Louisiana leaders backing $350M oil-spill cleanup plan

GULF OF MEXICO — Gov. Bobby Jindal and leaders from several coastal parishes are pushing a $350-million barrier island repair plan as a way to protect Louisiana’s coast from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and reduce the ultimate cleanup and its costs.

Sand dredged from the gulf’s floor would be built up in 86 miles of the gaps between islands, returning land eaten away by decades of storms and slower erosion.

Jindal said yesterday that the project could start within days after the Army Corps of Engineers approves it. He is asking for quick approval, and says he has been told that a decision could come in days.

Jindal says the price tag is much less than it would cost to try to remove oil from marshlands.