Those two Louisiana officials are still at it passing the buck to the federal government as having no strategy to fight the BP oil spill. They are mad because the U.S. Corps of Engineers has not approved their rock jetty dam idea near Grand Isle. The scientific and environmental communities have concerns rock jetty's could do more harm than good. There is also the question, "who will remove the rock jetty's after the spill is cleaned up."
The Times Picayune in a story in its July 7th issue says as follows: Col. Alvin Lee, the commander of the corps New Orleans District, noted in the letter denying the permit Saturday that he did not believe there were sufficient plans to deal with the removal of the rocks after the spill eventually subsides.
No responsible party to ensure timely structure removal to minimize environmental harm has been identified; no restoration plan to mitigate environmental damages has been furnished; and insufficient baseline date from which to assess project-related damages has been provided. Without a detailed written plan of action that is agreed to by all parties having interest in this project, I have no confidence that remedial actions will be taken in a manner that assures protection of the environment.
In other words, no plan was submitted with the permit to the Corps to remove the rock jetty when they were no longer needed. Sounds too much like BP and the oil industry who had and still have no plan to cap a blow out and remove the spilled oil from the waters of the Gulf timely. Jindal and Nungesser remind me of so many other Republicans who like to talk tough but have no plans of their own to deal with the spill. Lets compare those two loud mouths to what Mississippi is doing.
In an article in the Times Picayune of 7/7 Mississippi is using $20 million of the $50 million BP gave so far to build and lease skimmers after they discovered BP and the Coast Guard command did not have enough skimmers. Mississippi's oil disaster plan has been to spot oil while it was miles out from the barrier islands and Mississippi sound then skim as much as possible before it makes landfall. The skimmers are being built in Mississippi and will produce a total of 27.
Elected officials have the responsibility to protect state lands. All it takes is leadership, something that is lacking in Louisiana. Too many elected officials in Louisiana are still willing to protect BP and big oil and try to pass the buck and blame on the federal government. Jindal's and Nungesser's words to the federal government, Lead or step aside, should be addressed to themselves.
