BP CEO inspects Louisiana beach stained by oil from Gulf of Mexico oil spill

BP CEO inspects La. beach stained by Gulf oil

FOURCHON BEACH, La. — The chief executive of BP PLC walked the oil-stained sands of a closed Louisiana beach as workers in white coveralls and yellow boots tended to equipment being used to keep away crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

CEO Tony Hayward talked with the workers Monday at Fourchon Beach while the crews tended to booms meant to soak up the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Reporters were kept at a distance.

Fourchon Beach is one of the few sandy beaches in Louisiana, where most of the coast is marshland. Oil has come ashore there and nearby Grand Isle as the spill moves west into sensitive wetlands.

Earlier, as BP officials prepared for the latest effort to curb the flow of oil, a Senate delegation and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal repeated their criticism of efforts to keep oil off the coast.