BP Complaints

NEW ORLEANS (Sept. 28, 2010) Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator, returns to the Gulf Coast on September 29th and 30th for her tenth trip since the BP/Deepwater Horizon incident.

Dr. Lubchenco will join volunteers at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge in Lacombe, La., to help replant coastal marsh and commemorate the ten-year partnership of NOAA’s Community-Based Restoration Program, Restore America’s Estuaries and the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. (Open Press: Interested media should meet at the boat launch at 9 a.m. CDT. Please e-mail nsnider@crcl.org for directions).

Earlier in the day, Dr. Lubchenco is scheduled to visit the NOAA National Weather Service office and River Forecast Center in Slidell, La.

During the afternoon, Dr. Lubchenco will be on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La., to meet with deans and faculty.

On Thursday, Dr. Lubchenco will deliver the keynote address at the fall meeting of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources in New Orleans. (Open Press; Anne Nicholas, ABA, 202-662-1090).

Contact: Justin Kenney, NOAA Communications & External Affairs: 202-821-6310; justin.kenney@noaa.gov

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WHO:  Coast Guard Cutter Venturous is a 210-foot Reliance class cutter, homeported in St. Petersburg. It has a crew of 85 officers and enlisted personnel.  Crew members will be available for interview.

WHAT:  The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Venturous is scheduled to return from their patrol following a 49-day deployment to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and Caribbean Sea.

WHEN:  9:15 a.m. EST, Wednesday, August 18, 2010.  Media interested in attending the Venturous return are requested to arrive no later than 9 a.m.

WHERE:  Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg’s South Moorings, 1310 Beach Drive S.E., St. Petersburg, Fla.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Venturous is scheduled to return from their patrol Wednesday at 9:15 a.m., following a 49-day deployment to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and the Caribbean Sea.

After arriving off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., the Venturous crew assumed on-scene command and control for vessels responding to the spill. Crewmembers developed a communications and operations framework that will help to sustain continued oil spill response efforts in the future.

“The crew has exceeded expectations on this patrol and we’re pleased to have played an active role in preventing additional oil from reaching gulf coast beaches,” said Cmdr. Ted St. Pierre, commanding officer for the Venturous.

Once the Deepwater Horizon well site was capped and Coast Guard Cutter Decisive took over the command and control duties, Venturous crewmembers continued their patrol off the coast of Haiti in support of Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations.

Coast Guard Cutter Venturous is a 210-foot Reliance class cutter, homeported in St. Petersburg. It has a crew of 85 officers and enlisted personnel. Typical missions include counter-drug operations, alien migrant interdiction, search and rescue and fisheries enforcement.

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