Jindal: Coast restoration effort a ‘marathon’

Immediately following a meeting with coastal parish presidents, BP and the U.S. Coast Guard, Gov. Bobby Jindal discussed transition plans to move forward in the oil spill response.

“Obviously we’re all hopeful, one of the things that came up today was the relief wells,” Jindal said. “Whether it’s the static kill or the relief wells for Louisiana, certainly it would be a good thing if they can continue to guarantee there’s no new oil coming out of the water, but there continues to be serious challenges for our state.”

One of the biggest challenges, according to Jindal, is getting money out in an expedited manner to push restoration.

“We don’t make apologies to anybody about being aggressive to get those dollars back,” the governor said. “At the end of the day this is about being aggressive and defending our coast.”

During the meeting, Jindal noted he made four overarching comments for a Louisiana-specific plan that differed from a coast-wide restoration plan originally proposed.

“First, we need to have greater parish involvement before decisions are made and resources are used, before we sign a state plan the Coast Guard will work with each parish so we have parish-specific plans,” Jindal said. “Decisions shouldn’t be made for the parishes, these decisions should be made with the parishes.”

The second comment, he said, was to make sure there will be more focus on accounting for subsurface oil, which has been of great concern to the coastal parishes and the state.

“There was [also] explicit discussion of certain resources that must stay here through the end of hurricane season,” Jindal said. “So, recognition that hurricane season can cause oil to come wash back up on our coast.”

The governor also pressed the issue of having some residual assets left in the parish.

“They need to have access to those assets if there are sightings of oil long after we get past the final phase,” he said.

With shrimp season officially open, Jindal said he’s been pushing BP for a seafood testing and certification plan as well.

“In addition to reopening the waters, it will be important for BP to commit to a multi-year testing and certification plan. We proposed 400 samples a month, so people can continue to know that this is the safest, best seafood you can get anywhere in the world,” he said.

Jindal said BP, the Coast Guard and coastal parish presidents will reconvene in the next few weeks after deciding parish-specific plans for restoration.

“It’s way too early to say ‘mission accomplished,'” Jindal said. “This continues to be a marathon.”

Gov. Bobby Jindal outlines ongoing concerns regarding the BP oil spill clean up at a Houma press conference Friday. “We don’t make apologies to anybody about being aggressive to get those dollars back,” the governor said of BP claim monies owed. RICHARD FISCHER