Oil Spill Laps Shores During Chevron-Sponsored French Quarter Festival

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On April 12, an oil spill in the Mississippi River brought noxious fumes to music lovers at theย New Orleansย French Quarter Festival. The U.S. Coast Guard estimatesย 4,200 gallons of *heavy fuel oil spilled when a cargo ship hit the Nashvilleย Wharf.ย 


Oil on the banks of the Mississippiย River.


Oil trapped in rocks along the Mississippi Riverโ€™s edge.

Traffic on theย river wasย stoppedย whileย the Coast Guard and the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinatorโ€™s Office (LOSCO) started to cleanย the spill. Clean up efforts continued thisย morning.ย 

The Coast Guardโ€™s release said the spill was plugged a few hours afterย the Singapore-flagged โ€œPac Antaresโ€ hit the pier Thursday morning.

I photographed the spill at the end of the day when thick oil was lapping up on rocks lining the riverโ€™s edge. The fumes were strong enough to give me a headache andย aย scratchyย throat.


Cleanup crew working on an oil spill in the Mississippi River without protective gear.

For the most part, the spill didnโ€™tย seem to be impacting visitors I spoke to.ย Many wereย taking pictures of the oil at the riverโ€™sย edge.

Local artist Clay Mazing picked up a stick and wrote, โ€œBroughtย to you by Chevronโ€ in oilย on the steps leading to the river near one of theย French Quarterย Festivalย stages.


Clay Mazing, a performing artist based in New Orleans, draws in oil on theย steps.

Chevron isย the French Quarter Festivalโ€™s majorย sponsor.

โ€œAll ofย New Orleansโ€™ย majorย artsย festivals are underwritten by oil companies these days,โ€ he said.

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is sponsored by Shell andย local museums also receive generous support from oil and gas companies. ย The Contemporary Arts Center New Orleansย even has a curator from an oil company,ย Andrea Andersson, The Helis Foundation Chief Curator of Visualย Arts.ย 


Woman who enjoyed the festival despite the spill. The work she does is funded by money from the BP oilย spill.


Girl near one of the French Quarter Festival stages where oil from the spill washedย up.

Greg Langley, a spokesperson for The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, said the fumes were not strong enough to be a human health concern. In an email the day after theย spill, he wrote that the LDEQ is โ€œproviding support through air monitoring which has not shown anything above an action level, only some low levelย odors.โ€


Oil stuck in boom near a boat on the river in the Frenchย Quarter.


Girls on a trip from Wisconsin checking out the oil spill from the recently renovated riverfront in the Frenchย Quarter.

Kids playedย by the Mississippi Riverโ€™s edge despite the oilย spill.

ย 
Thick globs of oil washed up in New Orleansโ€™ Frenchย Quarter.


Oil coated boom in the Mississippi River during the French Quarterย Festival.

Update 4/17/2018: The U.S. Coast Guard first said the leaked oil was diesel fuel but later updated their information to say that it was heavy fuelย oil.ย 

Main image: Plastic cup from the French Quarter Festival on the bank of the Mississippi River next to oil trapped in containmentย boom.

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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