Is Bobby Jindal's BP-funded $360 million sand berm project nothing more than a multi-million dollar kickback for the governor's supporters.

Los Angeles, Dec. 17, 2010
Gary Singh/Surinder Singh

• Louisiana's governor to protect the coastline at the height of the Gulf oil spill was criticized by a presidential commission Thursday as a colossal, $200 million waste of BP's money so far........Yahoo
• Sand berms didn't help with BP spill, experts say ......AP
• Today, Brett Michael Dykes wrote, "Jindal sand berm project was a colossal waste of time and money":
  • For months, critics of Louisiana GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal's BP-funded $360 million sand berm project have blasted the effort as a tragic misuse of time and resources. They charged that the governor and his lead advisers could have undertaken scores of other projects that would have been far more beneficial to the damaged Gulf and the inhabitants of its coast.
  • Some have even charged that the plan was nothing more than a multi-million dollar kickback for the governor's supporters. "The only reason those sand berms are still being built is because Bobby Jindal has supporters he needs to pay back," a current Louisiana officeholder, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of ongoing dealings with the Jindal administration, told Yahoo News back in October. "It's that simple ... follow the money. The people making money off this thing are people that gave money to Jindal."
• Other's wrote:
• Bobby Jindal does not go on vacation like others because he wants to be President and keep on spending taxpayers money
• It is usual among the politicians and their supporters and friends to keep eye on these kind of projects which are used as rewards.
• Republicans are saying: Bobby was told over and over that they would not work by the scientists

Bobby Jindal and Billy Nungesser said the 6-foot-high berms are critical to help keep oil out of delicate wetlands. But some scientists and federal officials questioned the berms’ effectiveness and warned about unintended environmental consequences.

For the past few months, opposition and media is criticizing Louisiana governor's project to protect the coastline at the height of the Gulf oil spill as a colossal-- $200 million waste of BP's money up to now.

In a new book, Jindal calls the berms "our last line of defense," and in a national television interview, he described them as a "great success."

BP originally committed $360 million to the project. Of that, $195 million has been spent so far. The state plans to spend the rest.The state initially wanted to build 101 miles of berm, but was given emergency approval to build 36 miles.As of October, some 350 million cubic feet of sand had been moved to make the barriers, the equivalent of digging 665 miles of four-lane interstate, according to the state

Rob Young, a Western Carolina University geosciences professor who wrote an opinion article in the New York Times critical of the berms, said:

• the photos depict clear signs of “erosional scouring.”
• You have to be careful about drawing grand conclusions
• But these pictures show how difficult it is to build these things and keep them there. It’s not like Hurricane Katrina ran over them.
• The state’s more recent photos show that “they’ve obviously been hard at work rebuilding the berm.”

Billy Nungesser, who attended Bobby Jindal’s news conference, said some sand loss is inevitable until grasses have been planted to limit erosion.

Bobby Jindal said he hadn’t seen the photos Len Bahr released. But the governor said the berm is large enough to accommodate “multiple helicopters” and invited members of the news media to tour the site.

“If a hurricane threatens the area, they’ve got to move all the oil containment equipment out for two weeks,” he said. “This sand berm can stay up there 24/7 and stop the oil.”

Rob Young said he is unimpressed by the 500 pounds of oily debris collected so far.

 

Conclusion: Out telephone survey with NRIs:

80% of the people like him, the way politician suppose to be. If sciencist panel conclude that it was a waste of money.. then we like the people who raise this voice and say: he was paying back his supporters to provide some specifics, which companies, and where is the proof of their donations?.

• Repugnicans who like to make vague accusations about the evils of the Dumbocrats..... Please --look, WARS are fought as a payback to someone. It is happening every day...Surinder Singh

• Jindal will head to Washington, D.C., in March to be the keynote speaker at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner.
• Jindal is in politically powerful company. Former President George W. Bush spoke at the dinner in past years.