Eight days ago Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. At a rate of over 4000 gallons per hour crude oil was removed from the Gulf by powerful vacuums and place safely into a waiting fleet of barges...that is, until the Coast Guard came and shut them down.
So on day 59 of this disaster, with 52 mile of coastline compromised, sixteen barges with giant vacuums sat idle...by government order.
Why? The Coast Guard said they needed to confirm there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and they had trouble contacting the people who built the barges.
"These barges work. You've seen them work. You've seen them suck oil out of the water," said Jindal. "The Coast Guard came and shut them down,"
After Jindal strenuously made his case, the barges finally got the go-ahead today to return to the Gulf and get back to work, after more than 24 hours of sitting idle.
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