Hurricane Gustav - Response Information; Louisiana Coastal Zone

Source report excerpt: “An incident specific Regional Response Team (RRT) conference call was conducted for informational exchange only. This call focused only on preidentified Emergency Support Function (ESF) activities related to Hazardous Material and Oil Spills (ESF-10). The only ESF-10 Mission Assignment at present has been to staff key EPA positions at different command centers such as the Joint Field Office (JFO) in Baton Rouge, LA. The EPA has additional staff available to respond as needed, and they are currently evaluating the best locations for a Forward Operating Base (FOB). The USCG D8 office is planning to return to New Orleans from St. Louis MO as early as Wednesday. USCG Sector New Orleans (SEC […]”

Source report excerpt: “NOAA Emergency Response Division (ERD or HAZMAT) continues to watch Gustav's progress very carefully. ERD has not pre-deployed any personnel. The regional Scientific Support Coordinator lives in Baton Rouge LA and will be able to respond as needed. All personnel scheduled to travel to Louisiana for the continuing post-Hurricane Katrina and Rita Marine Debris Project were put on hold. Field personnel on-scene for Marine Debris and the DM932 Oil Spill, that do not live in Louisiana, were safely evacuated. Additional Responselink accounts for the USCG were created in preparation of using that website for information transfer (much like during Hurricane Katrina). The USCG is aware of our desire […]”

Source report excerpt: “New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin reported to local news that levees along the Industrial Canal are being overtopped by the Hurricane Gustav storm surge. Water level at the canal is reported to be at more than 11 feet high, the floodwalls are 11 feet high. Water can be seen in news reports lapping over the top, but water level will probably not get any higher as the storm has pushed to the W. The USACE reports that the levee protecting the Lower 9th Ward from the Industrial Canal should not fail. The USCG reports that a barge and two small vessels are loose in the canal. There is an effort to secure these vessels. The source of this information was the local news station in Baton Rouge, LA.”

Source report excerpt: “Brief Summary of Activities: USCG Sector New Orleans, which includes MSU Baton Rouge, MSD Houma, MSU Morgan City, and Sector New Orlean's primary AOR, remains evacuated to Natchez, MS. All reports are being fielded at the Command Post in Natchez for now. There have only been a limited number of pollution cases received: 3 pollution reports yesterday and 3 today. A brief summary follows: 1 Sept. Partially sunk tug at the ACL Harahan Fleet at MM 107 LDB; NOLA Tiger team confirmed no pollution & ACL hired an OSRO to mitigate the situation. An AST in Michoud releasing a white cloud gas; notified LA State Troopers; nothing further reported. A tug leaking fuel possibly affecting St. Bernard Water […]”

Source report excerpt: “There have only been a few relatively small pollution events reported or observed to date largely due to the fact that this was primarily a wind event and not a major storm surge event such as Hurricane Katrina and Rita. These incidents will be updated separately. NOAA continues to provide remote support to the USCG as needed. Communications are good. The regional NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) remains in Baton Rouge without power. The SSC spent part of Wednesday at the FEMA JFO in Baton Rouge (which was running on generator power) to interface with EPA and USCG related to possible ESF-10 Mission Assignments. The SSC is able to maintain web access and cellular phone access […]”

Source report excerpt: “Incidents observed during Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) overflight on 3 September 2008. This information has also been provided to USCG FOB Natchez (SEC NOLA). For two of the incidents, trajectory analyses were provided to the USCG (see separate ResponseLink Hotline Reports). There are five reported observations. 1. +29° 25.40’ -89° 56.48’ Baratarria Bay, Well Head. A well head is still leaking oil as mist/spray. Sheening extends for 2 SQ. NM. LDEQ observer believes that the cause may be a broken valve or a damaged pipe. This well is in the Saturday Island Field. All wells close to this position belong to Forest Oil Company. 2. +29° 40.107’ -89'26.383 Breton Sound, […]”

Source report excerpt: “***The next update will be Monday (08 SEP 2008) when Ike is expected to be passing over Cuba, enroute to the Gulf of Mexico. *** Tropical Storm Hanna Update: Hanna made landfall very early this morning around the South Carolina/North Carolina border. Hanna is now over New Jersey moving NE at 28mph and still has maximum sustained winds of 60 mph. Heavy rainfall is expected throughout the eastern seaboard. Hurricane Ike Update: Ike has maximum sustained winds of 135 mph with higher gusts. This is an extremely dangerous Category Four Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane scale. It is expected that Ike will maintain Category Four or Category Three intensity over the next 48 hours. Current […]”

Source report excerpt: “Hurricane Gustav recovery efforts are continuing, and at the same time the number of observed and pollution events are growing. Today, USCG, LDEQ, and NOAA met at Sector New Orleans’ offices in Bucktown, Louisiana to integrate the Gustav Pollution Reports and Observations into a single master-tracking database. USCG will maintain the master database, and NOAA will provide updated maps to show progress during the response. There are currently more than 50 incidents identified. The NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator also met with the D8 response department to discuss plans for Hurricane Ike. The current plan is to pre-deploy an SSC to Sector Houston to be in a position to provide direct […]”

Source report excerpt: “There were no follow-up requests for support made to the NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator on this incident. There are no known additional NOAA trustee issues that require follow-up that are related to the Emergency Response Division’s role in emergency response. This record constitutes the final entry for this response.”