Environment

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – State and local leaders want to build 80 miles of sand bars to block oil now seeping into wetlands. They're blasting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for taking weeks to approve dredging permits.
Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry says all plans must be evaluated.

By Eileen Fleming

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco says experts still don't know how much oil is in the Gulf, if there are in fact underwater streams that some say are 10 miles long, or where it will end up.

"The probes activate upon hitting the ocean surface and immediately begin transmitting data about sea temperature, salinity and currents back to computers aboard the aircraft, providing information about surface and subsurface oceanography."

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco says scientists could have established how much oil was flowing at BP's underwater leak with more equipment.

"We do have the knowledge and the instruments to do that. The decision was made that the first priority had to be to stop the flow."

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The EPA says BP has 24 hours to find an alternative dispersant, and 72 hours to start using it. BP has been spraying the surface spill with dispersants since it developed about a month ago. BP executive Doug Suttles says that as underwater robots proved unable to stop the leak, the company reached out for ideas.

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco says almost 46,000 square miles is now off limits. Food and Drug Administration inspectors will test fish in the region.

"The plan includes sampling seafood from inside and outside the closed areas as well as dockside and market-based sampling."

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – The sheen is being tracked by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Spokesman Charlie Henry says the oil is moving slowly and could break apart before hitting land.

"The bulk of the oil is still way away to the northeast - I'm sorry - to the northwest of the loop current, and that oil is not in the immediate future a threat to be feeling the influence of the loop current and move down."

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry says officials are now pinning hopes on a procedure to start next week that's being called a "top kill." Engineers are testing pressure to make sure the busted blow-out preventer on the sea bed can handle heavy liquids plugging the leak.

"Let's all keep our fingers crossed. Let's all say our prayers. We absolutely hope top kills works. We're anxious to see that it does."

By Eileen Fleming

New Orleans, La. – NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco says officials are double-checking reports from scientists aboard a government-funded research vessel. Experts say they found a 10-mile tentacle of oil under the surface. Meantime, globs of oil traced to the BP well are washing up in Florida.

"I think it is safe to say that the tar balls washing ashore in the Florida Keys are an example of what might happen should oil becomes entrained in the loop current."

New Orleans, LA – Leaders in St. Tammany Parish have been working diligently to prevent the oil from reaching the lakes that connect to the gulf. Jollaine Schear reports that St. Tammany president Kevin Davis has gained the support of local and national leaders in protecting these bodies of water from the spill.