Coast Guard Adm. approves part of Louisiana’s sand berm plan to help protect coast

Coast Guard OKs part of La.’s sand berm plan

NEW ORLEANS — Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen has approved portions of Louisiana’s $350 million plan to try to protect its coastline from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill with a wall of sand.

Allen announced Thursday that about half of the proposed 86-mile network of sand berms could move forward. He said other sections would not help keep the oil out and could have interfered with cleanup.

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 sent out a news release on the berm proposal.

Jindal said he had not been contacted by the Coast Guard or the Army Corps of Engineers and did not know which sections of berm were approved.