Oil Spill Archives - Friends of the Wild Whoopers

BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Settlement Funds Migrate North

April 27, 2015 by Admin

Press Release

BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Settlement Funds Migrate North

April 27, 2015

Contact(s):

Nadine Leavitt Siak, USFWS
(404)-679-7290; nadine_siak@fws.gov

BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Settlement Funds Migrate North — The Prairie Pothole Region of the United States and Canada is where over half of North America’s waterfowl nest. This area is referred to as the “Duck Factory”. Credit: Krista Lundgren/USFWS

Most of us, if given a choice, would steer clear of potholes. Many migratory birds, however, actively seek out potholes — provided you’re talking about the thousands of temporary, seasonal, and semi- permanent wetlands wetlands known as “potholes” that are found in the prairies of the Northern Great Plains. Despite their importance to wildlife, these shallow wetland “potholes” are often drained, filled, or degraded by development and agricultural practices. With its mission focus on wetlands restoration and conservation, the Service naturally has placed a priority on enhancing, restoring and acquiring bird habitat in what’s known as the Prairie Pothole Region. What might come as a surprise, however, is that projects in the region are being funded with legal settlement money from the 2010 oil spill that took place in the Gulf of Mexico.

On January 29, 2013, BP pled guilty to 14 criminal counts stemming from its actions related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including one misdemeanor count of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. As part of the settlement, BP agreed to pay $100 million to the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund (NAWCF) to support projects focused on wetlands restoration and conservation in the United States, Canada and Mexico. According to the agreement, those organizations that apply to NAWCF for some of the $100 million need to show that their projects are “designed to benefit migratory bird species and other wildlife affected by the … oil spill.” The organizations must also match the grants at least dollar to dollar, so in effect, more than $200 million will be spent in this way on species and their habitats affected by the spill.

“A lot of other organizations are putting a lot of money in the Gulf region,” says Mike Kreger, Special Assistant to the Assistant Director for Migratory Birds, “because that’s where the oil spill occurred.” He says the Service, however, is focused on the fact that eligible projects can benefit an affected species at any stage of its migratory cycle in North America. That means settlement money can fund projects in the Prairie Pothole Region, which is concentrated in the Dakotas and is arguably the most productive nesting area for migratory waterfowl in North America.

“The Prairie Pothole Region is what we call ‘America’s Duck Factory,’” Kreger says. “As so many of our birds depend on this Prairie Pothole Region, it’s a good place to put [BP settlement] dollars.”

Of the $100 million in BP settlement money placed in NAWCF, $70 million was earmarked for the United States. As of February 2015, $20 million in grants has been awarded to support 17 U.S. projects. Seven of these are Prairie Pothole Region-related and will receive grants that total $8.5 million.

The Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (MBCC) makes the final decision on how to spend these NAWCF funds. In the most recent round of proposals approved for funding (November 2014), commission members awarded $2 million to a project aimed at protecting 10,074 acres of the Prairie Pothole Region located in North Dakota through conservation easements; the land will be added to the Service’s National Wildlife Refuge System. Another grant, for $1 million, went to a proposal co- submitted by the Service for a project that focuses on the Prairie Pothole Region west of the James River in South Dakota. This grant will permanently protect 3,651 acres of wetlands and adjacent grasslands to be managed as Game Production Areas. Funds will also be used to restore and enhance 4,759 acres of “pothole” wetlands currently at risk of conversion to cropland.

The Service sometimes applies for NAWCF funding for projects, but is more often involved on the other side of the grant process. For example, Director Dan Ashe represents the Service on the North American Wetlands Conservation Council, which reviews proposals and recommends projects for funding to the MBCC. In addition, the Service’s Migratory Bird Program administers those projects the MBCC has selected to receive NAWCF grant money. This work includes processing grant paperwork and regularly monitoring grant projects to ensure they are complying with all regulations.

“The Service is committed to achieving large-scale, sustainable restoration of the Gulf of Mexico,” says Linda Walker, Senior Advisor for Gulf Restoration for the Service. “To do this, you actually need to take a step back, look north and consider the vast area that drains into the Gulf. Awarding BP settlement money for projects in areas like the Prairie Pothole Region can help ensure there are critical food, nesting and resting areas for birds heading for the Gulf not only now, but down the road.”

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***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****
Friends of the Wild Whoopers is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.

BP money benefits Coastal Bend conservation projects

November 18, 2014 by Admin

By David Sikes

CORPUS CHRISTI – More than 600 acres of Coastal Bend wildlife habitat was added to the list of Texas benefits from criminal settlements stemming from the BP oil spill, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced.

Awards totaling more than $2.8 million for Coastal Bend projects follow a previously announced acquisition of the 17,000-acre Powderhorn Ranch in Calhoun County, destined to become a Texas state park and wildlife management area. Most of the purchase price, $34.5 million, came from the foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, which was derived from plea agreements involving BP and Transocean after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

These projects, announced Monday, were developed by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas General Land Office, with help from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Artist Boat, Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, Galveston Bay Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, and Scenic Galveston. Each is designed to remedy or reduce harm to natural resources affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a news release from the fish and wildlife foundation.

This story can be read in its entirety without being a subscriber at http://www.caller.com/news/local-news/bp-money-benefits-coastal-bend-conservation-projects_60752911

***** FOTWW’s mission is to help preserve and protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo
population of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****

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Experts Fear Impacts of Oil Cleanup on Texas Gulf Coast

April 4, 2017April 11, 2014 by Admin

Experts Fear Impacts of Oil Cleanup on Texas Gulf Coast|
April 11, 2014 | 9:45 AM
By Mose Buchele

Oil cleanup itself could disturb the ecosystem along the Texas Gulf Coast. Nowhere is threat more apparent than at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. — Workers scraping oil-drenched sand from the beaches of Matagorda Island.

MATAGORDA ISLAND, TX — Recovery efforts continue weeks after a barge accident in the Houston Ship Channel dumped tens of thousands of barrels of oil into Galveston Bay. That oil kills wildlife and damages the environment. But some are worried the cleanup itself could also disturb the ecosystem along the Texas Gulf Coast. Nowhere is that threat more apparent than in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.

Every morning this week, hundreds of workers have gone out to Matagorda Island, a part of that refuge, to try to remove the oil. On a recent tour organized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the response team appeared to work with great care, gingerly scraping thin layers of oil-drenched sand away with shovels, then depositing it into nearby excavators for delivery into larger dump trucks. Over ten tons of sand has been removed so far.

Randal Ogrydziak, the U.S. Coast Guard captain who is one of the coordinators of the spill response, likens the painstaking process to shoveling a gravel driveway after a snow storm.

“You can think of it as the snow is the oil — not that thick — the driveway is the good sand underneath, and you just want to take bad stuff and get rid of that, and leave the good sand,” Ogrydziak says. “We don’t want to dig up the whole beach here. That’s not what we want to do.”

Ogrydziak’s concern that the cleanup could do “more damage than the oil” is not limited to the sand. This thin barrier island, like the rest of the National Wildlife Refuge, is not meant for people. Now it’s home to ATVs, bobcat excavators, dump trucks, helicopters, and hundreds of response personnel. They – and the oil – all arrived right as migratory animals are passing through on their annual trip.

“The oil spill could not have happened at a worse time,” says Nancy Brown, a spokesperson for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “You have these birds that have migrated literally across the Gulf of Mexico. They arrive here, they are exhausted, [and] all they want to do is get something to eat, get something to drink, rest, and then continue their migration.”

But Brown says if they’re constantly being disturbed by the cleanup activity, “they’re not only not eating, they’re wasting calories trying to get away.”

They can also be spooked from their nests by the activity, leaving eggs and young animals vulnerable to predators. Workers here say they’re doing their best by limiting trips to and from the island, being careful with vehicles, and enforcing a “flight ceiling” on helicopters so they don’t disturb the birds.

Of particular concern is the endangered whooping crane. This refuge is home to the only naturally-occurring flock of those birds in the world. Around 300 whooping cranes winter here, and many have not yet left for their summer grounds in Canada.

Right as the cranes leave, the Kemps-Ridley sea turtle arrives. That’s also an endangered species. It lays its eggs on the same beaches – now oily beaches – where the response crews are working with excavators and dump trucks to remove the oil.

Jeremy Edwardson, a Fish and Wildlife Biologist, says it will be difficult to measure the full impact of the spill and the recovery efforts.

“I don’t think we’ll ever understand it,” says Edwardson. “There’s some stuff to document and it’s easy to document. But there’s also the potential for oil to be here for years, so it’s possibly going to be an ongoing response.”

Source: StateImpact Texas ~ A reporting project of NPR member stations

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Unified Command Using More Sensitive Oil Spill Cleanup on Whooping Crane Territory

April 4, 2017April 6, 2014 by Admin

Friends of the Wild Whoopers (FOTWW) is pleased to learn that the Unified Command responsible for the Texas City oil spill cleanup is taking more responsible

Hoping for a sensitive oil spill cleanup.

oil removal measures in whooping crane territory. FOTWW expressed serious concerns about intensive methods of cleanup to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representative serving on the Unified Command. After watching large numbers of workers using heavy equipment on other beaches, FOTWW became alarmed that such aggressive measures might have adverse impacts on the whooping cranes still on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Apparently someone listened and responded responsibly.

The Unified Command has issued a statement advising that work along South Matagorda Island will continue “…using a combination of light mechanical equipment and manual tools which include shovels, rakes and buckets.” According to Capt. Randal S. Ogryzdiak, Incident Commander, “Response crews have overcome a series of logistical and environmental challenges to implement an effective and efficient clean-up effort while being acutely sensitive to the fragile wildlife habitat they are working in.” “The Unified Command is pleased with the progress to date, but recognizes there is still important work ahead to complete our clean-up to the satisfaction of the trustees who oversee these environmental, marine and wildlife resources.”

For the present time, FOTWW is now satisfied that the Unified Command is on the right tract and will keep its commitment as Capt. Randal S. Ogryzdiak, Incident Commander advised.

FOTWW will continue to observe the oil spill cleanup and hopes for the best. Our concerns are for the endangered whooping cranes and other wildlife resources along the Texas beaches.

We have posted the following news release from the Texas City “Y” Response Area Command for additional information about the cleanup.

————————————————————————————————–

NEWS RELEASE: Texas City “Y” Response Area Command

DATE: April 5, 2014 3:57:00 PM CDT

Update 13: Response efforts continue on South Matagorda Island, Mustang Island and Padre Island National Seashore

PORT O’CONNOR, Texas — Effective shoreline clean-up efforts are on-going, Saturday, along Mustang, South Matagorda and North Padre islands in response to the Texas City oil spill.

As of sunset Friday, response workers have removed a total of 200,775 pounds of oiled sand and oiled debris from the shorelines of Mustang, North Padre and South Matagorda islands. These figures include 102,700 pounds of oiled material from Mustang Island, 93,550 pounds from South Matagorda and 4,525 pounds from shoreline around Bob Hall pier.

Approximately 470 response workers remain active on the coastal shorelines, supported by another 78 persons staffing the Incident Command Post in Port O’Connor.

“Response crews have overcome a series of logistical and environmental challenges to implement an effective and efficient clean-up effort while being acutely sensitive to the fragile wildlife habitat they are working in,” said Capt. Randal S. Ogryzdiak, Incident Commander. “The Unified Command is pleased with the progress to date, but recognizes there is still important work ahead to complete our clean-up to the satisfaction of the trustees who oversee these environmental, marine and wildlife resources.”

Matagorda Island is a unit of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, the winter home of the only naturally wild flock of whooping cranes in existence. Reduced to 50 birds in 1941, the population has grown approximately four percent every year since recovery efforts began and is currently estimated to be 300 birds. The birds migrate 2,500 miles every winter from Wood-Buffalo National Park in Canada to feed in the Aransas’ refuge’s freshwater and brackish marshes. Approximately 30 percent of the population has begun migration and precautions are being taken to ensure the remaining birds on Matagorda Island are not disturbed by clean-up operations. Whooping cranes are one of the rarest birds in North America.

Aggressive work along South Matagorda Island continues using a combination of light mechanical equipment and manual tools which include shovels, rakes and buckets.

There are no new reports of impacted and recovered wildlife. However, persons who observe any impacted wildlife should not attempt to capture or handle them, but are urged to call 888-384-2000.

On Saturday afternoon, U. S. Representative Blake Farenthold toured the Incident Command Post and received a comprehensive briefing on response activities and plans. Congressman Farenthold also participated in an overflight of the south Texas coast to see first-hand the response in action and the condition of coastal shorelines.

The Unified Command continues to work with the Texas Department of Health Services to distribute informational bulletins in both Spanish and English, which detail state policy on the algae-related closures of oyster beds along the Texas coast.

Persons who may observe tar balls are urged to refrain from attempting their own clean-up activities and are asked to call the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802 to report the exact locations of any sightings. The public is discouraged from accessing Matagorda Island until the Unified Command announces that response operations are complete.

The Kirby Inland Marine claims line is available to persons who may have questions regarding personal impacts from the incident. The number is 855-276-1275.

More information on the spill response continues to be available through the Matagorda Bay joint information center at 214-225-8007, or at www.texascityYresponse.com

###

For more information contact:

Matagorda Response JIC
Texas City “Y” Response Area Command
(214) 225-8007
3674 W. Adams St.
Port O’Connor, TX 77982
TexasCityYResponse@gmail.com

http://www.texascityyresponse.com/go/doc/6410/2138986/Update-13-Response-efforts-continue-on-South-Matagorda-Island-Mustang-Island-and-Padre-Island-National-Seashore ; To read FOTWW previous article abut the oil spill go to : https://friendsofthewildwhoopers.org/concerns-mounting-effects-oil-spill-whooping-cranes/

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