[StBernard] White House approval on berm plan means St. Bernard will have 20 miles of berms on the northen end of the Chandeleur Islands

[Westley Annis]

White House OKs five more oil-absorbing sand berms to fight the oil spill

St. Bernard President Craig Taffaro said approval will fund 20 miles of
berms in St. Bernard on the northern end of the Chandeleur Islands 

 

Governor Bobby Jindal said Wednesday the White House approved a longstanding
request to force BP to pay for another five sand barriers designed to
protect the Louisiana coastline from oil. Last week, BP was told to pay for
only one of 24 segments of Jindal's comprehensive plan. 

St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr. said Wednesday evening he
was grateful because this latest development means that 20 miles of berms
will be built in St. Bernard on the northern end of the Chandeleur Islands
to help protect his parish's fragile coastline of marshes and waterways.

The governor has been pleading with authorities for weeks to approve a
comprehensive barrier-island plan he said is the state's best hope at
protecting Louisiana's marshlands and beaches. On Tuesday, Gov. Jindal and
several local officials, including area parish presidents, met with federal
officials, including Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident
commander, to complain the entire berm plan should be approved and BP should
have to pay for all of it. At that meeting, Allen promised he would make a
recommendation to President Barack Obama sometime Wednesday. 

"We are certainly pleased that Admiral Allen and the president have
supported this plan," said President Taffaro who also attended the Tuesday
meeting with Jindal and Allen. "The leadership and creative measures
introduced by Governor Jindal and President Nungesser are supported
throughout the coastal region. We look forward to this decision being
sustained by a continuous level of assets to fight this crisis adequately."

Weeks ago he requested approval to build 24 segments of sand-boom that would
cover 100 miles of Louisiana's marshlands and beaches. Authorities have been
slow to approve all 24 of the requested barrier segments as different
agencies, including the Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
assess his proposal. Without the barriers, Mr. Jindal says that the "war"
against the oil will be fought in the sensitive marsh regions rather than on
islands of sand offshore that would serve as a buffer. 

###