Extent of oil spills from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is still being assessed ~Deepwater Horizon oil plume more than twice all natural seeps in the northern Gulf of Mexico~Mark Schleifstein
~BPGlobalPR Reports of 79% of the oil remaining in the Gulf are false according to the pie chart we made ourselves. http://ow.ly/2s889

Highs and lows of flood protection challenges for regional levee commissioners~Sheila Grissett
~Departing regional levee commissioner and engineer Stradford Goins, who has decided not to seek another term, left his colleagues with a request that they take a much closer look at some of the design and construction decisions the corps has made. Goins said he's particularly concerned about assumptions the corps and its contractors used in the computer modeling that is directly informing design of the new system. "If the models are right, we'll have a system that will protect us from a storm," Goins said on his way out. "But if the models are wrong, we'll have a system that won't protect us from a storm." Goins said he doesn't think that sufficient criteria were input into the models, which he said means the program didn't account for all the meteorological events that could influence how sufficient protection from a 100-year storm surge should be designed. "You need to thoroughly examine that model," he advised.
~Please also see~Mississippi River levees need work to defend against 100-year storm surge

Gulf Oil Plume Is Not Breaking Down Fast, Research Says~Justin Gillis

Feds Investigate Transocean's Possible Ties to Burmese Drug Clan
~Mac McClellan, Mother Jones

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