Volume 28 · Number 1 · Fall 2010
Oil Spill Rx: Alumni in the gulf
Yvonne Addassi, Michael Anderson, Vicki Lake and Angie Montalvo
At least a dozen alumni — leading experts with the California Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response — have also been assisting in the Gulf of Mexico.
Their duties have included assessing shoreline impacts, conducting public outreach and evaluating new oil spill cleanup strategies.
Here are some field notes from four of those alumni:
Yvonne Addassi ’86, M.S. ’97
Occupation: senior environmental scientist
Gulf duties: deployed to Houma, La., to evaluate new ideas and technologies from private companies and the public for oil spill cleanup during June 1– 22 and July 17– August 9.
Miracles welcome: “When I first arrived, the rental car shuttle driver told me her mother-in-law was a professor at the university and was going to be on Channel 10 that night with a bioremediant that has been proven to remove 90 percent of the contaminant within 24 hours. I smiled and told her that would be miraculous and she smiled back. I wished her luck and knew that it was just the start of many, many calls and meetings I would have with vendors. … Maybe one of these times, we will find the diamond in the rough, the needle in the haystack, the silver bullet. That would be welcome indeed.”
Other alum responders
Answering community concerns: “[A Plaquemne Parish] meeting was held in the local high school and about 200 people attended. In addition to the [spill response] booths there were also a number of social services tables, assistance with house and car payments, since many are out of work. … Later in the evening, I had a woman come and speak with me for some time about spill response and, finally as we were getting ready to shut down, she said, ‘My little boy was crying this morning, saying, “Momma, I’m never gonna be able to fish again.”’ I assured her, in fact promised her, her son would be able to fish again.”
Hope for marshes: “The whole marsh cleanup issue is a really passionate one...I have spent a fair amount of time trying to explain that marshes recover from oil as long as you don’t mess with the roots and rhizomes, but it is a tough pill to swallow, especially when the source [was] not controlled.
An airboat driver tries to get a better cell phone signal. (photo: Vicki Lake/California Office of Spill Prevention and Response )
Michael Anderson, Ph.D. ’95
Occupation: senior toxicologist
Gulf duties: deployed to Houma, LA, for shoreline assessment planning during July 6–18.
Views from the marsh: “I did … recon of the marsh shorelines along the west side of Lake Roccourci [a bay in Lafourche Parish]. We set out from a marina near Leeville, La., on a 31-foot bay boat (open hulled boat, with small canopy above the helm). While the weather was hot with a plus-100-degree heat index, the breeze on the water was enough to provide relief. On the positive side, we saw mostly miles and miles of unoiled marsh, with only a few areas of heavy oiling. Wildlife abounded, with a pod of dolphins, including calves, near one of our recon points. On the negative, miles and miles of boom, both oiled and unoiled, have washed up deep within the marshes following storms earlier in the month. Response is mounting an effort to remove stranded boom across the coastline.”
Vicki Lake ’89, M.S., ’92
Occupation: staff environmental scientist
Gulf duties: deployed to Venice, La., during June 16–July 1 for shoreline assessment.
Boating the bayou: “The airboat drivers provide a real sense of local character. The [spill response] teams are very fluid with people from all over the country coming and going, so there is very interesting conversation throughout the day. For instance, I learned that raccoon tastes pretty good, as long as the musk gland from under the arm is removed before cooking. The airboat drivers are very skilled in navigating the waterways … There are lots of things to look out for because the water is so shallow. They also know when it’s time to make a run for it — given that there are not many trees in the marsh if a lightning storm strikes the tallest structure around tends to be the airboat … It’s quite an experience to be here, from the at-times deafening sound of cicadas and rolling thunder to the abounding greenery and water all around this flat country.”
Angie Montalvo ’94
Occupation: staff environmental scientist
Gulf duties: deployed to Houma, LA, during July 14–29 and Aug 30–Sept 10 for shoreline assessment.
Marsh islands: “I had a wonderful time on the M/V Mary [a 60-foot converted shrimp boat], assessing the Biloxi Marsh and State Wildlife Management Area Wildlife Area — [a Louisiana state park east of New Orleans] with a series of islands varying in size, [some as small as] approximately 250 feet by 150 feet … Many of the islands have been reduced in size due to storm events and our GPS would map us on land most of the time while [we boated] from island to island.
Teeming wildlife: The birding was excellent with many of the islands being listed as nesting colonies with avian nesting survey work being conducted. We were very careful to avoid these areas and assessed visually from a distance off the shoreline or in most cases the boom line. I was able to add several birds to my life list/bird list that included the tri-colored heron, anhinga, roseate spoonbill, wood stork, magnificent frigatebird, white ibis, white-faced ibis, laughing gull, Forster's tern, black skimmer, royal and Caspian terns. We also had several pods of dolphins riding along side the bow of the Mary throughout the trip.
A speck on the water: We used 14-foot skiffs to access the islands and salt marshes. This was very interesting because of the 3- to 4-foot waves and wind, mixed with curious dolphins that would pop-up along side the skiffs. It was great being that close to them. It was like being a tiny speck moving around this huge body of water… We found debris from the Deep Water Horizon on the shoreline of an island nearest the source and later located a dead, oiled brown pelican at another site.