[StBernard] In It For The Long Haul

[Westley Annis]

Dear Friends -

Recent news that efforts to stop the flow of oil in the Gulf have stalled
has reinforced the fact that we cannot wait for BP to simply stop the leak.
We have always prepared for the worst-case scenario. Indeed, just like when
a hurricane threatens our coast, we need to prepare for the worst and hope
for the best.  Let there be no doubt, we will pursue every strategy to
protect our coast and we will not rest until the leak has been shut off, the
oil has been cleaned up, and our wildlife and fisheries are healthy again.
We know this is a marathon, not a sprint, and we are in this fight - to
protect the Louisiana way of life - for the long haul.

While we're certainly disappointed that the leak has not been stopped, we
continue to push for every means possible to protect our coast. Over the
past week, I traveled to coastal parishes calling on the Coast Guard and BP
to deploy more boom to parishes in the line of fire of this oil spill. As
WDSU
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c014%7c9390&digest
=rqOOVpCmsArCiSl65QCiXw>  reported, we have demanded more boom to protect
our coastline. However, we are not simply waiting for boom to arrive.
Instead, we're pushing to use innovative techniques that will help save our
coasts and our fisheries. 

For instance, we proposed dredging soil to build sand booms along
Louisiana's historic barrier islands. This will not only mitigate the impact
of the spill, but dredging will also help restore our fragile coastline. As
the Washington Post
<http://click.bsftransmit1.com/ClickThru.aspx?pubids=393%7c025%7c9390&digest
=Y4WfmNmnpuiW3l%2bmzsKwFg>  reported, these plans have been submitted to
federal officials and we expect their quick approval. The Louisiana National
Guard also has 1,100 Guardsmen deployed across our coast working to protect
the shoreline by filling in gaps in the water at both Elmer's Island in
Grand Isle as well as Thunder Bayou in Port Fourchon. 

The National Guard is also assembling and laying down a Tiger Dam - a
water-filled bladder to help stop oil contamination - at Southwest Pass to
help protect seven miles of coastline. We also worked with the National
Guard to identify around 40 locations across our barrier islands where gaps
in the waterways could be filled. Additionally, we presented a request to
use Hesco baskets to protect our coast from oil. The state is also running
diversions that flush freshwater into wetlands in order to prevent oil from
getting into Louisiana's coastal wetlands.

This past week, I also visited the oiled wildlife recovery center at Fort
Jackson in Buras. Wildlife experts from all over the country have come to
Louisiana to help save any birds that may be impacted by the oil spill. I
had the opportunity to see one of the Brown Pelicans they have cleaned and
rehabilitated. The Brown Pelican is especially important to Louisiana
because it's our state bird and has made a comeback in recent years since
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and is no longer on the Endangered Species List.
The important work of the folks at the wildlife rehab center will help keep
Louisiana as Sportsman's Paradise. 

We will continue to lean forward and do everything that we can to protect
our coast from this oil spill. This spill has the potential to have a
generational impact on our state and we will not sit and wait while our
shoreline is threatened. That's why we're doing everything in our power to
protect our beautiful state. 

Sincerely,

Governor Bobby Jindal