Jindal's Sand-Berms: a $350 million boondoggle?

[Clio the Leo]

The other side of the coin...

Oil Spill Fallout: Oyster Industry Takes Hit as Gulf Company Shuts Doors

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Last month, Jindal ordered the diversion of fresh water from the Mississippi River into nearby salt marshes, via spillways. These conduits were originally built to relieve pressure when the Mississippi hits flood stage. In this case, however, they're being used to send a torrent of river water to help push oil away from the coast, as it continues spilling from the deep sea BP well in the Gulf.

Many environmentalists favor this oil-blocking move. But it is anathema to the oyster industry, because fresh water lowers the saline levels that oysters need to survive. "We wrote to Governor Jindal a month ago," Fahey said, "via the Louisiana Oyster Task Force, asking him to send a letter to BP, saying that the state has opened up the spillways because of the oil, and that the state considers BP liable for any damages to the oyster stock. We are flabbergasted that Jindal has not sent that letter."

Jindal also faces growing criticism about his highly touted sand-berm construction project. Critics say it was inadequately researched and will not work. There are also unsubstantiated inferences of cronyism in the awarding of huge no-bid contracts. But in the absence of any other plan -- and the apparent lack of a definitive spill-recovery leader -- many Louisianans cling to the berm as an article of faith. Hopes hang heavy on its success, and criticism of it is equated with heresy -- or, at minimum, with yet more ineffectual dithering. Accordingly, Jindal's philosophic reprisal of Theodore Roosevelt's defiant dictum, "while Congress debated, I took Panama," is striking a chord with Louisiana's frustrated populace. So is berm bullishness – along with a call for the resignation of Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen -- on the part of Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser.

But Leonard Bahr, a former Louisiana State University marine sciences faculty member and coastal policy adviser, calls the berm project "a $350 million boondoggle supported by dredging interests that would dig 11.2 Superdome Equivalents of (limited) sand from the delta we're trying to save -- to build temporary barriers against oil that's already in the marshes. Chalk this up as another finger in the eye of science while wool is pulled over the eyes of the public."

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/19/oil-spill-fallout-oyster-industry-takes-hit-as-gulf-company-hal/

[saltpoint]

1. I was thinking Gov. Jindal could just exorcise the plumes out of the Gulf.

[jwirr]

2. I have watched the waves in Lake Superior was away coastline on the

north shore consisting of dirt and rocks. One big storm and the berms will start to wash away. But Jindal wanted them so President Obama did what he asked. I hope they do work but I doubt it.

[Jennicut]

3. Jindal has his ass kissed by most of the media so you won't see this on CNN. But he

complained up a shit storm so Bobby gets what he wants. I hope it does work, for the good of the marshlands. But I doubt it.

[donco6]

4. Politically, the opinion will be "Well, at least he tried something!"

So even if they do fail, he could come out smelling like a rose. I'd bet that's why the feds gave in so fast. I hope they do work, even if he gets credit.