GOMAEEN News Archive
These stories reflect Gulf news from June 2009 forward.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 | OUR VIEW: The Gulf Coast roars back However, while it may be years before the full ecological impact of the spill can be gauged, it’s turned out to be just a one-year blip for beach devotees. more info |
| University’s proposals rejected for BP research "These consortia establish a research community of great strength with promise of substantial achievement," said Rita Colwell, chairman of the GRI research board, in a news release. "The results will illuminate the consequences of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill and enable appropriate responses should there be future releases not only in the Gulf of Mexico but anywhere that oil and gas is produced in ocean environments." more info |
| BP's $100 million rig worker fund expands to other oil spill recovery efforts Rig workers and other offshore laborers affected by last year's Gulf oil spill and drilling moratorium claimed less than a quarter of BP's $100 million grant fund, so a Louisiana foundation began the task Wednesday of distributing the money to other Gulf recovery projects. With $75 million left over, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation announced four new grants totaling $18 million from its Future of the Gulf Fund. more info |
| Calling Industry’s Bluff The department also told the oil companies that it will charge them higher fees for the privilege of drilling in the gulf — raising the minimum bid for deep-water leases to $100 an acre from the current $37.50 an acre. Minimum bid prices have not been raised since 1999, when oil was selling at between $9 and $24 dollars a barrel, far less than this year’s range of $85 to $105. more info |
| La Niña comeback could mean more hurricanes "La Niñas tend to create conditions that are very conducive for the formation of hurricanes.," said Keim. "The implications to Louisiana are pretty huge regarding this particular La Niña." more info |
| Peak of hurricane season arrives Saturday What makes the peak of this season interesting is that we’ve seen 14 named storms so far, meaning, potentially, we could see another 12 to 14 develop. more info |
| La Niña's return may extend Texas drought Last winter La Niña conditions kick-started a drought that has now engulfed 80 percent of Texas in an "exceptional" drought, the worst category tracked by the U.S. Drought Monitor. The resulting drought has led more than 800 of the state's communities to initiate water restrictions, and caused Texas' worst wildfire year on record. more info |
| Tropical Storm Lee surge reveals tar mats on Fourchon Beach "If anyone has concerns regarding oil or tar balls on the beaches they should call the Response Center at 800.424.8802," he said in an e-mail. more info |
| New offshore drilling rules hinge on Deepwater Horizon probe The panel’s report may provide the foundation for bolstering mandates on the blowout preventers used as a last line of defense against unexpected surges of oil and gas at wells. The joint investigation team’s conclusions about well design also could spur regulatory changes. more info |
| Birding Leffis Key Half way across the bridge is a vista of the aqua waters of the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Sarasota Bay on the other. more info |
| Graham made chairman Dr. William “Monty” Graham has been named chairman of the University of Southern Mississippi Department of Marine Science (DMS). Graham more info |
| $112.5 Million Awarded to Research Consortia Studying Effects of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Research on the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico took a major step forward today with the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI) Research Board's announcement that eight Research Consortia will be funded for the next three years. A total of $112.5 million over three years will support this portion of the GRI research effort. These teams will investigate the fate of petroleum in the environment, the impacts of the spill, and the development of new tools and technology for responding to future spills and improving mitigation and restoration. more info |
| Students invited to join virtual field trip Through funding provided by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Environmental Education Network (GOMAEEN), Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) produced an electronic field trip and is streaming it live for middle and high school students, especially those in Gulf Coast states, as well as the public. more info |
| Sea Stars: First camp of its kind in Coastal Alabama These Stars will get to explore Gulf of Mexico habitats by visiting the salt marsh, the sandy beach and taking a trip to Mobile Bay aboard the Alabama Discovery; DISL’s 65-foot research vessel. Thanks to a grant provided by the Gulf of Mexico Alliance Environmental Education Network (GOMAEEN), this camp is offered at no cost to camper-guardian pairs! more info |
| New Science to Help Direct Action on Excessive Nutrients in Rivers and Estuaries The USGS has released an online, interactive decision support system that provides easy access to six newly-developed regional models describing how rivers receive and transport nutrients from natural and human sources to sensitive waters, such as the Gulf of Mexico. more info |
| WHOI-led study sharpens picture of how much oil and gas flowed in Deepwater Horizon spill In a detailed assessment of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers led by a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have determined that the blown-out Macondo well spewed oil at a rate of about 57,000 barrels a day, totaling nearly 5 million barrels of oil released from the well between April 20 and July 15, 2010, when the leak was capped. In addition, the well released some 100 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas. more info |
| Oil spill: Macondo well did release 5 million barrels The results, published in the online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), are in line with the federal government’s official estimates. The accuracy of the measurements was crucial because, “Ultimately, the impact of the oil on the environment depends primarily on the total volume of oil released,” according to a report by the Flow Rate Technical Group (FRTG), a collection of research teams charged with using different means to generate an accurate estimate of the amount of oil released into the Gulf. more info |
| FWS taking on wind, wildlife connection What's happening is the federal wildlife agency is conducting an environmental impact study -- being paid for with money from a group of 19 wind energy companies -- that have asked for an incidental take permit. more info |
| BP spill study flows into city A&M-Corpus Christi has been awarded an $800,000 grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Board is an independent body established by BP to administer the company's 10-year, $500 million commitment to research the effects of the oil spill. more info |
| Scientists report unusually low levels of oxygen in Mobile Bay waters The scientists all blamed hot, windless days coupled with a period of weak tides between Aug. 15 and 20 as contributing factors. With no tidal action and no wind, there was little mixing of water on the bottom of the bay with the more oxygenated water on the surface. more info |
| Study says air in Gulf wasn't toxic Although some said they fell ill, offshore crews involved in the cleanup of BP's oil spill last year did not breathe harmful levels of toxins as crude gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, an independent scientific study found. more info |
| Gulf Coast beach communities chalk up a good summer As the summer's grand finale on the Gulf Coast, Tropical Storm Lee brewed on the horizon Thursday and Friday, chasing away the season's blockbuster throngs of tourists. Just a year after "the lost summer" of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, though, this year's visitors to Gulf Coast beaches filled more hotel rooms and spent more money than any other in history. more info |
| Governor Tours BLB Shipbuilder, Gets Ideas For Job Growth The governor’s visit to South Alabama is even more important given the millions of dollars soon to come to the state through BP fines for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. more info |
| New Orleans' post-Katrina flood defenses pass big test Chris Accardo, chief of the operations division in the Corps' New Orleans district, said the London Avenue floodgate was lowered to block the lake surge on Friday when the lake reached a "trigger" level of 2.5 feet and rising. more info |
| Poll finds national support for La. wetlands After Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil disaster shut down energy production in the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in skyrocketing gasoline prices, most Americans now realize the importance of Louisiana to the national economy, a national poll shows. more info |
| Manatees Cool Their Flippers At Power Plants During winter months manatees used to migrate from hot spring to hot spring as they made their way south in the Gulf of Mexico. more info |
| Tropical Storm Lee stirs frustration with Corps levee plans in Plaquemines and Jean Lafitte Flooding from a surge that Tropical Storm Lee pushed north through Barataria Bay has several local officials renewing complaints that the Army Corps of Engineers wrongly delayed or abandoned plans to improve levees in their communities that would have prevented the flooding. more info |
| Gulf task force holds "listening session" in Biloxi The group created by the President to help restore the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill was in Biloxi on Tuesday. more info |
| Heavy rain moves northeast with Lee's remnants Meanwhile, officials in coastal Alabama were trying to determine the origin of tar balls that had washed onto the state's prime tourist beaches. Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon said Tuesday that the tar balls reported so far are very small. He said the surf churned up by Lee was the heaviest he had seen since tar balls were washing up on the beach in 2010 because of the BP oil spill. more info |
| Hurricane preparations should include your landscape Our landscapes also require some attention and thought when it comes to preparing for and dealing with the aftermath of the high winds and heavy rains that hurricanes bring. more info |
