REDFISH BAY, La. - Oil is pushing into more and more stretches of coastal marsh in Plaquemines Parish, with some stalks of cane now appearing to wilt from an onslaught of oil.
"This is our worst nightmare. I'm sick to my stomach," said Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser. "It's going through the other side of the bayou. So, it's infiltrated all of this marsh and you can see the brown starting to work up the cane." Despite the presence of oil containment and absorbent boom, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser has watched more and more oil encroach on coastal marshes, with each passing day. As time goes by, he's become more and more frustrated that the federal government has yet to approve a state proposal, which would build barrier islands off the coast to catch the oil, before it hits the marsh. "We we're asking to put back a little bit of the barrier islands, so we'd have a chance to save this," Nungesser said. The oil, which looks like thick, dark caramel, is sticking to this marsh and there is no clear solution on how to remove it. "Seeing is believing," said Plaquemines Parish Council Member Lynda Banta. "You hear it on TV, but when you come and see it first-hand-- it's overwhelming to me." On Saturday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command told Eyewitness News that the dredging proposal wasn't off the table. "It's still pending and undergoing federal review," said spokesperson Rob Wyman. "No final decision has been made." Either way, Nungesser and the Plaquemines Parish Council may move forward on their own with the plan. "We're going to ask the council government on this to fund a million dollars," Nungesser said. "We've got to do something. This is our life, we can't let this go. If the Coast Guard, the Corps of Engineers and BP don't think it's valuable enough to save, then they need to get out of the way and let us do it ourselves." The council is expected to discuss the issue at their meeting on Thursday.
