Marsh Grasses News Today

Edgewater nonprofit founded in 2017 has worked to restore habitats along the Indian River Lagoon. Here's what's planned for its next project.

>> bp acted responsibly, from a tragedy they have responded responsibly. half my family were working towards resolve. >> reporter: an emergency cash payment from bp kept gold band oysters afloat and more money is expected from a class-action lawsuit. and sales are down, 65%, but they are surviving. and, studies have known no oil contamination in gulf oysters. a different story for dolphins at the top of the the gulf food chain. >> we have literally seen over 700 dolphins and, you know, one anima...

Mexico, and now a report on the recovery. steve harrigan is live in grand isle, louisiana, with the latest. >> reporter: a small memorial service behind me on the beach for those 11 men killed when that rig blew up two year ago. two years on here on the coast of louisiana the effects of that spill still being felt. it dumped almost five million barrels of oil into the gulf here. it effected the economy, the wildlife, and it effected the marshlands, something which bp officials acknowledge. >> ma...

Doesnt cause gigantic impacts. some of it leeches out. it it is having impact but theres not massive impacts like weve seen over the last 87 days. weve seen a horrible disaster, coating of the marsh lands, killing dolphin, that portion of the spill is over. there will be long-term impacts. we dont know what they are. but im predicting they will be relatively mild and that they will start decreasing in intensity. some long-term impacts will be found. >> stan, do you agree with that assessment? do...

Incredibly resilient. it will return to normal. the bacteria are out there and they are helping. we are also helped with tropical weather that dispersed the residual oil and breaks it into smaller components. concentrated oil cant be degraded fast. dispersed oil can be. bonnie helped in that respect. >> stan, do you agree? do you believe that theres been bacteria that is eating the oil, that the oils so dispersed thats the reason we cant see it? >> well, theres no doubt theres action by things l...

The environment. there is a lot of biomass in the environment. there is still shoreline impacts over the next several days. i think we also clearly are on the down side of this thing. and the environment is incredibly resilient. it return to normal. the bacteria out. there theyre helping. were also helping with tropical weather that dispersed residual oil and breaks it into much smaller components. the concentrated oil cant be degraded very fast. dispersed oil can be. and bonnie helped in that r...

Oil. one is that if its buried under sentiments and under the marsh grasses, you may have storms that stir up that toxic soup again and that oil re-enters the environment. we learned from the exxon valdez experience where i worked for seven years for the state of alaska that even concentrations of oil as low as parts per billion can reduce survival of the salmon that come out of eggs that were exposed to that oil. >> do we know if this oil is still in the louisiana marshes? weve had many of our ...

The bacteria are out there, and they are helping. we are also helping with tropical weather that dispersed the oil and the concentrated oil cant be degraded very fast, and the dispersed oil can be and bonnie helped in that respect. >> stan, do you agree? do you believe that there has been bacteria eaten the oil, and that the oil is so dispersed and that is why we cant see it? >> well, there is no doubt that there is action by things like bacteria that can degrade the oil, but it is way too soon ...

Apparently we lose a football field of marshlands down there every 38 minutes. >> right. well the best way to protect the marshlands, which are, as you say, hugely critical habitat and ecosystems for so many species. 90% of the species that live in the entire gulf are reliant on those wetlands in coastal louisiana. the best way to protect them is make sure these kinds of oil spills dont happen. national wildlife federation is pushing really hard for clean energy now because if we dont make that ...

Right now, coming to the gulf coast to be positioned in the bays in the calm waters where they can scoop up the oil before it gets into the marsh grasses? >> bp has said its developing a new containment response as they call it, that will help the cleanup operators connect and disconnect oil recovery systems faster. this way, they say they would have fewer disruptions during the storms. is bp moving fast enough on this for you? >> no. and saying something like that, what, are you going to reduce...