Environment

By Eileen Fleming

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – Ministers from throughout the Gulf Coast say their members - especially those with low or fixed incomes - are being crushed by financial losses caused by the spill. They say victims include a grandmother no longer needed for babysitting children because their mothers are losing their jobs.

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – Anne Rolfes of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade says 954 coastal residents were surveyed from July to October. She says nearly half of the people who believed they were exposed to crude oil or dispersants got sick.
The National Institutes of Health is launching a study of 55-thousand clean-up workers. But Rolfes says more needs to be done to help the sick.

"That is really a wonderful study. It's important. But it's just studying them and we need to treat people."

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – Governor Jindal says the money will be spent on reestablishing oyster beds, building sand fences, planting vegetation and setting up artificial reefs along the shoreline.

"We urge BP to follow our lead. Replenish these funds as quickly as possible. Help fund other steps to restore our coast. I encourage BP to truly make it right."

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The Interior Department is allowing Noble Energy to resume drilling its well 70 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana. Drilling was stopped after four days when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. The government says permission was granted after the company showed it's capable of containing a spill with a new capping stack system. Governor Bobby Jindal says the move is a "good first step" to getting thousands of oil and gas crews back to work.
For WWNO, I'm Eileen Fleming.

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The task force is chaired by Lisa Jackson, a New Orleans native who now heads the Environmental Protection Agency.

"As someone who grew up here I know that the challenges facing this ecosystem go back much further than the BP spill. We are here to respond to that single devastating event. However, a full restoration simply will not be possible unless we address the environmental problems that have plagued this region for so long."

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The Food and Drug Administration is overseeing testing of Gulf seafood. Spokesman Robert Dickey of the FDA's seafood lab in Dauphin Island, Alabama reassured the panel that seafood is safe to eat.

"I am not aware of anywhere else that has undergone this level of testing."

By Eileen Fleming

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is reporting more than 50 dead dolphins have washed ashore. NOAA marine fisheries spokeswoman Connie Barclay says they're being recovered from Louisiana to Florida, and they're young. She says there could be many reasons for the increase, in addition to the BP spill.

"It can be anything from infectious disease to harmful alga blooms or environmental factors like loud sounds or chemicals or something in the water."

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The American Petroleum Institute says production in the Gulf is halted by a lack of drilling permits and lease sales from the Interior Department. Institute spokesman Erik Milito (mih-LEE'-toh) says companies are now closely watching what's happening in Libya.

"I think it's going to have an impact worldwide. Companies are going to have to really look at their energy-development portfolios and make determinations as to where they want to invest."