Louisiana sand berms not stopping much oil from Gulf of Mexico spill

By Cain Burdeau, Associated Press
Thursday, September 09, 2010, 8:45 PM Federal environmental regulators are blasting Gov. Bobby Jindal’s $360 million plan to block oil from the BP spill with sand berms, saying barriers built so far are ineffective and threaten wildlife. In a Sept. 7 letter made public Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency urged the Army Corps of Engineers to turn down the state’s recent request to build 101 miles of sand berms to stop oil from contaminating shores and marshlands. The state needs permission from the Army Corps to complete the project. The sand berms — paid for with $360 million from BP — have drawn criticism from coastal scientists and federal regulators. Critics say the work was ill-conceived and would damage the environment. Still, Jindal has made the sand berms a cornerstone to his strategy to fight the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The state said it has spent $86 million on the project so far. EPA said there were serious problems with the project. On May 27, the Army Corps of Engineers allowed the state to build 40 miles of berm, but only four miles have been constructed so far, EPA said. The four miles of berm have “received only light oiling” and done little to stop oil from reaching wetlands and barrier islands behind them, the EPA said. Louisiana sand berms are not stopping much oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill, EPA says. … Gregory Stone, the director of Coastal Studies Institute at Louisiana State University’s School of the Coast & Environment, said building back Louisiana’s coast is a good idea, but that the work has to be done correctly. … But he said the state rushed into the sand berm work without considering where the sediment for the berms would come from, what effects the work would have on currents and tides and how they would stand up to storms. “The next tropical storm or tropical cyclone or winter storm that comes through this area, they are not going to stand a chance,” Stone said. “They have begun to disintegrate and they are not doing the job that was anticipated.”

Louisiana sand berms are not stopping much oil from Gulf of Mexico spill, EPA says