An analysis of Hurricane Ida pollution reports

1. 7/29/2022 1
Naomi Yoder, Staff Scientist
Sheehan Moore, Science Specialist Intern
Healthy Gulf
Murky Waters: Pollution
Following Hurricane Ida
With a Focus on Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Pollution
Executive Summary https://healthygulf.org/IdaSummary
Full Report https://healthygulf.org/IdaReport

2. 7/29/2022 2
Hurricane Ida Pollution
1. Problem & Methods
2. Key Findings
3. Recommendations & Discussion

3. 7/29/2022 3
EPA (n = 20)
Problem & Methods
● What was spilled or released into the
environment as pollution? How much
of each was released?
● Obstacles: Poor recordkeeping and
data stewardship by industry and
government
● Methods: Manually organizing and
evaluating 2,230 reports from 3
different agencies (LDEQ, LOSCO, EPA)
LDEQ (n = 254)
LOSCO (n = 1,956)

4. 7/29/2022 4
Sheens streaming through flooded fields, Plaquemines Parish. Myrtle Grove Marina on the right.
Image: Healthy Gulf c/o SouthWings 09/04/2021
Key Findings
We know there were high levels of air and
water pollution, and we know some
significant details, but we don’t know the
full extent in terms of
substances released, amounts, locations
1. Maps of results
2. Results in numbers and graphs

5. 25 Parishes
included in
emergency
declaration
2,230 total
incidents
2,150
geolocated
incidents
440
incidents
with
pollutant
specified

6. Summary of Known
Substances
• Table divided into those with known amounts, those
without
• Some oil slicks were reported by area. Sheens were
reported separately in this table, but are likely often oil
Notes:
“Unspecified” means that some information was given
indicating likely pollution (such as a capsized vessel), but
no substance or amount was specified
“Compressed Liquified” gas refers to liquid hydrocarbon
gas (e.g., isobutane, propane, propylene)

7. Results by
Category
Amount
Amount
Unit
Incidents with
Amount
Incidents Total
by Category
Total gases: 1,614,076 pounds 28 46
Total liquids: 229,663 gallons 99 232
Total area
(sheens, oil):
65,081,344 m2 22 96
730 tons
5,468 barrels
25 sq miles
Final volumes and areas for incidents with known substances and amounts
(n = 149; “Contaminated water” not used).
25 square miles 🡪 same as the amount of land Louisiana loses every year.

8. 7/29/2022 8
Recommendations
Tell people what’s in their air
and water, especially in
climate and environmental
injustice communities
Provide pollution data to the
public in accesible formats
Oil sheen offshore platform, SE of Head of Passes
09/09/2021
Source: Healthy Gulf
Climate injustice – the burdens of climate change disproportionately fall on people of color and those with lower income
Environmental injustice – pollution and waste disproportionately impact people of color and those with lower income

9. Recommendations
DISASTER JUSTICE
GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY
INDUSTRY ACCOUNTABILITY
DATA ACCESS
• Seamlessly fund evacuation, recovery/rebuild, and
relocation
• Vastly improve pollution detection and notification
systems, plus mitigation measures
• Require independent, regular/continuous
monitoring
• Make results readily available to the public
• Industry must remedy a problem before
continuing operations or receiving a permit
• Retrofitting facilities with “storm-proof” tech
• Air pollution prevention
• Centralized, publicly accessible database tracking
pollution events for air and water
• Including response, containment/clean-up,
responsible parties, monitoring, extent

10. Discussion
• What pollution information would you want after the hurricane?
• What does “data access” mean to you? Why is data access important? Do data and data access
change your experience in your community?
• Experiences with pollution after hurricanes - either Ida or other storms? What did you see/smell/hear
about?
Photo: Shell Norco Refinery releasing flares with thick black smoke
Image: Healthy Gulf c/o SouthWings 09/04/2021

11. Access the Report
• Access the report and Executive Summary:
https://healthygulf.org/IdaReport
https://healthygulf.org/IdaSummary
• See all of Healthy Gulf’s monitoring
photographs at:
https://flickr.com/photos/healthygulf/
(search for albums with “Ida” in the title)
Offshore platform sheen, 09/09/2021
Source: Healthy Gulf

12. 7/29/2022 12
Thank you!
Oil spill in the marshes, Jefferson Parish 09/09/2021
Source: Healthy Gulf
Naomi Yoder
naomi@healthygulf.org
504-525-1528, x213
Sheehan Moore
sheehan@healthygulf.org