Earth Equity News

For Oysters, a 'Remedy' Turned Catastrophe. By John Collins Rudolf, NYTimes, July 21, 2010. "In late April, just days into what has turned out to be the largest oil spill in American history, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, with the support of local parish officials, ordered the opening of giant valves on the Mississippi River, releasing torrents of freshwater that they hoped would push oil back out to sea. Now, reports indicate that the freshwater diversions have had a catastrophic impact on southeastern Louisiana's oyster beds that is far in excess of the damage done by oil from the spill… Oysters require saltwater to live, and major infusions of freshwater can quickly kill them. Once dead, the beds can take two to five years to become commercially viable again. Now, some oyster fishermen along the coast are reporting mortality rates as high as 80% along thousands of acres of oyster beds… Many oyster beds in gulf waters have been shut down as a precaution because oil contamination was considered likely, but widespread die-offs caused by the oil have not yet been found. Heavy damage to the oyster beds from the freshwater diversions could prove embarrassing to the Jindal administration, which already finds itself under scrutiny for its ambitious plans to build large sand and rock structures along the coast to block the oil. Both the sand and rock barriers drew criticism from scientists and federal officials that they would have negative environmental consequences that outweighed their potential benefit in stemming the flow of oil."