In an effort to stem the tide of oil washing ashore in Louisiana, small "berms" of sand now plug gaps in barrier islands along the coast. Such structures are intended to provide a barrier to oil penetrating into marshes and other wetlands, where it can persist for decades. Already, more than 250 kilometers of coastline have been touched by the output of the ongoing oil spill, which has now spewed as much as 170 million liters of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico.

Now the U.S. government has given its approval to a plan to build as much as 70 kilometers worth of such sand walls—90 meters wide at the base tapering to nearly eight meters at the top and a little less than two meters higher than high tide—in front of barrier islands off the coast. It will be a colossal undertaking that would result in 3,900 hectares of sand barriers and could take at least six months and $360 million to complete. The only problem: it may not work and it definitely will not last.

"If we build these berms, one tropical storm that either crosses the berm or even sends large waves towards the berm from offshore could do tremendous damage to the structure before it's even completed," says coastal geologist Rob Young of Western Carolina University. "It might not make it through hurricane season," which ends November 30.

Nor does it require a storm for these man-made sand barriers to shift. Normal wave action—potentially exacerbated by the offshore dredging of the sand itself—will erode the berms. "They are immediately susceptible to erosion," Young says. "It's a question whether this first portion of the [70 kilometers] will still be there when they get to the end."

Various agencies of the U.S. government urged caution during the formal evaluation of the project before the Army Corps of Engineers approved the experimental plan on May 27. "The most basic question is whether the proposed project can be constructed in time to prevent oil from reaching interior waters and wetlands," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency noted in its response.

The Corps approved the plan "to enhance the capability of the islands to reduce the inland movement of oil," but even national incident commander U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen noted "doubts" about the plan as he announced its approval as a "prototype." As a result, the U.S. government will pay for only one such berm near Scofield Island, although it gave permission to build as many as six and will force BP to foot the bill for the construction.

The project will also employ sand that had been slated to restore barrier islands, such as the Chandeleur Islands wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. "This isn't barrier island restoration. The sand is being placed just offshore," Young notes. "Placing some of the sand up on the barrier islands would at least increase longevity and durability."

And the berms will impact the coastline in other ways, potentially sending saltwater in new directions. Dredging of channels already permits saltwater intrusions into the Louisiana coast, occasionally killing the marsh grasses that literally hold the land in place.

In fact, the sand berm effort is just one way the oil spill may literally reshape the Gulf Coast. If a thick coating of oil reaches the marshes, it could suffocate the grasses that hold them together or block photosynthesis, even though experiments in the 1980s showed that such marsh grasses tolerated hydrocarbon exposure when scientists sprayed them with Louisiana sweet crude. "They can take a lot of hydrocarbon pollution but I don't know how they are going to respond to this oil that could smother them," says ecologist John Fleeger of Louisiana State University, who participated in the experiments.

Fortunately, as of yet the oil has not penetrated into the marshes much. "The marshes in Louisiana are many miles in depth, just a small fraction of that has been impacted at this point," Fleeger notes. But "if a hurricane or tropical storm comes and sweeps all the oil inland it's going to be a big change overnight."

A big storm might therefore kill the marsh and wipe away Louisiana's efforts to build a sand berm against the oily tide. "What they're proposing to do isn't going to work. It's not going to stop a significant part of the oil from reaching the wetlands or the estuaries," Young says. And "it's not simply that it's a project that may not work. It's going to divert a lot of resources away from other efforts."

16 Comments

1. 1. Soccerdad 10:22 AM 6/8/10

   I was wondering how long it would be until journalists started to come to Obama's defense on the sand berms. What's the big deal? It's rather like using water on a house fire. Yes, the water can cause its own damage, but the damage from the actual fire is worse.
   
   Build them as quick as possible. Bulldoze them when the leak is capped. BP can pay for them. No reason it should have taken weeks to decide.

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2. 2. Scottsman 12:02 PM 6/8/10

   Soccerdad, read the last paragraph one more time. I think you missed something.
   
   Ever tried building a sand castle at the tide line? Remember how fast the waves took it down? These are big sand castles. Hurricanes (and even just a rough storm) will bring waves much bigger.
   
   The fact is this: sand piles do not weather well. Without plant life holding them together, they are destined to disappear, whether it's quickly in a storm, or slowly in the rain. And then whatever oil they have collected will go right back in to the water. Seems to me a waste of time and resources that would better serve elsewhere.

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3. 3. brsecu 12:17 PM 6/8/10

   Scottsman you are assuming that the people doing this have other things to do. What resources are going to be lost by trying this. Also take a look at what Dubai(sp?) has done with constructed islands. I think its worth a shot. We have to do something more than just sitting and pointing fingers. There will be time for that later.

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4. 4. Martin Wirth 03:19 PM 6/8/10

   If most of the oil can be confined to the surface of the water and scooped together, then perhaps bombing it with a napalm-like incendiary might reduce the damage. As thick and clumpy as the stuff presently is, it won't support combustion by itself. It may support combustion if sufficient heat is supplied by a primary combustion source such as a floating blend of gasoline-soaked polystyrene flakes.
   
   Ask BP to crank some out, send the bill to Tony Hayward, and provide it NOW.

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5. 5. Scottsman 03:59 PM 6/8/10

   Burn Oil by adding more Oil? I wonder at the environmental implications... let's relegate that one to the "Nuke it" portfolio of ideas.
   
   brsecu: I concede to your point, I don't actually know what else they could be doing with those man-hours and resources... but it seems an awful big gamble on a long shot. If this is in fact their best option, then I wish them success.
   
   As for Dubai's constructed sand islands, those were a much more in-depth creation involving the use of specially designed vibrating hydro-excavation tools to hard-pack the sand into firm, permanent ground -- a process much too expensive and time consuming to use in this case. Additionally, during consruction, a 15 kilometer long break-water composed of massive boulders and rubble was built around the nascent Palms to protect them from waves during storm season. These new un-packed sand piles will be unprotected.

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6. 6. Davebuzz 04:26 PM 6/8/10

   brsecu, do you realize that Dubai spent years building break walls prior to building those little islands, specifically to avoid wave action from washing them away as quickly as they built them?

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7. 7. Davebuzz 04:28 PM 6/8/10

   Brsecu, in Dubai they built a huge complex system of break walls first, then they started building the small sand islands. Otherwise, they would have all washed away.

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8. 8. eco-steve 06:17 PM 6/8/10

   In England the air force dropped napalm bombs over the Torrey Canyon Spill, but it didnt work. Fires only stay burning if the oil is contained in a thick dense mass. Oil also usually needs some sort of wick to stay burning. Perhaps pumping liquid nitrogen into the BP 'capping device' could freeze the leak. After all, clathrates made the pumping attempt fail as the outlet froze.

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9. 9. chubbee 08:13 PM 6/8/10

   And still nobody is sucking up what's already leaked out!
   Wait until it makes landfall?
   Great plan, the union must be involved.
   One guy tries to cap the well , while te others stand around and watch.
   Of course the Obama administration is doing what they do best, nothing, accompanied by a lot of BS .
   Get busy, don't wait until you finally cap the well (maybe) to start cleaning up the mess.
   get it while it's still in the water.

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10. 10. UseTheNoodle in reply to chubbee 05:23 AM 6/9/10

    chubbee: I think W and Chenyburten are available since the deregulation caused this and they are out of office. Obama still has the Great Recession, Afghanistan, and Iraq to work on as President and left unfixed by Bush/Chny.

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11. 11. UseTheNoodle 05:50 AM 6/9/10

    Maybe we can get Cheney to suck up that oil, oh, is he hiding again?

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12. 12. drafter 11:15 AM 6/9/10

    You people are silly. There were regulations in place that may have, note may have been bypassed by both BP and the Buarocrates who are charged with making sure those regulations are followed. It is not the presidents job to personally oversee and issue permits. Have you ever gone for a building permit and had the presidents personal approval, I think not. So unless you can prove that either Bush or Cheney or Obama, it was approved under Obama's term, personally told the buarocrates to allow BP to proceed then you have an argument. BTW presidents don't make laws.

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13. 13. Soccerdad 12:21 PM 6/9/10

    All Obama needed to do was tell the Louisiana governor: "If there is anything you need from the feds and don't get it immediately, let me know." This is standard practice for crisis management within companies and government to break down the normal beauraucratic processes. Unfortunately, Obama's only experience is acedemic and political, and so he failed to take this very simple and normal step.

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14. 14. Soccerdad in reply to Scottsman 12:24 PM 6/9/10

    Scottsman,
    
    Note the second paragraph. The feds have given the approval. So, why was several weeks of delay needed to satisfy the beaureaucratic meat grinder?

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15. 15. CoastalEngr 04:06 PM 6/9/10

    Please not that building the sand berms is also going to feed money back in the local economy as dredging crews will need lodging and food; equipment will also need to be docked, stored and transported. If nothing else, at least the people impacted the most will benefit some from BP's money.

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16. 16. Fred Bauder 01:36 PM 7/19/10

    I have created a Wikipedia article, "Louisiana barrier island plan". Continuing contributions would be helpful, as this is one of the largest human projects ever proposed.

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