Bobby Jindal's sand berm plan already a failure

[n2doc]

Gulf's Artificial Islands Already Failing

Analysis by Michael Reilly
Mon Jul 12, 2010 02:49 PM ET

then

now

A dramatic series of of aerial images show that plans to build artificial islands to block oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill from reaching Louisiana's sensitive marshland appear to be crumbling. Literally.

Two months ago, against the advice of many coastal scientists, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal began furiously campaigning for the construction of six artificial islands to hold back the advancing oil. The federal government quickly granted Jindal his wish, and construction on the islands has been continuing apace.

But images taken of one construction site near the northern edge of the Chandeleur islands appear to show the sea washing away a giant sand berm over the course of about two weeks.

The first image, at top, was taken on June 25. The second and third, below, were taken from roughly the same vantage point on July 2 and 7. All three images were first published yesterday by coastal scientist Leonard Bahr on his blog, LACoastPost.

Bahr, a former researcher at Louisiana State University, spent eighteen years in the governor's office, advising five administrations on their coastal policy.

more

http://news.discovery.com/earth/gulfs-artificial-islands-already-failing.html

http://lacoastpost.com/blog/?p=25001

"There have been a number of plans over twenty years to save the coast," he said. "But after Katrina, it morphed into 'coastal protection,' which gives me pause."


People need to stop believing that ANY republican is capable of rational, well meaning ideas. Make them prove it first before trusting them with anything.

[DCBob]

1. He will find some way to blame Obama for this..

and Faux News will repeat it endlessly.

[niceypoo]

5. If only he had built it earlier....

...it would have been wave proof.

[bullwinkle428]

12. Exactly - "They didn't grant permission soon enough!" I'm pretty

sure I've already heard this meme circulating at least a little bit!

[SteppingRazor]

2. Er ... yay oil?

Look, I never thought this was a hot idea, but I care more about saving Louisiana than making Bobby Jindal look bad. So despite the sand berms' imprimatur, I'm still disappointed they didn't work out.

[n2doc]

7. This was completely predictable

It has nothing to do with wanting to stop oil. You need to get that through your head. Jindal wanted to use this for other reasons, most notably in a doomed effort at "coastal protection"

[Ian David]

3. Why didn't Gov. Bobby send the buses???

[LiberalFighter]

11. He could had filled those buses with sand.

[niceypoo]

4. What happens when a wave hits a sand castle?

How predictable was this?

:rofl:

[Stuart G]

6. K and R

[Alcibiades]

8. Exactly!

It's as if he's never been to the beach.

[Richardo]

9. Science - who needs it?

The Feds should make Jindal pay back all those wasted funds - personally.

OR...

Maybe we should file a class-action taxpayer suit to recover the money.



Idiot.

[malaise]

10. + a gazzilion

the anti-science assholes are clueless. Pray Bobby pray. :puke:

[formercia]

13. They have not figured out that rocks work better for some reason.

but sand is cheaper. :rofl:

[malaise]

14. It's a perfect metaphor for Bobby

He's as spineless as a jellyfish and as secure as a sandcastle on a beach at high tide.

[dgibby]

16. Too bad they didn't scoop up that rubble in Haiti

and use it to protect the beaches and marshes. They could have killed 2 (oil soaked) birds with one stone.

[ProSense]

15. There goes $350 million of Jindal ingenuity

and he still hasn't released the 5,000 National Guard troops.

[SpiralHawk]

17. FAIL is the republicon speciality...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wocG2evroyQ/SaWUs2_O1UI/AAAAAAAAI_E/idHZ2e9rFYs/s400/Picture+162.png

[NNN0LHI]

18. Remember all the pomp and fanfare on cable TV when Bobby started building them?

Where are all the follow up reports on cable TV on this mess?

We don't get any reports because they figure we are all stupid.

Don

[Hubert Flottz]

19. Obama's fault...

If McSame had been in the White House water wouldn't wash sand away.

[Liberal In Texas]

20. Building with sand on sand in the ocean....

What could have gone wrong?

:shrug:

[snooper2]

22. Oh come on...

I built a sand castle once that was a good couple feet tall and it took at least four maybe FIVE strong waves before it was gone :rofl:

[Scurrilous]

21. Rubio: If Only Crist Were More Like Jindal

<snip>

"Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has actively criticized the Obama administration for its oil-spill cleanup efforts, and Republicans have taken notice. Among them is Marco Rubio, the conservative Florida Senate candidate running against his state's governor, Charlie Crist.

On a conference call with bloggers today, Rubio drew a contrast: "We haven't gotten the leadership in Florida that they've got in Louisiana from their governor, in terms of calling out the federal government in their response," the candidate said."

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/07/rubio-if-only-crist-were-more-like-jindal/59574/


Yes, if only.

:o

[Ian David]

23. THAT went well...

Oops.



July 13, 2010 -- More photographic evidence surfaced today that an artificial island being built to stop the Gulf oil spill from reaching the Louisiana coast is nearly under water.

Over the weekend, coastal scientist Leonard Bahr published images from an anonymous source within the federal government showing what appeared to be a massive sand berm near the Chandeleur Islands being deeply eroded by wave action even as it was still under construction.

In an email to Discovery News this morning, Bahr passed on a new set of close-up photos of the construction site (above, and below). Taken on July 8, the images show sharp-edged sand cliffs running right down to water's edge, a clear indication that wave action from the gulf is eroding the man-made dunes. Even more striking, several pieces of earth-moving equipment and fuel tanks appear to be sinking into the waves.

Bahr, a staunch opponent of the berm project, has called it "a fool's errand." Not only will these short-lived sand piles not stop the oil, he argues, they are siphoning money and sand from parts of the Louisiana coast that desperately need restoration.



More:
http://news.discovery.com/earth/berms-erosion-oil.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1