Boom, trawlers deployed in St. Bernard Parish to combat oil spill

By Bob Warren, The Times-Picayune
May 21, 2010, 4:28PM St. Bernard Parish officials on Friday announced a two-pronged effort to combat the potential spread of oil into parish marshes. A BP subcontractor on Wednesday began driving two parallel rows of 60-foot, 8-inch pilings some 500 feet apart off the coast, according to a parish news release. Once the pilings are driven and stable, boom will be connected to them, the release said. The pilings with the boom are being put into place starting at the northeast corner of St. Bernard Parish marshes and will extend down the eastern shores of St. Bernard. Three to four miles of the project are complete, one to two miles out into Breton Sound, the parish said. Three jack-up barges are stationed in the area to supply pilings and boom. The parish has also deployed seven shrimp boats to begin trawling for anything submerged and not evident at the surface, such as tar balls, the release said. The boats have been deployed along the eastern portion of St. Bernard waters between the marshes and the Chandeleur Islands. The release said Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Department officials are concerned these activities could give the appearance that shrimping operations have opened in previously closed fishing areas. Parish and state officials want to make it clear there is no shrimping taking place in closed waters.