Deepwater Horizons, the Obama Administration remains unrepentant about their recent decision to allow new offshore drilling and exploration off the East, Gulf and Alaskan coastlines.

Robert Gibbs, Mr Obama’s White House spokesman, told reporters that the accident didn’t change Mr Obama’s commitment to offshore drilling and exploration. “I don’t think it opens up a new series of questions” on the process, Mr Gibbs said, predicting that it “won’t be the last time” there would be a spill.

One can't help but wonder, what the threshold will be for both the Obama Administration and the Drill Baby, Drill crowd to realize that offshore drilling is not an acceptable answer to our nation's energy woes.

Will it take a spill along the Florida coastline, effectively killing tourism, the state's principle economic driver?

Will it take another event like the Exxon Valdez in Alaska's environmentally sensitive north slope to make us realize the cost for our foolishness?

We've seen the loss of two major drilling platforms in less then six months.

If not now, when?

What will it take?

Burning oil rig sinks in Gulf of Mexico

And it is also leaking over 250,000 gallons of crude oil per day.

Read more...

Oil Companies Oil Wildlife Refuge

Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana is in peril after at least 18,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled into its waters early Tuesday morning. An area of approximately 160 square miles has been impacted by the spill - 40 square miles of marsh and 120 square miles offshore.

The spill originated at a pipeline owned by Cypress Pipe Line Company, a joint venture of Chevron Pipeline Co. and British Petroleum. Clean up efforts and an environmental impact assessment are underway.

The cause of the accident has not been confirmed, but according to Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and Coast Guard spokesmen, long pipes known as "spuds" anchoring an ExxonMobil operated barge may have struck the pipeline. It seems that Chevron and ExxonMobil, the two largest oil companies in the U.S., are responsible for this potential ecological catastrophe.

This spill demonstrates the environmental toll the region's ubiquitous petroleum industry has taken on the state of Louisiana. "This is just more evidence that the oil and gas industry don't have the proper safety standards in place," said Casey DeMoss Roberts of the New Orleans group of the Sierra Club. "The President claims drilling is safer than ever but our state is the cautionary tale."

Read More