Coast Guard approves protective sand barrier
By JOHN COLLINS RUDOLF
May 27, 2010, 2:57 pm Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard on Thursday approved part of a plan by Louisiana officials to repel oil from the BP spill by building a barrier of dredged sand along islands off the state’s southeast coast. The decision allows Louisiana to immediately begin construction of barriers directly to the east and west of the Mississippi River. There, oil is already swamping the coast. Roughly half of an 86-mile barrier originally proposed by the state was approved, with construction authorized under an emergency permit granted by the Army Corps of Engineers. “These areas have been identified as critical locations where greater immediate benefit is likely to be achieved with minimal adverse disruption of coastal circulation patterns,” Col. Al Lee, commander of the New Orleans District of the Army Corps of Engineers, said in a statement. Approval by Admiral Allen also integrates the construction of the barriers with the overall federal response to the spill – clearing the way for the cost of the project to be ultimately borne by BP. The entire plan was originally estimated to cost as much as $350 million. …
