La. officials close 12 miles of coastline after Isaac washes up tar balls, oil from BP spill hotspot

[Eugene]

Source: The Times-Picayune

La. officials close 12 miles of coastline after Isaac washes up tar balls, oil from BP spill hotspot

Published: Tuesday, September 04, 2012, 4:10 PM Updated: Tuesday, September 04, 2012, 7:28 PM

By Bob Marshall, The Times-Picayune

The state is closing a 12-mile section of Gulf coastline from Caminada Pass to Pass Fourchon after Hurricane Isaac washed up large areas of oil and tar balls at the location of one of the worst inundations of BP oil during the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010. Robert Barham, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, said agency crews surveying damage from Isaac discovered large sections of viscous oil and tar balls floating along the coast from the beach to one mile offshore between Elmer's Island Wildlife Refuge, just west of Grand Isle, to Pass Fourchon.

"It's a very large mass that is viscous but hasn't coalesced into tar mats yet," Barham said. "But the Elmer's Island beaches are littered with tar balls of every size, from eraser size to the size of baseballs."

Samples will be analyzed by the LDWF and the state Department of Environmental Quality to determine if it originated from the Deepwater Horizon, Barham said.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, BP said it was too early to tell if the oil was from the Deepwater Horizon spill. "With many of the southern parishes of Louisiana still inundated with flood waters and not accessible at this time, it is premature to make any claims about possible oiling there -- whether it is from the Deepwater Horizon accident or any other source. We are awaiting test results on residual oil reported in an area west of Grand Isle, Louisiana. As state officials have made clear, it is important to fingerprint the residual oil to determine its origin. If any of it is connected to the Deepwater Horizon accident, BP stands ready to remove it under the direction of the Coast Guard's federal on-scene coordinator.

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Read more: http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2012/09/la_officials_close_12_miles_of.html

[matt819]

1. Gosh, I hope Louisiana has the money in its budget to clean that up

After all, government is the problem hey Gov. Jindal?

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Exactly what was predicted to happen after the oil disaster.

Checking now to see if Ala/Miss. had same problem.

Yep, news stories of same thing, tho not as bad, on Alabama beaches.
and this nugget:
(Garret Graves, who advises Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on coastal issues,)
"Up to 1 million barrels of oil are estimated to remain in the Gulf of Mexico. That oil remains, Graves said, because BP has failed to clean it all up in the more than two years since the tragedy. “That’s four to five times the oil that was spilled with the Exxon Valdez,” he added."
http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/hurricane-isaac-deposits-oil-possibly-from-deepwater-hori