Oiled wildlife recovery, pollution assessment surveys continue following Hurricane Isaac

NEW ORLEANS – One dead oiled brown pelican, one dead oiled clapper rail, one dead oiled common moorhen, and three live oiled wildlife were recovered near Myrtle Grove, Sunday. 

Affected wildlife are taken to a rehabilitation center in Belle Chaisse, La. Necropsies will be performed to determine the cause of death. 

Pollution assessments continued at multiple sites impacted by Hurricane Isaac and a wildlife recovery team deployed to Myrtle Grove to recover wildlife and to look for signs of other impacted animals. 

Assessment teams in the field discovered oil in Bayou St. Denis, Myrtle Grove and near Port Sulphur.  Teams are also investigating reports of sheening in Breton Sound.  Responders are in contact with facility owners and operators and have taken steps to contain and clean up any product.

Overflights of Lake Pontchartrain revealed no signs of spilled or leaked oil, however, there are multiple displaced drums and containers. 

Coast Guard representatives along with state officials and Stolthaven representatives are on scene to assess the chemicals stored at the Stolthaven facility in Braithwaite, La., which was heavily damaged and flooded during the storm. There is no immediate public health concern and Mississippi River traffic is not affected. A half-mile exclusion zone is in effect around the facility.

“We are conducting overflights, ground assessments, airboat and small boat operations to seek out and recover any impacted wildlife and to find any oil or hazardous materials so we can recover them as quickly as possible to minimize the impact to residents and the environment,” said Lt. Cmdr. Lushan Hannah, incident commander at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans.  

Coast Guard and state officials are asking residents to avoid any contact with chemicals or pollution they come across and to report it to the Sector New Orleans Operations Center at 504-365-2200 or the National Response Center at 800-424-8802.