Jindal to build berms w/o EPA approval

As slick spreads, so does frustration

In another thread, it was mentioned that a lot of solutions to help protect the coastlines from the oil leak have to go through the environmental assessment process. That takes months and face court challenges. A series of sand berms, or artificial barrier islands could be constructed to block the oil from reaching the coast. The Army Corps of Engineers won't agree to it citing the needed environmental assessment. So to cut out the red tape, Jindal is calling out the National Guard to do begin construction on a job the feds are too scared to do without the right paperwork being approved.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican, has taken swipes at BP and other oil companies involved in the disaster as well as the federal government. Jindal said he was going to call out members of the Louisiana National Guard to join state wildlife and fisheries agents to supplement a federal response he called inadequate.

In particular, Jindal assailed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to sign off on a plan to build a chain of protective sand barriers — or berms — off the coast to help block the oil.

"We are not waiting for them. We are going to build it" ourselves, Jindal said. U.S. officials say the Corps is nearing a final decision.

But the administration seems to want to have it both ways — insisting it's in charge while also insisting that BP do the heavy lifting. The White House is arguing that government officials aren't just watching from the sidelines, but also acknowledging there's just so much the government can do directly.

"They are 5,000 feet down. BP or the private sector alone have the means to deal with that problem down there. It's not government equipment that is going to be used to do that," Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen told a White House briefing on Monday.

"They are the responsible party. But we have the authority to direct them," he added.

"We can't fix it, but we reserve the right to pester the people who can."

Are they permanent structures or something? We build artificial berms north of here in Fargo/Moorhead every year when the river floods. AFAIK the EPA never says boo.

More evidence the vaunted Federal Government is moribund, even as Teh One paints it as the end-all and be-all of American existence.

First Arizona takes it upon itself to protect its borders (because the feds hemmed and hawed), now Louisiana is doing the same, for the same reason, to protect its shores. Pretty soon people will beging asking why we need a federal government at all.

More evidence the vaunted Federal Government is moribund, even as Teh One paints it as the end-all and be-all of American existence.

First Arizona takes it upon itself to protect its borders (because the feds hemmed and hawed), now Louisiana is doing the same, for the same reason, to protect its shores. Pretty soon people will beging asking why we need a federal government at all.

Exactly. It never ceases gobbling up our money and liberty like Pac Man on speed, but when it is really needed we are SOL.

From the point of view of the hard-left environmentalcase weirdos who populate the EPA, the best thing to do is to bureaucratically block any efforts that might actually be effective, so as to maximize damage and thereby take advantage of this golden opportunity to make the oil industry look as bad as possible.

From the point of view of the hard-left environmentalcase weirdos who populate the EPA, the best thing to do is to bureaucratically block any efforts that might actually be effective, so as to maximize damage and thereby take advantage of this golden opportunity to make the oil industry look as bad as possible.

Yup..Gives the excuse to kill all off shore drilling (even though this well is in international waters) and it might even give them an excuse to kill all commercial fishing (including shrimping) in Gulf waters due to contamination. It's a greenpissers wet dream.

"They are the responsible party. But we have the authority to direct them," he added.

"We can't fix it, but we reserve the right to pester bureaucratically abuse the shit out of the people who can." [/quote]

Are they permanent structures or something? We build artificial berms north of here in Fargo/Moorhead every year when the river floods. AFAIK the EPA never says boo.

Try building them in "protected" marshlands which is most of south Louisiana. It's not just the berms, I've seen many a project stalled or cancelled altogether because of environmental concerns. Lock and dam maintenance, canal dredging, and levee revitalization all required feasibility and environmental impact studies before a blade of grass could be touched. Yes, in order to dredge canals that already exist, environmental impact studies must be done. If some preferred critter or other has taken up lodging in those canals, it may never get done.

It also costs money to produce the environmental assessments. For a big project like this, lots of money. Then you can count on appeals of the final decisions in the documents, followed by litigation if the appellants don't get what they want. Lots of work for bureaucrats and lawyers, not much work for real people expecting to get things done.

It also costs money to produce the environmental assessments. For a big project like this, lots of money. Then you can count on appeals of the final decisions in the documents, followed by litigation if the appellants don't get what they want. Lots of work for bureaucrats and lawyers, not much work for real people expecting to get things done.

Exactly what's needed to expedite solutions in an emergency crisis.