Sand Plan Gets Partial OK as Oil Defense

U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen on Thursday approved portions of Louisiana's $350 million plan to ring its coastline with a wall of sand meant to keep out the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Special Section: Disaster in the Gulf

Allen said the state could move forward on a network of sand berms along the Chandeleur Islands and a string of barrier islands west of the Mississippi River.

Louisiana would have to pay up front, but Allen said the costs would eventually be covered by BP or the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

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The approved berms make up about half of an 86-mile network considered a last-ditch attempt to keep oil out of the state's fragile marshes.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had objected to parts of the plan, saying too many berms would alter tidal movements and send oil spilling onto neighboring Mississippi.

"Implementing this section of the proposal will allow us to assess this strategy's effectiveness in protecting coastal communities and habitats of the Gulf as quickly as possible," Allen said in a statement.

Allen said some sections of the berm system would not have kept out oil. They also could have interfered with cleanup, he said.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was at East Grand Terre Island, a barrier island west of the mouth of the Mississippi River when the Coast Guard press release was sent out. He said he had not been contacted by the Coast Guard or the Army Corps and did not know which sections of berm had been approved.

The wetlands that would be shielded by the sand barrier are a vital nursery for shrimp, crabs, oysters and numerous species of fish that support Louisiana's $3 billion fishing industry.

Some oil already has pushed into those marshes. But with tens of millions of gallons still swirling in the Gulf, it could keep coming for months.

In Plaquemines Parish - the first part of the coast to get hit with oil - President Billy Nungesser called on President Obama to provide the dredges to get the berms built.

"I hope the additional permits for the rest of the reaches will follow quickly because without closing as many gaps as possible we're going to still get oil in the marsh," Nungesser said.