[StBernard] Vitter fights to increase Louisiana Boom quantities

Westley Annis Westley at da-parish.com
Fri May 7 23:19:18 EDT 2010


Dear Friend,



Today I sent a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen calling for an
immediate increase in oil containment barriers, known as boom, along
Louisiana's coast.



According to the latest Coast Guard figures available, and based on rough
estimates, one mile of boom has been deployed to Louisiana for every 13.4
miles of coastline within 200 miles of the ongoing oil discharge. This
1/13.4 ratio compares to 1/1.32 for Mississippi and 1/1.76 for Alabama.
Like Louisiana, Florida has a similarly low ratio.



Because this calculation only accounts for coastline within 200 miles of the
spill site, it does not include Louisiana's entire coast. It does, however,
include the entire coastlines of Mississippi and Alabama, so the calculation
is plainly very fair and conservative



I specifically asked Commandant Allen to look into this disparity and
quickly correct it.



Of course, a big part of the solution is procuring much more boom overall.
Already, lack of available boom is slowing efforts in St Bernard Parish,
which I visited this morning. With significantly more available and with
Louisiana's coast being the closest to the spill site, I am working to
direct as much boom as possible to protect our coastline.



If you're a Louisiana constituent affected by this spill and have concerns
that BP is not committing enough resources or providing access to the claims
program or the Vessel of Opportunity program, please call our hotline at
1-866-345-0931. If you do not receive an answer at that number, please call
my Metairie office's direct line at 504-589-2753.

Sincerely,
David Vitter
U.S. Senator





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