As oil from the April 20 Deepwater Horizon explosion began spreading into Louisiana’s marshes, state and local leaders moved ahead on plans to protect the state’s shores with a massive sand-berm project—even without the approval of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard.
On May 24, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said the state had directed a dredge, being operated by Weeks Marine Inc., Cranford, N.J., to begin constructing a sand berm at East Grand Terre Island as called for in the state’s barrier-island plan. Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said he would seek $1 million from his council on May 26 to begin building its own sand ridges along the coast of Plaquemines Parish.