Results of sampling performed by the Lower Mississippi River Keeper in St. Bernard Parish on October 26, 2010
by Wilma Subra
Subra Company
Paul Orr
Lower Mississippi River Keeper
Michael Orr
Louisiana Environmental Action Network
Tissue samples were collected from a cove, 1.4 miles from the southern end of a “spoil canal†south of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO). The sample of oysters contained 84 mg/kg of Petroleum Hydrocarbons and 2 Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) (3.6 ug/kg). The redfish sample contained 84 mg/kg Petroleum Hydrocarbons.
Michael and Paul processing oyster samples
A blue crab sample from the northeast side of Lake Machias in a shallow pond south of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) contained 147 mg/kg Petroleum Hydrocarbons and 3 PAHs (84.6 ug/kg).
Shrimp sample ready for the lab
Shrimp and oyster tissue samples collected from the East side of Lake Fortuna just off a small island in Pass Fernandez contained 96 mg/kg Petroleum Hydrocarbons and 5 PAHs (69.4 ug/kg) in the shrimp sample and 108 mg/kg Petroleum Hydrocarbons in the oyster sample.
View all of our LMRK BP spill field photos here.