The New Orleans Times Picayune is reporting that federal authorities have ordered the state of Louisiana to stop dredging to build sand berms to stop the growing oil spill.  The actual contention has to do with dredging east of the Mississippi River. 

According to the article:

“(Governor Bobby) Jindal said about 450,000 cubic yards of sand has been dredged in the area.

“He said it would take about 5 days to build the pipeline federal authorities want to access the new dredging site. “It took so long to approve this project. We don’t want to be tied up in more red tape,” he said.

“Jindal, a frequent critic of the BP and federal responses to the spill, has proposed building massive berms to intercept the oil before it gets to the coast. The plan has received partial approval from the corps. BP has agreed to pay $360 million for the project.”

Evidently there are some scientists that are concerned that the dredging will change tidal patterns and could lead to more long-term erosion of the islands.  That may be true, but I can guarantee that if the oil slick reaches those islands it will have long-term effects.

I really am beginning to wonder about the government’s involvement in this oil spill.  It seems as if they have failed to deal with the spill successfully from the beginning.  The government stopped the skimming boats for twenty-four hours, they delayed the building of berms for a month, and generally they have been more of a hindrance than a help.  The government seems to be more concerned about the environmental impact of stopping the spill than the environmental impact of the spill.

In the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico we are seeing the results of a too big federal government  blocking states from doing the things they need to do to protect their land and economies.