Developing Contingency Planning Tools to Address Wetland Loss, Ageing Infrastructure, and Oil Spill Risk in Louisiana

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is working in partnership with the State of Louisiana to focus on the oil pollution threat resulting from coastal land loss. With land loss, oil production and transportation infrastructure in coastal Louisiana is at increasing risk of damage from natural hazards and human activities. In response, a demonstration project was developed for contingency planning that assesses these concerns. The project identifies structures at risk, ranks them according to weighted considerations, and provides a trajectory analysis for released oil should an incident occur.