Meeting Mississippi: MDEQ Restoration Summit and ELI’s Listening Tour
Taylor Lilley
Thursday, November 29, 2018

On November 12th, I traveled to Mississippi for a week with fellow ELI Gulf Team members Amy Streitwieser and Sofia Yazykova. We went to attend the 2018 Mississippi Restoration Summit, hosted by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), but also planned to use the trip as a “listening tour,” meeting with representatives of local governments and historically marginalized communities to learn more about their environmental priorities.

Helping Communities Participate in the NEPA Scoping Process
Amy Reed
Monday, August 21, 2017

In mid-July, I traveled to Louisiana with fellow ELI Gulf Team member Teresa Chan to host three workshops with the Restore the Mississippi River Delta coalition. Held in three different parishes, these workshops were intended to help the community meaningfully participate in the “scoping” process for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion by providing some background on the project, explaining what scoping is, and discussing how the public can participate. Nearly 60 people attended the workshops, where there were lots of lively discussions!

BP Consent Decree Finalized: Where It Leaves Gulf Restoration 6 Years After the Spill
Monday, April 18, 2016

 

By ELI Ocean Program Staff

As we prepare to mark six years since the start of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, another important milestone has been reached in Gulf restoration: the court has now entered the consent decree among the federal government, five Gulf states, and BP. This puts to an end years of speculation and disputes regarding how much BP will pay in civil penalties and natural resource damages.

Some of the more significant facts and figures about the consent decree are summarized below:

BP Proposed Consent Decree Released: Details of the Settlement and How You Can Participate
Tuesday, October 13, 2015

 

By ELI Ocean Program Staff

On October 5, 2015, a historic milestone was reached in Gulf restoration: the terms to settle the United States’ and five Gulf states’ remaining claims against BP were announced. Along with separate agreements with local government entities, these settlements total $20.8 billion. This amount includes:

Consent Decree

RESTORE Council Draft Initial Funded Priorities List: Charting a Course for Gulf Restoration Activities
Tuesday, August 18, 2015

 

By ELI Ocean Program Staff

On August 13, 2015, another important milestone in Gulf restoration was reached: the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council released its draft Initial Funded Priorities List (“Draft FPL”). The Draft FPL proposes approximately $139.6 million worth of projects and programs, which will be funded with monies from the Transocean settlement, about $240 million of which were allocated to the Council (note that the much larger settlement with BP is not yet final, so the Council has yet to receive any of that funding).

Remembrance of Tragedy, Processes for Healing: Deepwater Horizon, Five Years Later
Monday, April 20, 2015

 

By ELI Ocean Program Staff

It was five years ago today that a blowout rocked the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, leading to one of the worst oil spills in the nation’s history. Healing from a disaster like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is not simply achieved with restoration and recovery funding. Instead, healing is a process that restoration and recovery funding can support. So the question is, where are we with restoration and recovery funding?

Where We Are:

Fisheries Observers: an Important Enforcement Tool
Read Porter
Thursday, October 30, 2014

Fisheries observers serve important roles in fisheries management. From a scientific perspective, they provide independent verification of the amounts and types of fish caught, providing key data for stock assessment. In some fisheries, observers also have an important enforcement function: they report to law enforcement when they witness violations of fisheries regulations. In 2010, I published an article, based on NOAA’s enforcement data, showing that observer reports are a key source of information for understanding fishers’ compliance while at sea.

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