Gulf oil spill revealed old, deep problems

HOUSTON - Five coastal states are determined to clean up the damaged Gulf of Mexico ecosystem after last year's oil spill highlighted how decades of contamination and deterioration had placed a backbone of the U.S. economy at risk of ruin, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force's preliminary report pinpointed challenges, priorities and strategies for the five states — Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama — working with the backing of several federal agencies to restore and preserve the Gulf Coast. The task force was established by President Barack Obama after BP's catastrophic oil spill last year.

"One of the results of all the meetings is a real sense of urgency," EPA chief Lisa Jackson told The AP. "Person after person came in and said `we're losing the Gulf.' None of it is irreversible, but the longer we wait, the harder it will be."

The task force provided The Associated Press a copy of its executive summary before the preliminary report's official release Wednesday. A public comment period will last until late October and a final report will be presented to Obama in December.

The task force laid out four goals requiring immediate attention: restoring and conserving habitat, restoring water quality, replenishing and protecting coastal and marine resources and enhancing community resilience.

Key report lays most blame for gulf spill on BP
Special section: Gulf Coast oil spill disaster
New evidence of more BP oil spill mistakes
BP oil spill fund admin says $5B paid out

The committee also has asked Congress, which has yet to commit funding to restoration efforts, to dedicate "significant portions" of penalties from the oil spill to the recovery efforts. Members also are asking Congress to create a permanent council to oversee, coordinate and manage the restoration.

The Gulf of Mexico has been in a slow, persistent state of decline for nearly a century, harmed by upstream efforts to make rivers more accessible to ship traffic and prevent Mississippi River flooding. Fertilizers used in Midwest farming also flowed downstream, filling the Gulf with harmful nutrients that have created a large "dead zone" where there is so little oxygen nearly nothing can survive.

The report says restoring the natural flow of the river, which would allow sediment to flow downstream and strengthen and prevent the erosion of barrier islands and wetlands, is critical. The sediment — nutrient -filled sand and rock that flow from rivers and streams into the ocean — constitute the structural foundation of the Gulf's ecosystem.

Thousands of years of downstream sediment flows helped create the wetlands and barrier islands that are now parts of the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Like sponges, they soak up floodwaters and protect millions of residents in coastal communities from the massive hurricanes and other storms that blow inland from the ocean.

And these islands and wetlands are home to birds, turtles, fish and other wildlife. Freshwater estuaries are nursery grounds for oysters, shrimp, crabs and dozens of fish species; all of these then move into the Gulf's saltier waters, a cycle that guarantees healthy and strong marine populations. Those species are crucial to a region that accounts for 33 percent of the nation's seafood. Yet all have been impacted by the excess nutrients and pollutants from upstream basins that have degraded water quality and changed the very look and feel of some ecosystems.

"Restoring the supply of sediment is the number one most important thing. If we can do that, as well as decrease the flow of nutrients that have created a dead zone in the Gulf, we'll be in good shape," Jackson said.

For some Gulf Coast officials, however, federal involvement is not necessarily a blessing. Mayor Tony Kennon in Orange Beach, Alabama, as well as Leoda Bladsacker, a town councilwoman in Grand Isle, Louisiana, both said they have little confidence that any positive change will come of the task force or its findings.

"I don't have much faith in any of that right now," said Bladsacker, feeling it's taken too long for the country to take notice of the damage done to the Gulf and its communities.

Kennon, meanwhile, is concerned federal oversight could prove detrimental to restoration efforts. He adds he is wary of the government's "incestuous relationships with big oil" and a regulation-heavy attitude.

"I think there may be change. I just don't know if it may be good change or bad change," Kennon said.

Some of the local bitterness originates from a feeling that the Gulf has at times been overlooked, even though it is vital to the U.S. economy. More than 90 percent of the nation's offshore oil and natural gas production originates in the Gulf, 13 of the top 20 ports by tonnage are in the region and if the five coastal states were a country, they would rank seventh in global gross domestic product. In 2009, the Gulf Coast produced 30 percent of the nation's gross domestic product.

Jackson said the task force has identified a variety of strategies — including rebuilding barrier islands and wetlands — to help restore the Gulf. But she believes the most successful will involve partnerships between the public and the private sector.

Most immediately, making preservation of the Gulf as important as flood control and navigation — a major policy shift from how the U.S. has traditionally treated the region during the past century — will likely lead to quick results, Jackson said.

Working with Midwest farming states, where much of the harmful fertilizers originate, to prevent that flow will also lead to immediate improvements, she said. It will take longer to engage some communities and ensure all are aware if the Gulf's importance, Jackson added.

"We are wary of promising quick results but we are already seeing change in a focus on the problems of the Gulf and addressing them in a new sense of urgency," she said. "There will be things that can be done fairly quickly ... but then there are decades of decline that will heal over decades."

Alice Perry, assistant director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and her state's representative on the task force, said the states are committed to working with the federal government to restore the Gulf Coast.

"The combination of several bad things, hurricanes, the oil spill incident, all of those things brought national attention to the Gulf Coast that we may not have gotten any other way." Perry said. "Hopefully, this will be some good that comes out of it."