Rising Tide 5: Capture the Magic
If you attended the conference and have some impressions or ideas you'd like to share, one thing you can do is visit the RT blog and leave a comment here. But be polite. Some of those kids are kind of sensitive.
-->
Despite persistent denials from BP last week, thousands of pounds of weathered oil is being pulled from under the surface of Pensacola Bay every day.
The administrator of the new claims process for victims of the Gulf oil spill said Sunday most of the individual claims reviewed in the first week lacked the minimal documentation to be paid. "There are thousands of claims that have been filed with no documentation at all," Ken Feinberg told state officials at the Southern Governors' Association convention.
We come together to dispel myths, promote facts, highlight progress and regress, discuss recovery ideas, and promote sound policies at all levels. We aim to be a "real life" demonstration of internet activism as we continue to recover from a massive failure of government on all levels.
It’s simple, really: We stand up for ourselves. We stand up because often the criticisms of this place seem as misinformed as they are unrelenting. We stand up for ourselves because we figure that speaking the truth — in all its complexity and all its ugliness — is better than keeping quiet after pretty-sounding lies.
Seventy percent of New Orleanians say that America has forgotten about their struggle to recover from Katrina. This Sunday, President Obama's coming to pay attention to it for a day. Last time he spoke at Xavier here, a year after the storm, he said that "lessons can be just as easily unlearned as they are learned." Or, if the post-disaster, everything-is-fine-now headlines now coming out of the Gulf are any indication, they can also never be learned at all.
The MSM will find AZ's posts... Right after Richmond has the Demo nomination all locked up and he faces Cao. $Bill Jr. (after expose) vs. Cao will push Cao back to DC.
Smith's tactics are similar to those of a group of wealthy Texas oilmen, whose fortunes have helped fuel the high-profile, conservative American Crossroads outfit, and Appalachian coal companies, who have similarly joined forces to call for the election and defeat of candidates of their choosing.
Like these energy firms, Smith is exploiting campaign finance law changes in the wake of federal court rulings earlier this year. The most notable of these are Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission. And Smith has expressed a desire to tap individuals and corporations for unlimited amounts to get his message out.
New Orleans, LA – As required by the Louisiana Supreme Court, the New Orleans Police Department is issuing a public advisory regarding a sobriety checkpoint that will be conducted.
The New Orleans Police Department’s Traffic Division will conduct a sobriety checkpoint on Thursday, August 26, 2010, in the Algiers area, beginning at approximately 9:00 P.M., and concluding approximately 5:00 A.M. Motorists will experience minimal delays and should have proper documentation, i.e., proof of insurance, and a valid driver’s license if requested.
The New Orleans Police Department would like to, as always remind motorists to drink responsibly and use a designated driver.
In one instance captured on a grainy videotape shot by a member of the force, a police captain relayed the instructions at morning roll call to cops preparing for the day's patrols.
"We have authority by martial law to shoot looters," Captain James Scott told a few dozen officers in a portion of the tape viewed by reporters. Scott, then the commander of the 1st district, is now captain of the special operations division.
Scott's address came at a moment of widespread confusion over whether authorities had imposed martial law, a phrase used by then-Mayor Ray Nagin on the radio. In fact, martial law does not exist under Louisiana's constitution. But experts in police training said the use of those words by politicians and in news reports may have fueled perceptions that the rules had changed.
The most inefficient and stupid way to spend a disaster recovery allocation.Taking into account all the bonds, tax credits, and other benefits extended to businesses throughout the GO Zone regions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, the package is expected to cost the country about $9 billion in federal revenue by 2015, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. But while the cost of the tax breaks can be quantified, assessing the return on our investment is more difficult.
A newly discovered type of oil-eating microbe is suddenly flourishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf after the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
And the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers led by Terry Hazen at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., reported Tuesday in the online journal Sciencexpress.
Hazen suggested that the bacteria may have adapted over time because of periodic leaks and natural seeps of oil in the Gulf.In other words, the miracle microbe exists because we dump so much oil into the Gulf. It's a classic counter-intuitive case of we-have-to-kill-the-ocean-to-save-it. Thanks, BP! I only hope these microbes are as delicious as they are beneficial.
2) Mayor Ray Nagin rejected the idea of shrinking the footprint.I don't like the way Grace characterizes the "done deal" as a choice between shrinking the footprint and "Jack-o-Lantern" effect. The choice that was never taken seriously or implemented was honestly rebuilding all affected neighborhoods at once. Instead, (some but not all) flooded areas of the city were asked to pick their poison from among demolition via bulldozer or demolition via neglect.
After surveying the angry reaction to the green-dot map, the mayor declared that no area would be deemed unprotectable or unserviceable, and as few homes as possible labeled beyond repair — though, in his inimitable way, he said there were certain areas he’d advise against resettling. (He didn’t identify them.) The result is exactly what the advocates of aggressive land use policies had predicted: Some flooded neighborhoods have bounced back, while others are contending a pattern of spotty habitation known as the “jack-o-lantern effect.”
Another result of Nagin’s decision: over time, the conversation has shifted. There’s no real point debating the wisdom or fairness of piecemeal, property-by-property redevelopment, because it’s a done deal. Now, the city’s challenge is to manage the consequences, to properly target recovery resources and figure out how to pay for a sprawling infrastructure that supports a smaller population on a reduced tax base.
But there is good news. Post-Katrina tax incentives have had a dramatic impact. The region has more hotels and restaurants than it had before the hurricane, and its major infrastructure -- sewer, water, public service buildings, police and fire departments, National Guard -- has new or rebuilt buildings. Federal money has transformed the schools in New Orleans, reorganizing them into charter schools, which are a far cry from pre-Katrina's dysfunctional schools operating in dilapidated buildings.
Former Mayor Ray Nagin may have cast himself as the face of the city’s post-K period. But due to circumstances beyond the new mayor’s control, plus a few directly under his control, Landrieu could wind up going down in history as New Orleans’ recovery mayor.
That’s partly because Nagin himself left so much undone, so many decisions either unmade or in desperate need of rethinking.
Lee’s documentary reminded me of just how tired I am of former Tulane historian Doug Brinkley, who’s been an unreliable source on life in New Orleans for quite some time now. Dismissing our civic pride, our love of place, as mindless and knee-jerk boosterism, Brinkley diagnoses us all as having an inferiority complex. We celebrate ourselves, to hear him tell it, because deep down we hate ourselves.
That’s psychobabble of the highest order. New Orleans has problems now and had problems before the storm. That’s indisputable. But our high regard for ourselves, our traditions and our city is hardly a facade. Our love for this city is not a pathology and does not deserve to be treated as such.
The observance began during the summer, when every freshman received a copy of the novel as part of background reading to prepare for the move to New Orleans.More information about the Loyola program can be found here. As a long time advocate of the idea of a C.O.D. driving tour, I am pleased to see them running with this.
On Friday, there will be bus tours to some of the sites in the novel, including the statue of Reilly that stands in front of the Canal Street building that used to house D.H. Holmes department store, marking the spot where Reilly is waiting for his mother as the book begins. Faculty members will lead discussion groups all over the Uptown campus, and the Monroe Library will feature an exhibit of “Dunces” covers representing the 35 languages into which the book has been published.
The Comiskey plan, pitched in late 2006, was to build a swanky two-story community center in the park, complete with indoor basketball court, and to make a film documentary about the project along the way. By promising to shoot a film -- one that was to air in seven parts -- the producers became eligible for lucrative state tax credits, which would be sold to help cover the project's $10 million price tag.
Daniel is the definition of gamer. He's not the most spectacular practice player in the world, but the guy turns it on when the lights come on and the competition intensifies. From Monday to Saturday, he's ordinary. But on game days, he's often extraordinary.Um... in case nobody remembers this, Jake Delhomme is a pretty below average quarterback who has a terrible habit of turning the ball over. The fact that he was a popular Saints backup had a lot more to do with frustration over Brooks never living up to his promise than anything else. Well there was that as well as some other issues drunken talk radio callers like to dance very near to every now and then. Anyway, at the very least can we please not set up Jake Delhomme as the paragon of quarterbacking excellence we wish our players to emulate?
In that respect, he reminds me of Jake Delhomme. Saints fans crucified Jim Haslett and Mike McCarthy for not playing Delhomme over Aaron Brooks in the early 2000s. But the fact is Delhomme was a terrible practice player. He never showed enough in practice to warrant starting over Brooks. But when the lights came on, Delhomme was money. The guy, as Rick Venturi once told me, had ice water in his veins.
The NFL has done its homework and is giving the first NFL Shop for Women a try here in New Orleans. But it's a test marketing venture, so the shop won't be here for long.
NFL female employees model their favorite Saints clothes at the new boutique style NFL Saints Shop for women. The store can dress you, head to toe in black and gold.
"New Orleans has such a passionate and robust female fan base, we thought this was a perfect place to test our new concept," said Tracey Bleczinski, NFL Vice President of Customer Marketing and Sales.
Roughly three-quarters of the oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s ruptured well is still in the environment, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official told a House panel Thursday.
The estimate contrasts previous pronouncements by administration officials that only about a quarter of the oil remains to be addressed.
Bill Lehr, a senior scientist at NOAA, said at a House Energy and Commerce subpanel hearing Thursday that federal officials have only confirmed that 10 percent of the 4.1 million barrels of oil that leaked into the Gulf have been either skimmed or burned.
Federal officials used a different estimate of how much oil leaked from the well — 4.9 million barrels — in preparing a report this month saying that only about 25 percent is still left to be recovered in the water. But critics say using that higher baseline skewed the numbers.
If history is any indicator, sometimes divorces work out best for both parties. (See La Petite Grocery and the Schultes; Tommy's and Irene's.) But it is nearly impossible to replicate atmosphere, especially when it is based on 58 years of history. Will Tracey's have the raffish qualities of Parasol's dining room - the low ceilings, school cafeteria chairs, and dim lighting? Will customers order their sandwich at the kitchen window and then make their way to the bar to pay separately for their Barq's in the bottle and bag of Zapp's? Will the bar flies follow to Magazine Street?Well we do know they plan to Second Line the barflies down the street on August 29 so I'm guessing at least some of them will. I know I'm figuring on being in that number anyway. Will make for good hair of the dog after celebrating another successful Rising Tide the night before. How many days left until that, BTW?
To protect the civilians in a country that is still home to insurgents with Al Qaeda and Iranian-backed militias, the State Department is planning to more than double its private security guards, up to as many as 7,000, according to administration officials who disclosed new details of the plan. Defending five fortified compounds across the country, the security contractors would operate radars to warn of enemy rocket attacks, search for roadside bombs, fly reconnaissance drones and even staff quick reaction forces to aid civilians in distress, the officials said.In a way, we're pretty lucky in New Orleans. Our post-disaster laboratory experiment has mostly focused on perfecting the practice of turning our children's education over to private management. In Iraq they're working on privately operated armies. Not that we didn't get a taste of that too for a while. But, just think, next time they send in a private army to pacify an American population, it'll really know what it's doing.
Obama also noted that during the war more Iraqi insurgents died than American troops, which, he admitted, isn't necessarily the best way to determine a war's victor, but is nonetheless still preferable to the other way around.
"By the end of this month, victory, to a certain extent, will be ours, and we can finally welcome our troops back home," Obama concluded. "That is unless they are one of the 50,000 U.S. soldiers who will have to stay in the region for the foreseeable future."
A congressional investigator forwarded his lengthy correspondence with NOAA congressional affairs specialist Michael Jarvis over the same issue. NOAA isn't coughing up numbers for Congress, either, even though the numbers are even more important now that an independent study from the University of Georgia found that up to 80 percent of the oil is still in the water. It's hard to swallow the official government estimate if they can't even show their work.
Let's put a fan through training camp, two-a-day practices for 2 weeks straight, 100+ heat everyday, full pads, live contact, etc! Yeah!!!!
The Carreras' started negotiations last March with current owner Billy Hock to buy the building on the corner of Third and Constance Streets.
“The owner put it on the market for almost double what I was willing to offer,” Jeffrey Carreras says. “I wasn’t going to pay that much for the building. I’ve been here for 12 years. I know the condition the building is in."
On July 28, the Carreras learned that a couple from Clearwater, Florida purchased the building and the business. The new owners could not be reached for comment.
Adding to the Carreras' heartbreak: the name Parasol’s stays with the building, according to the original lease agreement.
“That was the crusher for me and my wife,” Carreras says. “It knocked the wind out of us.”
Carreras says they will be out of the building by August 31. They are gathering up the memorabilia, the menu and the employees and moving one block north to the space currently occupied by the Irish Garden bar and restaurant at 2604 Magazine Street. They’ll reopen with a new name — Tracey’s — but the same, familiar faces.
When asked if he knows what the new owners' plans are, the shock and anger in Carreras' voice is palpable. F-bombs fly. The negotiation to buy Carreras' liquor license and other operational functions of the business did not go well, he says.
Gaston the green-nosed alligator kept his money in a box in the bank of the Atchafalaya River. A friendly crab told him of a promising fault a few miles offshore. Gaston decided to invest his savings in an offshore drilling operation.
A strong wind turned into a storm. They had to shut down and secure the rig. A rumble from below indicated oil rising in the bore hole. There was danger of a blowout. Gaston sent all of the crew except for one to the safety capsule. Gaston and the husky roughneck strained to close the heavy valve that would prevent the blowout. The computer was down and could not do the automatic shut-down.
The storm blew over. Gaston dived into the water to place a wet Christmas tree over the well. This would hold back the oil until the pipeline could be connected to the oil-producing equipment.
Gaston was happy to have struck oil. He returned with the crew boat to get pipe. Gaston, now the richest alligator in Louisiana, was glad to be home again.
In Zeitoun, Dave Eggers relays the story of local painter and contractor Abdulrahman Zeitoun who stayed behind during the Federal Flood to watch over his home and some of the properties he owned around town. Zeitoun spent the first few days after the storm traveling the city in a canoe, rescuing people from flooded buildings, and feeding abandoned animals until he (along with three other men) was abducted from his own building by armed security personnel and locked up at the "Camp Greyhound" temporary prison constructed in the Union Passenger Terminal.
When I read Zeitoun this summer, it made me very angry. But, like Clio, I was grateful to see this story told so well by Eggers. Zetioun stands among a very small number of "Katrina" books that manage to tell a real story about real people without falling back on ornamental cliches or guilt-driven defensive rationalizations about "Why New Orleans Matters". Instead, Zeitoun simply assumes the reader will understand that the people here "matter" because they are people. The fact that the events reported upon constitute a violation of that assumption makes the horror of it all that much more poignant.
Devices not included in the new driving law are push-to-talk devices, commercial two-way radios and Citizen Band radios.
“The FDA is not monitoring fish and shellfish for the presence of Corexit in seafood because it is not considered a health risk,”
The containment and absorbent boom that BP is deploying around beaches and marshes—largely ineffectively—is designed to do just that: contain and absorb oil. But the Corexit dispersant BP has flooded onto the leaking wellhead 5,000 feet down, and sprayed from the air onto the surface—some 2 million gallons in total—is designed to break up the oil. "Which one is it?" asks Safina. "Do you want to contain it or disperse it? It makes absolutely no sense to be doing both. Let's face it, with pollution, you count your lucky stars if you have what's called point-source pollution, that is, a single identifiable localized source of pollution, like the Deepwater Horizon. So what's BP doing with that? They're turning it into the worst pollution nightmare of them all: non-point-source pollution."
That's because untreated oil quickly rises to the surface, where it can be skimmed with relative ease. But treated with dispersant, it becomes a submerged plume, unlikely to ever float to the surface, and destined to migrate through underwater currents to the entire Gulf basin and eventually the North Atlantic. "Oil is toxic to most life," says Steiner. "And Corexit is toxic to most life. But the most toxic of all is oil that's been treated with Corexit. Plus, dispersants may well kill the ocean's first line of defense against oil: the natural microbes that break oil down for other microbes to eat." The EPA has never seriously examined Corexit's effects on marine life (see "Bad Breakup"). Now it'll get the biggest and baddest field experiment of all time, as the flora and fauna of the shallows and the deep scattering layer collide with the dispersed plumes.
BP's schizophrenic approach to the cleanup becomes more insidious in light of the company's legal liabilities: The Clean Water Act stipulates that BP must pay $1,100 for every barrel of oil proven to have been spilled—$4,300 per barrel if gross negligence is determined. But the use of dispersants clouds estimates of the spill's size, guaranteeing that the true number will never be known—since relatively little oil will ever wash ashore—and guaranteeing that BP's liability will be vastly underestimated.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu marked his 100th day in office Tuesday by issuing a long list of what he considers his accomplishments in office.
The mayor was expected to use the occasion of his 100th day to issue a list of 100 bricks-and-mortar recovery projects that his administration intends to get under way soon, but release of that list has been delayed until Friday.This morning, The Lens has a speculative sneak preview of what it might entail.
Barbour has also said the risk to wildlife from oiling is not as bad as some have been saying.
"Once it gets to this stage, it's not poisonous," Barbour said. "But if a small animal got coated enough with it, it could smother it. But if you got enough toothpaste on you, you couldn’t breathe."
BP lawsuits to be heard in New Orleans
A federal judge in New Orleans has been picked to preside over more than 300 lawsuits filed against BP PLC and other companies in the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill.
President Obama appointed prominent attorney Ken Feinberg to oversee the fund.
Feinberg says he will only coordinate the claims for individuals and businesses.
Local governments must still appeal directly to BP for their losses.
"If BP and the White House are saying that while the government claims will come out of the fund, but Feinberg won't handle those claims, you're going to be having more than one hand actually dealing with the fund and will you get inconsistent results, we don't know," said New Orleans attorney Walter Leger.
AT THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER-- Along the outer marshes of Pass A Loutre, it doesn't take long to find oil-- whether it is a sheen on the water or a coating of oil on a cane stalk.
"It's almost as if you had peanut butter in your hair because the grass is so fine, that oil is going to stick in there and you can't just get it out with one brush of the comb," said Chief Petty Officer James Allendorph of the U.S. Coast Guard.
The government said last week that three-quarters of the spilled oil has been removed or naturally dissipated from the water. But the crab larvae discovery was an ominous sign that crude had already infiltrated the Gulf's vast food web - and could affect it for years to come.
"It would suggest the oil has reached a position where it can start moving up the food chain instead of just hanging in the water," said Bob Thomas, a biologist at Loyola University in New Orleans. "Something likely will eat those oiled larvae ... and then that animal will be eaten by something bigger and so on."
Despite uncertainty about when the federal moratorium on deepwater oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico may be lifted, drilling companies say they are readying to return to work, maintaining their full complement of rig workers at full pay, and making improvements in their rigs to meet new federal safety standards required by the Interior Department.
Commercial fishing reopened in areas east of the Mississippi River last week, but St. Bernard Parish shrimper Jerome Ronquille expects it'll be a long time before he ventures out again to trawl the marshes outside of Hopedale
"We've got the best seafood in the country, but I don't trust my own product right now," Ronquille said on a recent afternoon in Hopedale, just off a BP-paid shift patrolling for oil. "We don't want to make other people feel sick."
At the other end of Bayou la Loutre in Shell Beach, Darrell Pecar and George Barisich were preparing for their first day back on the water, but they're facing fundamental roadblocks: No one is making ice, and no dock in lower St. Bernard is buying shrimp.
In light of recent history, cynicism in South Louisiana is justified. It’s certainly the safe play for our fragile psyches. If we sit back and expect nothing, there’s no chance of high hopes getting dashed.Or to put it another way, this is all our fault for our stupid lack of faith. We had no idea the darkened unhelpful posture of our individual fragile psyches so affected what happens in the halls of power. Sorry we ruined the coast by not believing. Having failed to show due flattering deference to the authority of the people lying to us we clearly have failed in our duty as
But, is this really the best time to adopt such a darkened, unhelpful posture? The national attention from the oil gusher allowed Obama an opportunity to fast-track coastal restoration before it becomes cost prohibitive – and he seems to be taking it! In short, the Obama administration – with its Road Map, its Oval Office promises, and its appointment of Mabus – offers Louisiana perhaps its last, best chance to begin the process of coastal restoration. So is now the moment to sit back with a cranky “prove me wrong, I’ll believe it when I see it” posture?
In Grand Isle, Louisiana, cleanup workers (none of whom can be named; you know this drill by now) say their coworkers were either told to go home for Tropical Storm Bonnie and then never called back or fired in a massive and sudden drug test.
"Friday, the day before Bonnie, they sent a bunch of people home until further notice, and a lot of people didn't get the further notice," one supervisor told me. "Then last week, they shut the whole [cleanup operation] down. It was 'Piss in a cup or throw your ID in the bucket.' This was a BP drug test, not a [subcontracting] company drug test. It's the first time BP tested us."
When: Monday, from 11 a.m. to midnight.
Admission: All events are free.
Events: The official Madden Gras kickoff is at 11 a.m. at the Fulton Stage at the corner of Fulton and Lafayette streets.
Live music schedule: 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Rebirth Brass Band; 12:30 to 2 p.m., Bucktown All-Stars; 2:30 to 4 p.m., Rockin' Dopsie Jr.; 4:45 to 6 p.m., The Radiators, all at the Fulton Stage.
Parade and festivities: The Madden Gras parade departs from Decatur Street at 7 p.m., continuing down Bourbon Street and arriving at 9:15 p.m. at the main stage in Jackson Square, where Galactic will perform. The first copy of "Madden NFL '11" will be sold on the stage at 11 p.m., followed by a performance by Cowboy Mouth.
The after-party: A "Madden Gras" after-hours party, featuring Big Boi, kicks off at midnight at House of Blues. Admittance will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
There was plenty of emotional testimony about the problems being faced, but the most newsworthy exchange came toward the end of the two-and-a-half hour meeting, when Mayor Mitch Landrieu directly addressed his race in the context of the city repossessing blighted properties from black property owners who have failed to return to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. “I want to talk about race,” said Landrieu, responding to the testimony at the end of the evening. “You start taking people’s homes, people start asking ‘why you trying to stop people coming home, Mr.Mitch, looking the way you do’ — do I need to say it?”
The crowd murmured support for Landrieu.
“The question is is this about race? Or is about the city?” Landrieu asked. “And when is the day when we start focusing on these properties? Is it now? Is it September? Is it November? Or yesterday?”
The crowd cheered when he said “yesterday.”
“I’m just asking, I just want to make sure I heard you,” said Landrieu. “Because I promise you as soon as I lay it down, somebody’s going to lay it down, and there’s going to be a march.”
“We got your back, Mitch,” shouted several people in the crowd.
The idea of repossessing vacant properties in New Orleans East and the Lower Ninth Ward has been increasingly on council’s radar over recent months. At a meeting of the council recovery meeting on June 30, consultant Greg Rigamer told council that of 52,800 New Orleans applicants to the state’s Road Home program, 34,921 applicants have closed on their homes and are moving forward, but about 14,000 are showing no sign of progress after having received the money.
Despite the fact he never wore thigh or knee pads -- that slowed him down -- and never taped his ankles, Jackson played in 195 games with the Saints, starting every one, and he started 30 of 32 games with the 49ers. He missed just two in his career when he fractured his right cheekbone in an automobile accident on Sept. 11, 1989. Initially, it was expected that Jackson would miss four to six weeks. On Oct. 1, 20 days after the accident, Jackson returned to the field, starting for the Saints against the Washington Redskins, who, try as they might, were powerless that day to slow Jackson, even though they often double-teamed him with an extra tight end or a pulling lineman.When the Saints finally made the Super Bowl this year, a lot was written about the bittersweetness of Buddy D not being there to see it or Archie Manning not being able to enjoy it. Not enough was said about how great it was that Rickey Jackson got to see it happen. During his career, Rickey embodied the collective passion and frustration of the fans more than most players. Having him named to the HOF the same year the championship happened was pretty special for everyone.
Let's face it: GBV is to beer as the Grateful Dead is to LSD
About 75 percent of the oil has either been captured, been burned off, evaporated or broken down in the Gulf, according to a report to be released Wednesday by scientists with the Interior Department and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"It was captured. It was skimmed. It was burned. It was contained. Mother Nature did her part," White House energy adviser Carol Browner said on NBC's "Today" show.
About 26 percent of the oil remains in the sea in the form of light surface sheen or tar balls, or has washed ashore, according to the report.
Nearly three-quarters of the oil - more than 152 million gallons - has been collected at the well by a temporary containment cap, been cleaned up or chemically dispersed, or naturally deteriorated, evaporated or dissolved, according to a report by the Interior Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"It was captured. It was skimmed. It was burned. It was contained. Mother Nature did her part," White House energy adviser Carol Browner said on NBC's "Today" show.
That leaves nearly 53 million gallons in the Gulf. The amount remaining - or washed up on the shore - is still nearly five times the size of the 11 million-gallon Exxon Valdez spill, which wreaked environmental havoc in Alaska in 1989.
I bet you the people in Alaska are really pissed off right now. The Exxon Valdez spill happened in 1989 and they are still cleaning up 21 years later. The Deepwater Horizon spill leaked for months and was supposed to be even bigger than the Exxon Valdez and yet magically the oil on the Gulf Coast appears to be disappearing in record time.
Nichols State environmentalist Kerry St. Pe says there's no way to tell for sure how much oil came out of the well.
"It's an attempt to give the public credible information. So I think it should be viewed as an estimate. There are so many things that can happen," said St. Pe.
The federal scientist’s estimate 4.9 million barrels spilled into the Gulf but they admit that amount could fluctuate 10 percent in either direction.
St. Pe says under the circumstances the estimates are as good as it gets.
"There's no flow meter on that oil coming up so they have to estimate based on their observations," said St. Pe.
Some are turning up their noses at the smell tests - in which inspectors sniff seafood for chemical odors - and are demanding more thorough testing to reassure the buying public about the effects of the oil and the dispersants used to fight the slick.
"If I put fish in a barrel of water and poured oil and Dove detergent over that, and mixed it up, would you eat that fish?" asked Rusty Graybill, an oysterman and shrimp and crab fisherman from Louisiana's St. Bernard Parish. "I wouldn't feed it to you or my family. I'm afraid someone's going to get sick."
The first line of defense began with closing a third of federal waters to fishing and hundreds more square-miles of state waters. Now comes the nose.Novice inspectors being trained to execute a highly subjective test didn't inspire a great deal of confidence at the time. It was hoped, however, that this was a necessity born of desperate circumstances and that a more reliable testing process would be implemented by the time officials began to consider reopening fisheries. And so now that we've reached that point in time, let's look again at the much more sophisiticated scientific basis on which those decisions are being made.
Mahan is an agricultural extension director with the University of Florida based in Apalachicola, where some of the world's most famous oysters are culled.
"We're being trained to detect different levels of taint, which in this case is oil," Mahan said last week. "We started out sniffing different samples of oil to sort of train our noses and minds to recognize it."
So what does an oily fish smell like?
"Well, it has an oil odor to it," Mahan said. "Everyone has a nose they bring to it ... Everybody's nose works differently. For me, the oysters are a little more challenging."
In Mississippi on Monday, FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg said the government is "confident all appropriate steps have been taken to ensure that seafood harvested from the waters being opened today is safe and that Gulf seafood lovers everywhere can be confident eating and enjoying the fish and shrimp that will be coming out of this area."Wait a minute. The FDA commissioner is "confident", Doug Suttles says he and his family "would" eat Gulf seafood themselves. And yet, all they have to go on is a testing method that... well we know that it "saves time and money" at least. This is crazy, right? Some people still think so.
Similarly, BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said Sunday that authorities "wouldn't open these waters ... if it wasn't safe to eat the fish." He said he would eat Gulf seafood and "serve it to my family."
Experts say smell tests may sound silly but are a proven technique that saves time and money. Moreover, they are the only way to check fish for chemical dispersants, though FDA spokeswoman Meghan Scott said government scientists are developing a tissue test. It is not clear when it will be ready.
Kevin Kleinow, a professor of aquatic toxicology, said he is laying off Gulf seafood until the government releases more specifics about the testing it conducted, including exactly what species are being monitored and what levels of toxic substances are being found.
He said he is also concerned that a smell test won't sniff out dispersants. "Some of them - we've done work on a number of surfactants that are used in dispersants - have very little odor," he said.
SEAFOOD COOKING CLASSES FOR THE GULF
Goals
* To raise awareness about the Gulf effort through classes and PR.
* To attract 60 persons to each class.
* Raise funds for the Gulf effort.