Tuesday, May 25
May 25, 2010Thursday, May 27
May 27, 2010With the invasion of heavy oil washing up on Lafourche Parish’s beaches, parish officials have amplified their efforts to keep the marshes and wetlands safe.
On the east side of Bayou Lafourche, parish Public Information Officer Brennan Matherne said at press time Monday night four of the five breaches in the sandy beaches spanning from Bay Champagne to Bayou Thunder are 100 percent sealed off, and he expected the fifth to be sealed off by Tuesday.
He said the two exterior breaches have been filled with rip rap and sand, and the middle three will be completely sealed off with vinyl sheet pilings – two of which have been completed Monday.
“The vinyl is actually driven into the ground, so water can’t go under there, and the rip rap and the sand go down to the bottom and sit several feet high,” said Matherne.
He added there is a possibility water and oil could skip over the protective shield in an abnormally high tide, but booms sits on both sides of the shield to create added lines of defense.
“There is some level of boom at all locations,” he said. “At some locations there may be four or five separate lines of boom or more.”
As for the sandy islands between the breaches, Matherne said HESCO baskets are being deployed to increase the height of the protection.
The parish is currently deploying three types of boom – hard boom, sorbent boom and snare boom.
“The snare boom looks like pom poms, and they’re deploying them mostly on the beach itself, and it has done a pretty good job of collecting what comes in,” he said. “They’ve picked up over 12,000 bags of contaminated debris on Fourchon Beach.”
As for the mouth of Bayou Lafourche, Matherne said reports of oil have been made in Belle Pass.
“The sheriff’s office and harbor patrol are patrolling all the areas around Bayou Lafourche,” he said. “When they or anyone else spots oil and calls it in, we relay that message to BP, and they deploy skimmers to that area to try to collect it.”
Moving west of Bayou Lafourche, Matherne said the parish only has three miles of beachfront, exposing Timbalier Bay to the Gulf.
“We’ve had reports of oil in Timbalier Bay for the last couple of days, so BP has deployed vessels with sorbent boom to these areas,” Matherne explained. [Sunday] they deployed 24,000 feet of sorbent boom to protect the marsh, and 18,800 feet of sorbent boom has been deployed [Monday].”
Matherne said the amount of oil spotted in Timbalier Bay is not a significant amount, although, he said, any amount is significant once it enters the marsh.
“It’s not a large amount that has gotten into the marsh, but some has gotten into the edge of the marsh,” said Matherne. “We’re hearing it’s just about impossible to get it out of these areas. We’re assuming that whatever process they use to get it out of other areas is what they’ll use here.”
The laying of sorbent boom has taken away vessel passage to Evans and Havoline Canals and caused their closures.
“They will be closed for the foreseeable future until we don’t have to protect it with boom,” said Matherne.
Boaters are asked to use Southwest Louisiana Canal as an alternative route to enter Bayou Lafourche.
On Saturday, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries closed the following three Lafourche Parish fishing areas to recreational fishing:
• Barataria Basin – The portion of state inside waters south of 29 degrees 30 minutes 00 seconds north latitude and north of the inside/outside shrimp line, from the western shore of the Mississippi River westward to the western shore of Bayou Lafourche.
• Terrebonne Basin – The portion of state inside waters south of 29 degrees 21 minutes 00 seconds north latitude and north of the inside/outside shrimp line from the western shore of Bayou Lafourche westward to 91 degrees 20 minutes 20 seconds west longitude.
• Territorial Seas – That portion of state outside waters seaward of the inside/outside shrimp line from 91 degrees 00 minutes 00 seconds west longitude westward to 91 degrees 20 minutes 20 seconds west longitude.
