Environment Pollution in USA on Wednesday, 05 September, 2012 at 03:25 (03:25 AM) UTC.

Description
The Coast Guard is investigating about 90 reports of oil and chemical releases associated with Hurricane Isaac, including a leak from a closed storage facility in Plaquemines Parish that killed several brown pelicans, officials said Tuesday. Separately, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries closed a stretch of coastline from Elmer's Island to Belle Pass after a tar mat appeared in the Gulf of Mexico and tar balls washed ashore. The closure affects commercial and recreational fisheries from the shore to one mile offshore. The agency and Department of Environmental Quality will determine the source of the oil, but its location has stoked concerns that it is remnants of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil leak. The Coast Guard did not address Tuesday's coastal closure, which happened hours after senior officers, including Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Robert Papp, held a press conference at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans's headquarters in Algiers. But Coast Guard officials said that in addition to causing new spills, hurricanes do stir up oil resting the seabed. "It often happens, particularly down here in the Gulf area," Papp said. Oil samples have been sent to a Coast Guard laboratory in New London, Conn., for analysis, which is expected to take a week, Lt. Lily Zepeda said. The Coast Guard is responding to "several different reports of oil," including at Myrtle Grove in Plaquemines Parish, said Rear Adm. Roy Nash, commander of the 8th Coast Guard District, whose headquarters is in New Orleans.



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