Ike's toll on ecosystem apparent

Crude oil, gas pollute marshes, bays in La., Texas

The Coast Guard, EPA, and state agencies have responded to more than 3,000 pollution reports associated with Ike. An inspector surveyed a vessel in Port Arthur last week. (William Mitchell/Associated Press via US Coast Guard)

WASHINGTON - Hurricane Ike's winds and massive waves destroyed oil platforms, tossed storage tanks, and punctured pipelines. The environmental damage only now is becoming apparent.

At least a half million gallons of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and the marshes, bayous, and bays of Louisiana and Texas, according to an analysis of federal data by the Associated Press.

In the days before and after the deadly storm, companies and residents reported at least 448 releases of oil, gasoline, and dozens of other substances into the air and water and onto the ground in Louisiana and Texas. The hardest hit places were industrial centers near Houston and Port Arthur, Texas, as well as oil production facilities off Louisiana's coast.

"We are dealing with a multitude of different types of pollution here . . . everything from diesel in the water to gasoline to things like household chemicals," said Larry Chambers, a petty officer with the Coast Guard Command Center in Pasadena, Texas.

The Coast Guard, with the Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies, has responded to more than 3,000 pollution reports associated with the storm and its surge along the upper Texas coast. Most callers complain about abandoned propane tanks, paint cans, and other hazardous materials containers turning up in marshes, backyards, and other places.

No major oil spills or hazardous materials releases have been identified, but nearly 1,500 sites still need to be cleaned up.

The Coast Guard's National Response Center in Washington collects information on oil spills and chemical and biological releases and passes it to agencies working on the ground. The AP analyzed all reports received by the center from Sept. 11 through Sept. 18 for Louisiana and Texas.

With the storm approaching, refineries and chemical plants shut down as a precaution, burning off hundreds of thousands of pounds of organic compounds and toxic chemicals. In other cases, power failures sent chemicals such as ammonia directly into the atmosphere. Such accidental releases probably will not result in penalties by regulators because the releases are being blamed on the storm.

Governor Rick Perry of Texas also suspended all rules, including environmental ones, that would inhibit or prevent companies preparing for or responding to Ike.

Power outages also caused sewage pipes to stop flowing. Elsewhere, the storm's surge dredged up smelly and oxygen-deprived marsh mud, which killed fish and caused residents to complain of nausea and headaches from the odor.

At times, a new spill or release was reported to the Coast Guard every five minutes to 10 minutes. State and federal officials have collected thousands of abandoned drums, paint cans, and other containers.

The AP's analysis found that, by far, the most common contaminant left in Ike's wake was crude oil. In the week of reports analyzed, enough crude oil was spilled nearly to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and more could be released, officials said, as platforms and pipelines were turned back on.

The Minerals Management Service, which oversees oil production in federal waters offshore, said the storm destroyed at least 52 oil platforms of roughly 3,800 in the Gulf of Mexico. Thirty-two more were severely damaged. But there was only one confirmed report of an oil spill - a leak of 8,400 gallons that officials said left no trace because it dissipated with the winds and currents.

Air contaminants were the second-most common release, mostly from the chemical plants and refineries along the coast.

Ike's toll on wildlife is still unfolding. Only a few pelicans and osprey turned up oiled, but the storm upended nature. Winds blew more than 1,000 baby squirrels from their nests. The storm's surge pushed saltwater into freshwater marshes and bayous, killing grasses where cattle graze and displacing alligators. Flooding also stranded cows.