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Expected movement of offshore debris

Q. What would happen to hazardous materials such as drums and fuel tanks that might 
have washed into the Mississippi Sound and the Gulf of Mexico from Hurricane Katrina?  
Would this material return to the beaches of Alabama and Mississippi, or would it go out 
to sea?  If it were to go out to sea, what air and land monitoring program would have to 
be established that would identify newly grounded hazardous materials on Alabama and 
Mississippi beaches?

A. One prompt for this question was the sighting on 9 September of large debris mats 
some 30 miles off the Alabama/ Mississippi state line at 29-13.74 and 087-46.858 near 
the Patronus Platform.  Aircraft dispatched to this area by the Coast Guard on 9 
September and by NOAA on 10 September did not find these reported debris mats.

OR&R trajectory modeling staff researched wind conditions following Hurricane Katrina 
from the few available wind monitoring sources. Based on the observed winds, any debris 
released into the nearshore area during hurricane Katrina would have been brought back 
onshore within days.

In other words, if Hurricane Katrina had caused the release of hazardous materials into 
the Mississippi Sound, this material would already have returned to the beaches and 
marshes of Mississippi and Alabama within a few days.  

The source of the unconfirmed sighting of debris mats 30 miles from the coast is 
unknown. The winds since the incident have had a net moderate movement to the north.  We 
expect debris found offshore of Alabama and Mississippi would not have come from very 
far away.

Conclusion: Establishment of routine monitoring by air or by land for Gulf Island 
Beaches or the Mississippi / Alabama shoreline to identify “new” hazardous materials 
that has recently washed ashore would not be required.

PUBLIC NOTICE – Anyone discovering unknown debris on a beach should stay clear of drums 
or other potentially hazardous materials, and should notify local public officials.