Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Methods and Cases

C. Lake Barre/Texaco
Site: The site is Lake Barre, Louisiana, part of the Barataria – Terrebonne estuary system
on the Gulf Coast, south and slightly west of New Orleans. The lake averages a depth of about
two meters and consists mostly of salt marsh. Many species of plants and animals inhabit the
lake and the adjacent marshes, including several listed as endangered or threatened, such as the
bald eagle. The area is an important site for both commercial and recreational fishing, hunting
and trapping, and of wildlife viewing and other forms of tourism.
Release: A sixteen-inch crude oil pipeline operated by Texaco Pipeline, Inc. ruptured in
Lake Barre and dispersed oil over the surface of the lake and onto the surrounding marshland.
An estimated 4,165 acres of vegetated marsh were lightly oiled, and 162 acres of vegetated
marsh were heavily oiled.
Injury: Crude oil dispersed over the surface of the lake and onto the surrounding
marshland. In small areas of the affected marsh acreage, oil collected in “streamers”, resulting in
the death of all above ground biomass. Across most of the affected marshland the damage was
less dramatic. Two oiled birds were found dead, along with some brown shrimp. Other oiled
birds were observed alive. Small numbers of dead fish, brown shrimp, and blue craps were
recovered in the cleanup process.
Commercial oyster harvesting in Lake Barre was halted for 74 days. The cleanup
operations prevented recreational access to the affected area for a few days. The oil caused
increased stress to plants, which lowered their productivity and resulted in a partial loss of the
services provided by the marsh land.
Attachment of Liability: NRDs are permitted under OPA because there was a nonexempt
“discharge” of oil on the navigable waters or adjoining shorelines of the United States
covered by OPA.
Trustees:
• The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration
• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Several agencies of the State of Louisiana
Potentially Responsible Parties: Texaco Pipeline, Inc., the entity responsible for the
discharge.
Damages: Pursuant to OPA, Texaco was invited to join in the damage assessment
process and participated throughout.
To calculate the amount of marsh restoration that would compensate the public for the
damage caused by the spill, the trustees and Texaco each calculated the amount of aquatic animal
and bird life destroyed, and translated the total loss of life into an equivalent in marsh acre-years.
The trustees and Texaco cooperated to calculate the amount of marsh acreage affected by the oil,
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