May 1997 Lake Barre, Louisiana Oil Spill; Notice of Availability and Request for Comments on a Draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

May 1997 Lake Barre, Louisiana Oil Spill; Notice of Availability

and Request for Comments on a Draft Damage Assessment and Restoration

Plan/Environmental Assessment

AGENCIES: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),

Commerce; United States Department of

[[Page 38183]]

the Interior (DOI); Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinators Office (LOSCO);

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ); Louisiana

Department of Natural Resources (LDNR); Louisiana Department of

Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF).

ACTION: Notice of availability of a draft Damage Assessment and

Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment, and 30-day period for

public comment on the plan.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to 15 CFR 990.23 and 15 CFR 990.55(c), notice is

hereby given that a document entitled, ``Draft Damage Assessment and

Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the May 16, 1997

Texaco Pipeline Company Lake Barre Oil Spill'' (Draft DARP/EA) is

available for public review and comment. This document was prepared by

the agencies listed above (the Trustees) to address natural resource

injuries and losses of service following the May 1997 pipeline rupture

and subsequent discharge of crude oil into Lake Barre, Louisiana (the

Incident). This document presents the Trustees' assessment of the

natural resource injuries and losses of service attributable to this

Incident, and their proposed plan to restore, replace or acquire

resources or services equivalent to those lost as a basis for

compensating for the natural resource injuries and losses of service

that occurred. The Trustees will consider comments received during the

public comment period before finalizing the document. Public review of

the Draft DARP/EA is consistent with all state and federal laws and

regulations that apply to the natural resource damage assessment

process, including section 1006 of OPA, the regulations for Natural

Resource Damage Assessment under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA)

(15 CFR part 990), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 U.S.C.

4371, et seq.), and implementing regulations (40 CFR part 1500, et

seq.).

DATES: Comments must be submitted in writing on or before August 16,

1999.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the draft DARP/EA should be sent to

John Kern of NOAA, 9721 Executive Center Drive, N., Suite 114, St.

Petersburg, FL 33702 or Warren Lorentz, LOSCO, 625 N. Fourth Street,

Suite 800, Baton Rouge, LA 70802. Written comments on the plan should

be sent to either John Kern of NOAA or to Warren Lorentz of LOSCO at

the same addresses as listed above.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kern, at (727) 570-5391, email:

[email protected], or Warren Lorentz, at (225) 219-5800, email:

[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: At around 1600 hours Central Daylight

Savings time on May 16, 1997, a discharge from a 16-inch crude oil

transmission pipeline was discovered by Texaco Pipeline Inc. (hereafter

``Texaco'') in Lake Barre, Louisiana. The discharge was caused by a 34-

inch long gash in the pipeline, which had been buried five or more feet

below the sediment surface. The site of the pipeline rupture was at

29 deg. 14.8' N latitude, 90 deg. 29.3' W longitude, which is

approximately 27 miles southeast of Houma, in Terrebonne Parish. Texaco

estimated that approximately 6,561 barrels (275,562 gallons) of crude

oil were discharged as a result of the pipeline rupture into Lake

Barre. Although Texaco undertook response actions, these actions did

not prevent exposure of natural resources including marsh, shorelines,

birds, and estuarine water column organisms to the oil. A variety of

injuries and lost uses of natural resources were documented as a result

of that exposure.

The incident is subject to the authority of OPA, 33 U.S.C. 2701-

2761 (OPA), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, 33 U.S.C. 1321 et

seq. (FWPCA) and the Louisiana Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act,

LSA L.S.R. 30:2451 et seq. (OSPRA). NOAA, DOI, LOSCO, LDEQ, LDNR, and

LDWF are Trustees for natural resources pursuant to the Comprehensive

Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as

amended (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) OPA, the FWPCA, subpart G of the

National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, 40

CFR 300.600-300.615, and, in the case of the Louisiana Trustees, OSPRA

LSA L.S.R. 30:2451, and in the case of the Federal Trustees, Executive

Order 12777. As a designated Trustee, each agency is authorized to act

on behalf of the public under state and/or federal law to assess and

recover natural resource damages, and to plan and implement actions to

restore natural resources and resource services injured or lost as the

result of an incident.

Pursuant to section 1006 of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA),

designated natural resource Trustees have conducted a damage assessment

for this Incident to evaluate potential injuries to natural resources

and services, and to determine the need for and scale of restoration

actions required. The draft DARP/EA discusses the natural resources and

services believed to be affected by the Incident, details the

assessment procedures used, outlines the restoration alternative

selection and scaling process, and identifies the preferred restoration

alternative to address natural resource injuries and losses of service.

The Trustees determined that injured natural resources have largely

returned to baseline conditions, and are expected to fully return to

baseline without requiring any further actions. However, the Trustees

have determined that there have been interim losses to marsh habitat

services, birds, and aquatic fauna that require compensatory

restoration to make the environment and the public whole for these

losses. Under the preferred restoration alternative, 18.6 acres on East

Timbalier Island will be planted with marsh vegetation, and, due to the

planting design, another 39.4 acres is expected to be gained from

natural spreading from the planted area over the anticipated lifetime

of the project. The 58 total acres of marsh expected to result from

implementation of the preferred restoration alternative will be

sufficient to satisfy compensatory restoration requirements.

Interested members of the public are invited to request a copy of

the Draft DARP/EA form and to submit written comments to either John

Kern or Warren Lorentz at the addresses given above. All written

comments will be considered by NOAA, DOI, LOSCO, LDEQ, LDNR, and LDWF

in finalizing the DARP/EA.

Dated: July 6, 1999.

Captain Ted I. Lillestolen,

Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone

Management.

[FR Doc. 99-17783 Filed 7-14-99; 8:45 am]

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