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Louisiana response to Gulf of Mexico oil spill obstructed by BP and federal agencies, state officials say
Published: Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 8:26 PM Updated: Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 8:57 PM
Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
Louisiana's efforts to attack oil approaching coastal wetlands have repeatedly been stymied by BP and federal officials, state officials on Wednesday told members of the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which oversees coastal restoration and levee construction projects.
Gerald Herbert/The Associated PressOil from the Gulf of Mexico spill is vacuumed from the northern shore of Barataria Bay in Plaquemines Parish on Tuesday. <!-- --><!-- -->
It was the authority's first briefing on the state's cleanup efforts since the early days of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Garret Graves, authority chairman and coastal adviser to Gov. Bobby Jindal, said the latest obstacle was a Wednesday order from Coast Guard officials to recall several barges carrying vacuum trucks that officials were using to suck oil out of the Gulf near wetlands and barrier islands.
Coast Guard officials did not respond Wednesday to requests for information about the orders halting the vacuum strategy.
The innovative idea is one of several that Graves said were brainstormed "like we thought up turducken," a reference to the Cajun delicacy consisting of a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken.
The state's attempts to rapidly deploy oil-catching strategies is being driven by increasing concern that the oil is beginning to have serious effects on wetlands. Some oiled wetland patches were clearly dead after only three days, he said.
View full sizeGerald Herbert/The Associated PressA cleanup worker vacuums oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill from the northern shore of Barataria Bay on Tuesday. <!-- --><!-- -->
Once that occurs, said Robert Twilley, a Louisiana State University biologist who also serves as science adviser to the state's Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, the first tropical storm that hits the coast will wash away the dead plants and their roots, and the soil beneath them.
"Once it tears apart, it becomes open water," Twilley said. "And once it goes to open water, getting it back to land ... it's toast."
The frustration also extends to the decision by National Incident Commander Adm. Thad Allen to approve construction of only six island berms the state hopes will capture oil before it reaches interior wetlands or natural barrier islands.
Allen's reluctant decision to approve even that 40-mile batch of sand pits -- four west of the Mississippi River's bird foot delta and two on the east side, along the Chandeleur Islands -- still leaves hundreds of miles of shoreline at risk, Graves said.
Eliot Kamenitz/The Times-PicayuneWorkers dredge and pump sand to form a berm on the north end of the Chandeleur Islands on Wednesday. <!-- --><!-- -->
Jindal flew over the northern Chandeleur Islands on Wednesday to view the dredge California, which is adding 54,000 cubic yards of sand each day to the first of the berms. When completed, in three to five months, the berms will capture oil 20 miles from the coast, away from the fragile marshland that rings the state. Even though the first six islands will be only 40 miles in length, the berms are expected to protect 2,000 to 3,000 miles of shoreline, he told reporters during the trip.
The sense of urgency caused by the threat of oil and the often-misunderstood relationship between coastal Louisiana residents and the oil industry seem to be difficult for both federal officials and environmental critics to understand, Graves said...
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Published: Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 8:26 PM Updated: Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 8:57 PM
Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune
Louisiana's efforts to attack oil approaching coastal wetlands have repeatedly been stymied by BP and federal officials, state officials on Wednesday told members of the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which oversees coastal restoration and levee construction projects.
Gerald Herbert/The Associated PressOil from the Gulf of Mexico spill is vacuumed from the northern shore of Barataria Bay in Plaquemines Parish on Tuesday. <!-- --><!-- -->It was the authority's first briefing on the state's cleanup efforts since the early days of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Garret Graves, authority chairman and coastal adviser to Gov. Bobby Jindal, said the latest obstacle was a Wednesday order from Coast Guard officials to recall several barges carrying vacuum trucks that officials were using to suck oil out of the Gulf near wetlands and barrier islands.
Coast Guard officials did not respond Wednesday to requests for information about the orders halting the vacuum strategy.
The innovative idea is one of several that Graves said were brainstormed "like we thought up turducken," a reference to the Cajun delicacy consisting of a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken.
The state's attempts to rapidly deploy oil-catching strategies is being driven by increasing concern that the oil is beginning to have serious effects on wetlands. Some oiled wetland patches were clearly dead after only three days, he said.
View full sizeGerald Herbert/The Associated PressA cleanup worker vacuums oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill from the northern shore of Barataria Bay on Tuesday. <!-- --><!-- -->Once that occurs, said Robert Twilley, a Louisiana State University biologist who also serves as science adviser to the state's Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration, the first tropical storm that hits the coast will wash away the dead plants and their roots, and the soil beneath them.
"Once it tears apart, it becomes open water," Twilley said. "And once it goes to open water, getting it back to land ... it's toast."
The frustration also extends to the decision by National Incident Commander Adm. Thad Allen to approve construction of only six island berms the state hopes will capture oil before it reaches interior wetlands or natural barrier islands.
Allen's reluctant decision to approve even that 40-mile batch of sand pits -- four west of the Mississippi River's bird foot delta and two on the east side, along the Chandeleur Islands -- still leaves hundreds of miles of shoreline at risk, Graves said.
Eliot Kamenitz/The Times-PicayuneWorkers dredge and pump sand to form a berm on the north end of the Chandeleur Islands on Wednesday. <!-- --><!-- -->Jindal flew over the northern Chandeleur Islands on Wednesday to view the dredge California, which is adding 54,000 cubic yards of sand each day to the first of the berms. When completed, in three to five months, the berms will capture oil 20 miles from the coast, away from the fragile marshland that rings the state. Even though the first six islands will be only 40 miles in length, the berms are expected to protect 2,000 to 3,000 miles of shoreline, he told reporters during the trip.
The sense of urgency caused by the threat of oil and the often-misunderstood relationship between coastal Louisiana residents and the oil industry seem to be difficult for both federal officials and environmental critics to understand, Graves said...
Full text at:
Gerald Herbert/The Associated PressA cleanup worker vacuums oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill along the north shore of Barataria Bay in Plaquemines Parish on Tuesday. <!-- --><!-- -->
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