Louisiana Department Of Environmental Quality News

Top U.S. LNG exporter Cheniere Energy Inc said it will repair and replace equipment at its Louisiana terminal after tests showed it exceeded newly-imposed hazardous emissions limits on certain known carcinogens, but the work will have no material impact on operations.A round of testing showed at least one of Cheniere's turbines at its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Louisiana failed the new standards, while the turbines in Texas at the company's only other U.S.

U.S. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality presented an Environmental Leadership Award to the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans at a ceremony held recently at DEQ’s headquarters in Baton Rouge, La. The award recognizes environmental achievement for voluntary pollution prevention efforts, community environmental outreach initiatives and environmental management systems that are above and beyond regulatory compliance. The port received its award March 25 for its Stormwater Management Program…

The U.S. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Baton Rouge received notifications about the haze at 9 a.m. The Coast Guard, in conjunction with several first responders including local parish fire departments, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and Louisiana State Police, responded. Air monitoring was conducted, both on and off the river, throughout the response. Air monitoring showed no measurable levels of chemicals in the air and the mysterious haze was not located. The initial source or cause of the reported haze remains unknown. There is no danger to waterways or the surrounding communities and the Lower Mississippi River has been reopened to all traffic.

Halliburton Pleads Guilty to Destruction of Evidence in Connection with Deepwater Horizon Disaster and Is Sentenced to Statutory Maximum Fine; Former Halliburton Manager Is Charged. Halliburton Energy Services Inc. (Halliburton) pleaded guilty today to destroying evidence pertaining to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster and was sentenced to the statutory maximum fine, the Justice Department announced. In addition, a criminal information was filed today charging a former Halliburton manager, Anthony Badalamenti, 61, of Katy, Texas, with one count of destruction of evidence.

Halliburton Energy Services Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence in connection with the Deepwater Horizon disaster, the Department of Justice announced today. A criminal information charging Halliburton with one count of destruction of evidence was filed today in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Louisiana. Halliburton has signed a cooperation and guilty plea agreement with the government in which Halliburton has agreed to plead guilty and admit its criminal conduct. As part of the plea agreement, Halliburton has further agreed, subject to the court’s approval, to pay the maximum-available statutory fine, to be subject to three years of probation and to continue its cooperation in the government’s ongoing criminal investigation.

The Coast Guard, along with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality & partner agencies, respond to reports of an odor. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received the report of an odor extending throughout parts of the greater New Orleans area, including parts of Jefferson, Orleans and St. Bernard parishes at approximately 5 a.m. Wednesday. Responders have been deployed throughout the area and coordinated an investigation in concert with other agency responders and employees from the Chalmette Refining, LLC, facility in Chalmette. Earlier the facility had reported and quickly stopped a leak and, while the investigation is still ongoing, officials currently believe it could be the source of the odor. The leak was contained to a unit at the refinery.

The Coast Guard is reponding to limit pollution of the sea in the area 9 miles SW of Port Sulphur (on W. bank of the Mississippi) Louisiana. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a report Tuesday that the 42-foot crewboat Sea Raider, allided with a wellhead owned by Swift Energy, causing the platform to discharge an oily-water mixture. Swift Energy, the responsible party, has contracted a barge to secure the wellhead. Response crews have deployed 1,800-feet of boom to contain the discharged oily-water mixture from the wellhead.

BP Exploration and Production Inc. Agrees to Plead Guilty to Felony Manslaughter, Environmental Crimes and Obstruction of Congress Surrounding Deepwater Horizon Incident; BP Agrees to Pay a Record $4 Billion in Criminal Fines and Penalties Two Highest-Ranking BP Supervisors on Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Charged with Manslaughter and Former Senior BP Executive Charged with Obstruction of Congress. BP Exploration and Production Inc. (BP) has agreed to plead guilty to felony manslaughter, environmental crimes and obstruction of Congress and pay a record $4 billion in criminal fines and penalties for its conduct leading to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 people and caused the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history, Attorney General Eric Holder announced today.

The U.S. Coast Guard continues to work with the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator's Office LOSCO, Louisiana Department of Natural Resources LDNR, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality LDEQ, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries LAWLF, the Louisiana State Police LSP, and Jefferson Parish Emergency Services to minimize environmental damage resulting from an allision between a tow vessel and a wellhead in the Barataria Waterway, which occurred at approximately 1 a.m., July 27. The Unified Command Post, established at U.S. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans, is reporting that the wellhead was secured at 6:05 p.m. August 1 and is no longer emitting oil or natural gas into Barataria Bay. The wellhead is also equipped with a light.

Pictured is Senator Boxer. On February 14, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works conducted a legislative hearing on the Marine Vessel Emissions Reduction Act of 2007 (S. 1499). Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) discussed the harmful air emissions from ships and the measures that would be required if her proposed legislation were enacted. Ranking Member James Inhofe (R-OK) pointed out that adoption of MARPOL Annex VI is preferable to enacting unilateral legislation.

Federal and Louisiana agencies settled with Marine Oil Trader 3, Ltd. and Ermis Maritime Corp. for the November 2000 T/V Westchester oil spill into the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, La. With oversight from the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of the Interior’s U.S. restoration projects to address the resources injured by the spill. On Nov. 28, 2000, the T/V Westchester grounded in the Mississippi River at River Mile 38, discharging approximately 500,000 gallons of crude oil into the Mississippi River downstream from New Orleans in Plaquemines Parish, La. hunting opportunities. to conduct a natural resource damage assessment to identify and restore injured natural resources.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced the appointment of Elizabeth Megginson as Chief Counsel for the Department’s Maritime Administration. Megginson served as Majority Chief Counsel to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives for six years beginning in 2001. She also served for five years as Majority Chief Counsel for the House Committee on Resources (now the Committee on Natural Resources) and served as a Senior Counsel as well. From 1990 until 1995, she was the Staff Director and Chief Counsel for the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Navigation, of the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, which was abolished in 1995. She moved to Washington, D.C.

The Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Louisiana are working together with local industries to recover spilled oil and mitigate further environmental damage in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Coast Guard Sector New Orleans Federal On Scene Coordinator has established a forward operating base in Baton Rouge, La., to coordinate the pollution response efforts. The Murphy Oil Corporation, near Chalmette, estimated 16,000 barrels of oil have been discharged, with the vast majority contained within the existing secondary containment unit located on refinery property. Oil recovery operations are currently on going. During the hurricane, an unknown quantity of oil escaped the secondary containment and affected the surrounding neighborhoods.