St. Bernard Parish president asks people to contact Congress to push for barrier islands plan

[Ed Barrow]

Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune

St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro, Jr. is asking people to lobby their federal representatives to push for quick approval of the barrier islands plan Gov. Bobby Jindal and some coastal elected officials say will help protect the state's wetlands from the oil gushing from a damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico.

"If anybody has friends or relatives outside of Louisiana tell them to call their delegates to push for the approval of the barrier island plan," Taffaro said during a radio interview today, according to a St. Bernard Parish news release.

Under the plan pushed by Jindal and others, dredges would create nearly 90 miles of sand barriers along stretches of the state's coast. The state applied for the necessary federal environmental permits for the work more than two weeks ago and is also pushing the Coast Guard to require BP to pick up the estimated $350 million cost as part of the company's cleanup plan.

Jindal and other local officials say the oil would be easier to clean off sand barriers rather than the fragile marshes. Oil has washed up on several shorelines across the state, including the Chandeleur Islands, Grand Isle and in some marshes in the Pass a Loutre Wildlife Management Area in Plaquemines Parish. Jindal and others have complained that it's taking the Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard too long to decide the plan's fate. Earlier today the Jefferson Parish Council endorsed the barrier islands plan.

Read more: http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/05/st_bernard_parish_president_as.html

[WileEcoyote]

1. "We don't want no socialized Guvamint clean up"

That there free enterprise self regulating capitalist system is all we need. Yup.

God bless Bobby Jindal for his steadfast opposition to Guvamint intrusions.

[Submariner]

2. One good hurricane would wipe out man-made barrier islands

What a budget buster that boondoggle would be.

[Mojorabbit]

3. It is worth a try though

If it even works for a third of those miles it would be priceless to save the area.

[Jennicut]

4. The govt. already approved some sand-berms to be built. However,

the army corps of engineers warned that some sand-berms could divert the oil to Mississippi. And Jindal's plans for the sand berms changed a few times, making the job of studying the impact of the sand berms for army corps of engineers harder. Jindal is such a tool.