BP Complaints

Click an image to view detailed cutline information and download a high-resolution copy. U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Rob Simpson

An historic government-to-government tribal consultation was held in New Orleans Sept. 17, 2010. Initiated and hosted by Federal On-Scene Coordinator Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft, the meeting was the largest of several inter-governmental consultations between federally recognized American Indian tribes and the federal government to discuss the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill response.

Tribal leaders from as far as Oklahoma and Texas attended the meeting, and included representatives from the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma, the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, and legal counsel for United Southern and Eastern Tribes (USET). The Seminole Tribe of Florida also attended the meeting by phone.

One of the main purposes of the meeting was to continue formal consultation and dialogue with federally recognized tribes on the protection of historic properties, traditional cultural properties, and tribal lands that may be affected by the oil spill and response. A total of 25 American Indian tribes are potentially affected by the spill.

Twelve tribal leaders and representatives of six distinct tribal nations attended.

Zukunft briefed the nation tribes on the history of the spill response, and conveys his commitment to protect historic properties that may be affected by the spill and response. Historic properties include ancient archaeological sites, shipwrecks, isolated artifacts, fortifications and structures, and traditional cultural properties. The admiral also provided an overview of the federal government’s obligation and commitment to implement and uphold Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and other federal laws that protect historic properties and tribal interests. The consultation was coordinated by the National Park Service and led by the Assistant Associate Director of Cultural Resources, Dr. Dan Odess.

Continued consultation fosters greater communication between the response and the tribes. In addition to participating in response discussion making tribal monitors accompany shoreline clean-up assessment teams, beach clean-up crews, boom retrieval operations and participate in the planning and review process for Section 106.

The Sept. 17th all-day meeting commenced with a traditional tribal blessing, asking for wisdom, guidance and safe travels for all participants. Charles Coleman of the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town presented Zukunft with an award and a Thlopthlocco Tribal Town coin, and 2nd Chief Alfred Berryhill of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma presented tribal pins. Zukunft presented all tribal members with traditional admiral coins.

Since the beginning of the response, federal partners have engaged Native American tribes on issues related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. USDA hosted specific tribal calls early in the response to discuss various programs available. Tribal leaders were engaged in various agency meetings, and the White House began weekly Native American outreach calls to discuss the spill response as well as claims processes and to answer questions. DHS continues to host weekly calls with tribal leaders.

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Feature by: Margo Schwadron, Ph.D., National Parks Service Archeologist, Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act Coordinator

Gulf Coast Incident Management Team established in New Orleans
Deepwater Horizon Response leadership consolidated to reflect ongoing operations

On Monday, Sept. 20, 2010, the Unified Area Command, formed in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, will consolidate Incident Command Posts in Houma, La., and Mobile, Ala., into a Gulf Coast Incident Management Team located in New Orleans.

The planned reorganization of the command structure has been designed to more efficiently support the needs of the day-to-day operation of the ongoing response while not impacting the frontline responders cleaning shoreline, sampling Gulf waters, and responding to any recoverable oil found.

“The Incident Command Posts located across the Gulf region during the emergency phase of this response allowed our on-scene commanders to make critical decisions to protect sensitive coastal areas in real time as we all worked to bring the Deepwater Horizon wellhead under control,” said Federal On-Scene Coordinator Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft.

“While the risk posed by the wellhead has ended, we still have 25 thousand workers conducting clean up operations along 600 miles of shoreline and this consolidation of our command structure allows us to more efficiently support those operations while allowing federal agencies to redeploy hundreds of personnel where they are most needed.”

The consolidation plan was approved by the Zukunft in consultation with Gulf state governors, and state and local officials based on feedback provided by incident commanders on the status of response activities. Response liaisons will remain in place to ensure ongoing two-way communication between state and local officials with IMT staff in New Orleans.

At the height of the response, as many as 47,848 responders, 8,044 vessels and 123 aircraft were deployed to the Gulf to spot, track and recover oil. As the response transitions from the emergency to recovery phase, the focus of operations has shifted to the beaches, marshes, wetlands and other sensitive coastal areas for cleanup and equipment removal while scientists continue to monitor the water for the presence of remaining oil.

“This consolidation reflects a right-sizing of command personnel but in no way diminishes our commitment to the people of the Gulf region in the wake of this unprecedented event,” said Zukunft. “The federal government will remain as long as it takes to ensure all recoverable oil has been removed from the Gulf, seafood coming out of the Gulf is safe to eat, and beaches along the Gulf coast are open for business.”

For more information on the ongoing Deepwater Horizon response, visit http://www.RestoreTheGulf.gov.

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Gulf Coast Incident Management Team established in New Orleans
Deepwater Horizon Response leadership consolidated to reflect ongoing operations

On Monday, Sept. 20, 2010, the Unified Area Command, formed in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, will consolidate Incident Command Posts in Houma, La., and Mobile, Ala., into a Gulf Coast Incident Management Team located in New Orleans.

The planned reorganization of the command structure has been designed to more efficiently support the needs of the day-to-day operation of the ongoing response while not impacting the frontline responders cleaning shoreline, sampling Gulf waters, and responding to any recoverable oil found.

“The Incident Command Posts located across the Gulf region during the emergency phase of this response allowed our on-scene commanders to make critical decisions to protect sensitive coastal areas in real time as we all worked to bring the Deepwater Horizon wellhead under control,” said Federal On-Scene Coordinator Coast Guard Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft.

“While the risk posed by the wellhead has ended, we still have 25 thousand workers conducting clean up operations along 600 miles of shoreline and this consolidation of our command structure allows us to more efficiently support those operations while allowing federal agencies to redeploy hundreds of personnel where they are most needed.”

The consolidation plan was approved by the Zukunft in consultation with Gulf state governors, and state and local officials based on feedback provided by incident commanders on the status of response activities. Response liaisons will remain in place to ensure ongoing two-way communication between state and local officials with IMT staff in New Orleans.

At the height of the response, as many as 47,848 responders, 8,044 vessels and 123 aircraft were deployed to the Gulf to spot, track and recover oil. As the response transitions from the emergency to recovery phase, the focus of operations has shifted to the beaches, marshes, wetlands and other sensitive coastal areas for cleanup and equipment removal while scientists continue to monitor the water for the presence of remaining oil.

“This consolidation reflects a right-sizing of command personnel but in no way diminishes our commitment to the people of the Gulf region in the wake of this unprecedented event,” said Zukunft. “The federal government will remain as long as it takes to ensure all recoverable oil has been removed from the Gulf, seafood coming out of the Gulf is safe to eat, and beaches along the Gulf coast are open for business.”

For more information on the ongoing Deepwater Horizon response, visit http://www.RestoreTheGulf.gov.

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