2 sleeps away from NOLA! Thursday, May 12 2011

The days have just flown by it seems!I am happy that the winter semester is over, summer is approaching and that I finally leave for New Orleans on Saturday

I look back into my calender where I highlighted and underlined the class times in February and it seems like yesterday. I remember selling candy grams with Mandi and Rochelle. I also remember baking St.Patrick’s day themed cupcakes. Selling our goodies and telling Ryerson students why we were travelling to NOLA was great. The feedback we got was positive and many students wish they came with us! It really made me feel important as a volunteer, knowing that I will make a difference.

My feelings are a mix of excitement, anticipation and a lot of intimidation. Up until today I could not sit myself down to pack and finish completely. Usually I am very excited to throw everything in the suitcase and roll away. But when I finally started tonight I couldn’t wipe a huge grin off my face…guess its finally sinking in! I am very well prepared now and equipped with a fully loaded first aid kit (my mom is a nurse)..so yea I have everything under the moon medicine wise.

Over the past few weeks a lot of news has come from New Orleans. With the anniversary of the BP Oil Spill and now the devastating April 27 tornado in Alabama. I have read many of the blogs of my peers in NOLA right now and am touched by the images they have left in my head. Images taken by Tanya and the crew were incredible. So much loss, so much destruction. The reality of disaster and death has yet to sink in for me. Knowing that I may even experience it first hand while in New Orleans is a little overwhelming right now.

I am ready to help, learn and grow as an individual. Ready to paint some walls, plant some trees and talk to some residents from N’Orleans. Experiencing something outside of my comfort zone and the safe walls of my current life. This trip will define my view of promoting health. I believe it is so much more than just a physician exam or an apple a day. I want to leave my handprint on a home that will house a family that was potentially separated by Katrina. That is a layer of health- bringing a family a home and not just a place to live in. I want to hear the stories of survivors and support them for their bravery. I am finally ready for this experience.

Just to add, my friends and family who have visited New Orleans had ONLY great things to say. Not going to get into it because on Saturday it is our turn GROUP 2! Here we come:)

See y’all soon, Iryna.

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Red Shrimp and Oil scare Friday, Nov 26 2010

On Wednesday NOAA – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association - closed a section  of the Gulf of Mexico to royal red shrimping due to tar balls being found in the net of a shrimper. My favourite part of the press release from the Joint Information Center was the opening sentence “out of an abundance of caution”.

The press release reads: today, out of an abundance of caution, NOAA has closed 4,213 square miles of Gulf of Mexico federal waters off Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama to royal red shrimping. The precautionary measure was taken after a commercial shrimper, having hauled in his catch of the deep water shrimp, discovered tar balls in his net.

Fishing for royal red shrimp is conducted by pulling fishing nets across the bottom of the ocean floor. The tar balls found in the catch may have been entrained in the net as it was dragged along the seafloor.

Other fishing at shallower depths in this area has not turned up any tar balls and is thus not impacted by this closure. The fisherman who reported this catch had trawled for brown shrimp in shallow waters in a different portion of the area to be closed earlier in the day without seeing tar balls.

Following the report of tar balls, NOAA was in contact with shrimpers involved in royal red shrimping in this area. Only a handful of the approximately 250 permitted royal red shrimp fishermen are currently active in the fishery. The tar balls are being analyzed by the U.S. Coast Guard to determine if they are from the Deepwater Horizon/BP spill.

This decision was made in consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The closure becomes effective at 6 p.m. EST and does not apply to any state waters.

“We are taking this situation seriously. This fishery is the only trawl fishery that operates at the deep depths where the tar balls were found and we have not received reports of any other gear or fishery interactions with tar balls,” said Roy Crabtree, assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service southeast region. “Our primary concerns are public safety and ensuring the integrity of the Gulf’s seafood supply.

Royal red shrimp are caught in Gulf waters deeper than 600 feet and are the only species targeted with trawls at these depths. The more common Gulf shrimp species are brown, white and pink shrimp and are caught in waters less than 300 feet deep. The agency has received no reports of tar balls from fishermen that target other species in that area. Fishing for other shellfish and finfish species within this area is still allowed.

These waters were closed to all commercial and recreational fishing earlier this summer because of the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill and were reopened to all fishing on November 15 after hundreds of seafood specimens sampled from the area, including royal red shrimp, passed both sensory and chemical testing. Additionally, no oil was observed in the area for a period of 30 days prior to the reopening.

NOAA and FDA are continuing to work together to sample seafood from inside and outside the closure, and are continuing market-based sampling of seafood processing plants and dockside sampling. NOAA is also sending vessels to the area to re-sample for royal red shrimp. The agency will reopen this area after determining there is no seafood safety concern. NOAA will conduct extensive sampling in the area, subjecting specimens to sensory and chemical analysis, including the recently approved chemical test for dispersants, in accordance with the rigorous re-opening protocol agreed to by NOAA, the FDA and the Gulf states.

An area covering 1,041 square miles immediately surrounding the Deepwater Horizon wellhead still remains closed to all commercial and recreational fishing. The fishing area closure was first instituted on May 2, at which time it covered about 3 percent (6,817 square miles) of Gulf waters around the wellhead. As oil continued to spill from the wellhead, the area grew in size, peaking at 37 percent (88,522 square miles) of Gulf waters on June 2.

Image from: seafco.com

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Billing BP Friday, Nov 19 2010

I am on the media list for RestoretheGulf.gov which is the site set up by the Obama administration following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last April. As I realize very little news comes out about the spill anymore I thought I would share the latest email.

WASHINGTON – The Obama Administration today sent an eighth bill for $25.4 million to BP and other named responsible parties for response and recovery operations relating to the BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. To date, the Administration has sent these eight bills to BP and other responsible parties (Transocean, MOEX, and Andarko) for oil removal costs, of which the first six have been reimbursed in full by BP.

Responsible parties are financially liable for all costs associated with oil removal, including efforts to stop the leak at its source, reduce the spread of oil, protect the shoreline and mitigate damage to the public health or welfare.

To provide full transparency of the ongoing efforts and to ensure that the American public is not held accountable for the costs of response activities, the Federal Government bills responsible parties regularly for costs approved by the Federal On-Scene Coordinator to support Federal, State, and local removal efforts and ensure the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund is reimbursed on an ongoing basis.

This is the eighth bill the Administration has sent to date. The first seven bills have been paid in full by BP, totaling $581 million.

This invoice is based on specific Federal Government expenses that are subject to billing at this time, including expenses associated with the response of over two dozen Federal entities and agencies from four States, in accordance with the Federal On-Scene Coordinator request for assistance process. Federal response activities not subject to billing at this time, including future activities, will be billed to the responsible parties through subsequent invoices. In addition, these bills do not include any other costs for which BP and the other responsible parties are liable to any other party.

The United States Coast Guard is responsible for administering the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to ensure rapid response to oil spills, to compensate individuals and communities harmed by oil spills, and to ensure that the costs of response and cleanup are borne by the responsible parties.

More information about oil spill costs and reimbursement

 

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Is Louisiana Seafood Safe to Eat? Wednesday, Nov 17 2010

I’m not a seafood eater; never have been and never will be. It’s tempting to say I am allergic because it is such an ever-present part of culture here. There are a lot of people – locals and visitors alike – who will no longer eat local seafood because of the BP oil spill. I receive emails from various organizations and groups that are very split on this issue. Some highlight the dangers while others emphasize the safety. I am throwing this out to all of you to debate…what do you think?

My thoughts and some links:

1) Not all Louisiana seafood comes from the Gulf. So your first question if you are concerned needs to be “where is this from?”

2) The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals tests seafood weekly and presents it’s results. My biggest issue with these studies is that when seafood is listed as contaminated but below the level of concern they are looking at normal consumption. What happens when this is eaten as the main food source – how does volume of consumption change this?

3) The Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board has produced a Seafood Safety pamphlet that explains testing and contamination and points out that all samples tested so far in reopened waters have been found to be safe. (There are also lots of recipes for the cooks amongst you!)

4) Defenders of the Coast is very clearly stating that Gulf seafood is not safe to eat. Tomorrow night they are holding a fundraiser for their work and the LA Humane Society in New Orleans.  I voyaged with them a few months ago to Raccoon Island and found evidence that not all was well….

5) This PBS Newshour Extra from August shows how split the shrimpers are about the safety.

6) In this video released this week a shrimper talks candidly about his experiences. Notice all the boats docked behind him.

 

So….what do you think?

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Design for NOLA Sunday, Nov 14 2010

So I am writing my essay for design history class about the role of graphic design in bringing environmental and social change (which is why I am posting at 1:30 am).

I am also the biggest internet junkie out there, and whenever I find design/art/literature geared toward social and environmental change, I am always happy. And when it’s related to NOLA, even more!

Here are a few things I’ve came across.

I like Dave Eggers. I like New Orleans. And this book was interesting because it provided a different perspective. Tanya – the ending was indeed frustrating.

Skeletonkrewe is an artist from NOLA I found on flickr while trying to find those “READ” graffiti that was everywhere!

OIL & WATER DO NOT MIX is a project by Happiness Brussels, designed by Anthony Burrill. They collected oil from the Gulf of Mexico and silkscreened posters with it. OIL. SILKSCREEN. WOWOW! You can watch the video here!

When I came back from NOLA in May, I found a book called Bayou Farewell by Mike Tidwell. It was a strange time to be reading it as it was published in 2003 and all the warnings Tidwell had wrote in the book came true (i.e., the loss of coastal wetlands and the levees led to the devastation that was Hurricane Katrina). It was also kind of strange/scary/coincidental because he ended the book with an eerie feeling he felt about the oil rigs he saw. In any case, for one of my design classes I was asked to redesign a book cover and I chose Mike Tidwell’s Bayou Farewell (Hi Mike, if you ever stumble upon this blog and don’t like the book cover-sorry! But if you do I am open for a redesign discussion).

For the cover, I wanted to focus on the positive aspect of the book- the Cajun people! I went for hand done type to imitate all those hand made signs protesting BP. Also southern states are always associated with colourful and vernacular hand made signs. I also had flags to imitate the Blessing of the Fleet!

It was a lot of fun to design the cover and felt nice to be designing for NOLA, in a way.

- Jennii

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P&J Oyster Company Sunday, Nov 7 2010

The Deepwater Horizon well may be capped but the impact continues. A great story on the impact of the spill on oysters and in particular the P&J Oyster company.

The article says in part:

“

P&J has dealt in oysters, both as a distributor and processor, for nearly 135 years, making it the oldest oyster processor and distributor in the United States. The disaster triggered by the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion on April 20 brought that tradition to a virtual standstill. On June 10, the Sunseris, having conceded their regular suppliers could no longer provide them with the volume and quality of oysters necessary to operate their business, ceased regular operations at P&J. They laid off 13 full-time employees.

“The bottom line is that our guys that we purchase from are not working,” Sal Sunseri said on the day of the shutdown.”

Click here for the rest of the story

 

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What’s new with St. Bernard Project? Thursday, Nov 4 2010

As regular readers know the St. Bernard Project is one of my favourite organizations here in NOLA.  When my parents were visiting in September I took them to the 312th Welcome Home Party for Glenda Ceaser. It was catered by top chefs from across the US including President Obama’s own chef, Cris Comerford.  This picture shows Chef Comerford speaking as the Ceasar family looks on.

They have recently launched a Home for the Holidays campaign. Or if you are on Facebook you can see the Facebook event listing here to spread the word.

You can help give the gift of home to 15 deserving families by raising funds for St. Bernard Project’s “Home for the Holidays” campaign. SBP’s goal is to raise $300,000 by January 7 to fund the rebuilding of 15 deserving families’ homes so they can begin making lasting memories together once more.

 

 

In other news, the St. Bernard Project was named one of 10 American Groups making a difference by US News.

The article summarizes the work that they do and the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their work.

They even made the cover!!

 

 

 

Finally, the St. Bernard Project is engaged in another vote-getting contest on Facebook. Their last effort with the Pepsi Refresh the Gulf contest resulted in $250K to support their work with the oil spill.

This one is with Entergy and is called “Power to Care”. You can vote twice a month on Facebook. You’ll find St Bernard Project under Louisiana (not New Orleans). They can win $25000!!

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Oiled Marshes in Terrebonne Parish Sunday, Aug 22 2010

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity (through the Coast Guard) to go out from Chauvin, Louisiana into the marshes of Terrebonne Parish to look for oil.

We left at 7:30am which meant I left my place at 5:15am. It was 39C with humidity…so hot that I had to alternately drive with the heat on or my windows down to keep the windshield from fogging…breathing was like pea soup.

The drive was beautiful and ended, literally “where the road ends” and normally, where “catching begins”. But as you will see later, mostboats I saw were docked.

The plan was that we would follow a Rapid Assessment Team but they didn’t have many reports and a storm was a-brewing, so we broke off and headed for some marsh while they went to look for some boom that was reportedly out of place.

The RAT team had two scientists, a Coast Guard liasion and a local boat captain. They respond to reports of oil, observe, take test samples of the oil and make recommendations for action.

Not far from shore,  a reminder that oil is never distant down here….

…and neither is risk….

…nor is wildlife.

A short ride away was Whiskey Island where some clean-up crews were at work.

Racing the storm, we went to Bay Junop where we saw some oil on the marshes…note the dark strip in the middle…

The oil washed ashore at high tide, hence the strip of green underneath…

…the fragility of marsh grass means that it might be safer to let air and water clean away the oil.

On my way home I saw numerous boats readied to lay boom or engage in skimming operations…

…and a bunch that should have been fishing.

100 boats in 5 miles. Sitting. Waiting.

Sad.

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Climate Change book Saturday, Aug 21 2010

A new book Climate Change – Who’s Carrying the Burden?The Chilly Climates of the Global Environmental Dilemma came out this week, and I am proud to have written a chapter for it.

Published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives authors include Stephen Lewis, Naomi Klein, Elizabeth May, and is edited by Tor and Anders Sandberg.

The write up for the book is as follows:

“The devastating impacts of climate change are clear. But there are disturbing revelations about how global elites are tackling the issue. Al Gore—on one hand — promotes carbon emissions trading and green technologies as a solution, and—on the other—profits handsomely from his timely investments in those same initiatives. Infamous climate change skeptic Bjørn Lomborg recommends free market solutions to fight global poverty and disease. And it’s these solutions that almost exclusively receive the attention of world leaders, so-called experts and media pundits.

Climate Change—Who’s Carrying the Burden? rallies the call of climate justice advocates and activists concerned with ‘system change not climate change’. This call demands control of local resources, the restitution of past wrongs, and the willingness to conceive and accept different modes of living and seeing.

The contributors to this book draw attention to the disparity between climate change and social justice concerns. They seek to confound, confuse and extend what constitutes the meaning of climate change. They juxtapose and make connections between climate change and the chilly climates that exclude and marginalize groups and individuals who live and imagine different ways of interacting that are more respectful of social and environmental relationships.”

My piece, as can be expected, is on Katrina and the environmental impacts that caused the storm to do so much damage. It also looks at social vulnerabilities. I also touch on the effects of the oil spill.

My chapter follows one about oil…the write up says “Tanya Gulliver looks at the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, seen by some as emblematic of the consequences of climate change, as more a function of the v…ulnerabilities built up in New Orleans where the natural (wetlands) and human-made (levees) barriers to hurricanes have been degraded, and a human population, primarily Black and/or poor, has suffered the effects of Katrina to an extent greater than others. As in the Niger Delta, this is because of the vulnerabilities built up in Louisiana as result of the practices of the petro-chemical industry in the area. Gulliver’s chapter, echoing Osuoka, shows the linkages and inter-relationships between the environmental devastation in both time and place, between Louisiana and the Niger Delta, and between the long-term environmental pollution in New Orleans and the Gulf of Guinea, and the sudden and drastic effects of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The very same corporations have been active in the same areas over a long period of time.”

Check it out! Buy a copy!

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5 things to do times 2 Friday, Aug 20 2010

Hard to believe it’s just 9 days to the 5th anniversary of Katrina.  My ongoing back problems (pinched nerve) has made writing at the computer challenging…but I think I am well enough to start playing catch-up.  So expect a few posts in the next few days…

Today’s post is about the initiatives the great folks at the St Bernard Project have going on for the anniversary. There are 5 things they are doing and 5 things you can do from home!

As regular readers of this blog know, SBP is one of my favourite organizations to volunteer with. My students and I have volunteered on all three trips and my partner and I have volunteered a few additional times as well.

These folks work hard with great results. More importantly, they “get it” – they use locals in their work, listen to locals and understand the needs of the community.

There are also 5 ways you can be a part of SBP’s team from home and help solve these solvable problems:

1. Vote for SBP to win $250,000 in the Pepsi Refresh Challenge – It’s easy. You can vote once a day from each email that you may have…they’re in third and the top 2 win $250,000 – help push them over the edge. The money goes to expand mental health services and to provide jobs for people affected by the oil spill.

2. Host a fundraiser in your community for SBP – This doesn’t have to be elaborate. Bring together a group of people to watch When the Levees Broke or Trouble the Water or any of the other amazing Katrina-films. Share a supper at home instead of going out and donate the money  you would have spent. Skip your coffees and lattes for the next 9 days…every penny counts.

3. Commit to volunteer in New Orleans in the coming 12 months – If you’re a friend of mine, don’t forget, I provide a free couch or futon or floorspace for folks who are coming to volunteer. I can also help you obtain cheap housing in the community. New Orleans is a wonderful town to visit – but give of yourself while you’re here!

4. Spread the word; 1,000+ families are still living in FEMA trailers because they own homes
they can not afford to rebuild, thousands of uninsured residents suffer from mental health problems related to the oil spill and Katrina. Tell your family, friends and community these stats and SBP’s solutions. Use Facebook, Twitter, blog, email, newspaper and other outlets and ask them to do 5 for 5.

5. Donate directly to SBP or via text by sending NOLA to 50555 – The texting  only works in the US. Tell all your American friends about this great opportunity to send $5 to NOLA. Otherwise, send a US money order or you can paypal/email transfer me the money and I will take it over to them. Don’t let a border be an excuse!!

**

It’s easy to forget, when you’re not here, just how much devastation occured, and continues. So we’ll end with a few photos…of loss and of hope…

Picture your school gymnasium. Ceilings of at least 20 ft. This is how high the water reached at a school (now Camp Hope for volunteers) on Aycock Street in Arabi, St. Bernard Parish, May 2010.

Inside the townhouses on Florida…social housing…neglected and mostly torn down (July 2010).

A stuffed animal in the mailbox of a house in Gentilly, July 2010.

Not quite straight, in the Lower Ninth Ward, May 2009.

My partner Michael building a home for seniors on Serpas St. (Oct 2009) with the St. Bernard Project.

The “boys” of CINT 912 – May 2009 – rebuilding with Common Ground in the Lower Ninth ward.

A Welcome Home party with the St. Bernard Project, May 2010.

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