The Oil Spill Has Stopped, but Berm Controversy Rages On

The cap on the Deepwater Horizon rig has held for 10 days now. This might mean that the BP oil spill has gushed its last, thus putting finite, if as yet immeasurable, limits on the huge cleanup that remains. But Saturday's emergence of a short-lived tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico was a harsh reminder that, even if the spewing has stopped for good, the vast uncontained slick could still blow ashore and cause further fouling, especially in Louisiana.

But In the view of the Baton Rouge-based coastal scientist Leonard Bahr, the environmental threat posed by such leaked oil is menacingly matched by the ill-advised plans to block it, as devised by Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Bahr has criticized the governor for proposing large-scale coastal engineering projects -- and quickly awarding large no-bid contracts to implement them -- without conducting duly diligent research based on consultation with qualified scientific experts. Jindal's plans, Bahr maintains, do not stand up to common-sense scrutiny, and could in fact do more harm than good. At first Bahr's unflinching scrutiny emanated solely from his website, www.lacoastpost.com, which draws equally on his academic credentials and flair for satire. As the spill has continued, though, Bahr has been quoted with increasing frequency by national media, and has appeared on both NPR and MSNBC's "Countdown With Keith Olbermann."

The most dubious of Jindal's plans, in Bahr's view, is the construction of more than 100 miles of sand berms. This project has its genesis in the early days of the spill. At that point President Barack Obama's response seemed feeble, indecisive, and somewhat aloof. No clearly defined leader -- comparable, for example to the charismatic Gen. Russell Honore, who inspired New Orleanians in the days after Hurricane Katrina -- emerged to reassure, take charge, and offer solutions. If anything, the federal government, especially the Coast Guard, appeared oddly subservient to BP, prompting James Carville's famous, frustrated cries that "We're about to die down here!" and that "The president needs to tell BP, 'I'm your daddy!' " Nature abhors a vacuum, and the hyper-energetic Jindal, a 39-year-old conservative wunderkind, stepped into this breach with his ambitious, large-scale battle plan for keeping the oil at bay.

In the absence of any other ideas -- and with nail-biting anxiety that the marshes, where seafood species breed in the springtime, were threatened with imminent inundation -- Jindal's plan, and his dramatic demeanor, struck a chord with the justifiably frazzled public. Some 10 weeks later, the project still enjoys widespread support. Four miles of berm have been built thus far, after Jindal obtained a Coast Guard construction permit following heated public wrangling. That high-profile and acrimonious negotiation, combined with opposition to the economic effects of the drilling moratorium, has created a groundswell of anti-federal and anti-Obama sentiment in south Louisiana. In this polarized, us-vs.-them climate, criticism of the berms is decried as virtually treasonous support of the Washington-based enemy.

As a result, many Louisiana scientists who disagree have been loath to say so publicly for fear of being fired from state and academic jobs alike. Bahr noted this timidity in a post titled "The Silence of the Eco-Lambs." But Bahr's retirement in 2008 makes him immune to such threats. He served as a coastal sciences adviser to five consecutive Louisiana governors, Democrat and Republican alike, from 1991 to 2008, and also taught estuarine ecology at Louisiana State University. In 2003 Republican Gov. Mike Foster, Bobby Jindal's mentor, gave the Gov. Jimmie Davis, You Are My Sunshine Award to Bahr as the state employee of the year. (Jimmie Davis, the governor of Louisiana in both the 1940s and '60s, had a successful dual career in country music, and "You Are My Sunshine" was his signature hit.)

Despite such mainstream respectability, Bahr's opinionated pronouncements have sparked not only legitimate disagreement but also attacks on his credibility. On July 5, Bahr wrote a guest editorial for The New Orleans Times-Picayune titled "Sand Berms a Dubious Solution" that detailed his measured objections to the plan. He began with a general comment interpreting Jindal's apparent dismissal of scientific research -- a puzzling stance, since the governor was a Rhodes scholar -- as a reflection of Jindal's presidential aspirations. After noting what Bahr called "an irresistible opportunity for grandstanding on the part of our ambitious young governor," he then cited nine areas of specific objections. These included the lack of detailed engineering plans; the plan's endorsement by a vague and unsubstantiated group of "outside experts"; the disruptive depletion of finite sand resources near the berm site; the "Environmental cost: Dredging holes in the very delta that we're trying to restore is irrational"; changes in the natural tidal flow that could exacerbate Louisiana's already severe coastal erosion; a completion date nine months hence, by which time the oil may have stopped flowing; conjecture that the berms built thus far could trap oil in the marshes and prevent it from flowing back out; the opinion that the $350 million tab, picked up by BP, could be put to much better use; and, most tellingly, the fragility of the work to date.

In response, Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser's July 8 letter to the Daily World of Opelousas, Louisiana, blasted Bahr as "a discredited coastal scientist that was sidelined during the Foster administration. Several hundred square miles of our state was lost and much of Plaquemines Parish eroded under his 'leadership.' . . . While Mr. Bahr was not consulted, his record suggests no benefit from this consultation."

Nungesser, who offered no proof of Bahr being discredited, has worked tirelessly throughout the spill disaster. A highly effective advocate -- thanks in large part to frequent appearances on the CNN program "360 With Anderson Cooper" -- Nungesser has vigilantly monitored and lobbied BP, the Coast Guard and President Obama, and achieved substantial results. At the same time, this fierce advocate of the berms is notoriously intolerant of opposing viewpoints. Bahr called Nungesser's comments "a badge of honor."

Days later, in the wake of the peripheral yet damaging winds of Hurricane Alex, many observers stated that the existing four miles of berm had sustained serious damage. Such deterioration and erosion, they maintained, clearly proved the futility of the project that scientist Ivor Van Heerden dismissed as "sand castles." Bahr's July 11 post, titled "Chandeleur sand berm segment shrinking like a wool sweater in hot weather," included before-and-after photos that appeared to dramatically bolster his case. Bobby Jindal responded with a July 14 post titled "The Sand Berms Are Working in Louisiana," depicting a success story in progress.

And so it goes, with neither side apt to budge. "My skepticism about the sand berms," Bahr said, "is based on an understanding of deltaic processes. My philosophy is driven by a respect for science and all scientists who oppose the berms. I'm particularly offended by Jindal's denial of evolution and climate change, and could not have worked for his administration much longer. I am glad that he asked me to retire. The only governor who seemed interested in my advice was Mike Foster, whose politics I disagreed with but who really cared about the coast and seemed to respect my opinion."

"I am proud," Bahr concluded, "to disseminate information that other people with my background are afraid to touch right now. Lots of folks who work in the scientific trenches are telling me that everyone's afraid to talk -- and so they are thrilled about what I'm saying."
[Editors note: Due to a typographical error, the original version of this story stated that 40 miles of berm has been erected to date. The correct number is four.]