MNeagle
19th May 2010, 03:20 PM
May 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s request to dredge along the Gulf of Mexico, building a natural defense against oil leaking from a well off the state’s coast.
Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority filed for a permit last week to add piles of sand on the Gulf side of the state’s barrier islands. Louisiana also asked the U.S. Coast Guard to move dredgers into place so they can begin work once approved.
Oil began leaking from the BP Plc-owned well after an April 20 explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which the London-based company leased from Transocean Ltd. Crude has reached Louisiana’s Chandeleur Islands and the Pass a Loutre area in Plaquemines Parish.
The Army Corps of Engineers is “evaluating†the request, Amanda Jones, a spokeswoman for the corps in Louisiana, said in a telephone interview today. She couldn’t say when the state may get a response to its request.
It will take about 10 days to construct the sand “booms,†large piles that would prevent oil from entering marshes and bayous, Jindal, a Republican, said at a press conference yesterday in Venice, Louisiana.
The Gulf of Mexico is one of the country’s largest fishing grounds. Louisiana provides about a third of the seafood in the lower-48 states, with values exceeding $2.85 billion a year.
“If that heavy black oil gets into the bayous, into the back bays, we will kill off the life cycle, the beginning as we know it of the seafood industry today,†said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, which stretches about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of New Orleans.
While awaiting approval, the state is taking steps to prepare for dredging. Boats are surveying potential sites and the government is scanning the area to identify existing pipelines.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7SOldn8DeCA&pos=9
Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority filed for a permit last week to add piles of sand on the Gulf side of the state’s barrier islands. Louisiana also asked the U.S. Coast Guard to move dredgers into place so they can begin work once approved.
Oil began leaking from the BP Plc-owned well after an April 20 explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which the London-based company leased from Transocean Ltd. Crude has reached Louisiana’s Chandeleur Islands and the Pass a Loutre area in Plaquemines Parish.
The Army Corps of Engineers is “evaluating†the request, Amanda Jones, a spokeswoman for the corps in Louisiana, said in a telephone interview today. She couldn’t say when the state may get a response to its request.
It will take about 10 days to construct the sand “booms,†large piles that would prevent oil from entering marshes and bayous, Jindal, a Republican, said at a press conference yesterday in Venice, Louisiana.
The Gulf of Mexico is one of the country’s largest fishing grounds. Louisiana provides about a third of the seafood in the lower-48 states, with values exceeding $2.85 billion a year.
“If that heavy black oil gets into the bayous, into the back bays, we will kill off the life cycle, the beginning as we know it of the seafood industry today,†said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish, which stretches about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of New Orleans.
While awaiting approval, the state is taking steps to prepare for dredging. Boats are surveying potential sites and the government is scanning the area to identify existing pipelines.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7SOldn8DeCA&pos=9