WASHINGTON D.C. (BNO NEWS) – Charges were brought against three current and two former New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) officers in connection with the police shooting of Henry Glover, a New Orleans resident shot and killed in the days following Hurricane Katrina, prosecutors announced on Friday.

Former NOPD officer David Warren, former NOPD Lieutenant Robert Italiano, NOPD Lieutenants Dwayne Scheuermann and Travis McCabe, and Officer Gregory McRae are charged with crimes in connection with the shooting and killing of Glover, the subsequent burning of his body in a car, the assault of civilians who tried to help Glover, and various offenses involved in the cover up.

Warren is in federal custody, having been arrested by special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) immediately after the return of the indictment earlier today. He is charged with unnecessarily shooting and killing Glover, thereby violating his federally-protected right not to be subjected to the use of unreasonable force by a police officer. He is also charged with unlawfully using a firearm to commit this crime; he faces a possible sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The other officers are charged with various offenses, ranging from obstruction of justice to using fire in the commissions of a federal offense, for burning Glover’s body. Scheuermann and McRae face a maximum possible sentence of 60 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million. Italiano faces a maximum possible sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of $500,000, while McCabe faces a possible maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of $750,000.

“In the wake of a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, law enforcement have a responsibility to do everything in their power to protect public safety and to protect the residents of their city. Any officers who abuse their power and violate the law will be brought to justice,” prosecutors said.

The case is the result of an investigation by the New Orleans Field Office by the FBI.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

BURAS, LOUISIANA (BNO NEWS) – Governor Bobby Jindal joined on Tuesday the Super Bowl Champions, the New Orleans Saints, in a rally to support coastal Louisiana at the Fort Jackson Wildlife Recovery Center, the Office of the Governor announced.

Governor Jindal was supposed to meet with the Saints in Baton Rouge, months ago following their victory in the last Super Bowl, but he asked the team if they could join him in Buras so they can see the impact of the oil spill and help lift the spirits of the people of the area.

Saints owners Tom Benson and Rita Benson LeBlanc, Coach Sean Payton, Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees and a host of other Saints players saw many of the oiled birds that were rescued after the BP oil spill. After that they met with local fishermen and residents impacted by the disaster.

Jindal compared the comeback made by the Saints in the last years, from being one of the worst teams in the National Football League, to be a dominant team and the last winner of the Vince Lombardi trophy.

“In this oil spill, with thousands and thousands of our people affected and their livelihoods at stake, this is the hardest time to believe that we will be whole again.” Jindal said.

“To see this team overcome many challenges, even when the odds were against them, the Saints give our people the confidence that we will be successful despite the odds. We too will dig down deep yet again and we will win this fight to protect our coast. That’s the perseverance of the people of Louisiana.”

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA (BNO NEWS) – Representatives of the Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) and Louisiana Community Action Partnership (LACAP) said that on Tuesday, they will be touring Jefferson Parish communities affected by the oil spill disaster and visit Jefferson Community Action Programs that are offering support services in the area.

The tour will begin at 10:30 a.m., local time, at the Lafitte Town Hall and will include a boat tour of the area impacted by the oil spill around Grand Isle. A meeting is planned in Grand Isle with parish and local government officials to discuss plans by LWC and LACAP to provide support services in the area. The group will return to Lafitte at 2:30 p.m.

“We want to see firsthand how the community action agencies we work with through Community Services Block Grant funding are helping those most affected by the continuing disaster in the Gulf,” said LWC Director of Workforce Development Johnny Riley. “These agencies help to provide front-line assistance where it is needed most.”

Riley will also be joined by Tamarlion Carter, special project manager and coordinator of community action agency activities for LWC, who will be among LWC representatives visiting Lafitte and Grand Isle on Tuesday.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA (BNO NEWS) – The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) will open portions of inside waters near Cocodrie and south of Dulac, Louisiana to recreational and commercial fishing effective on Monday, LDWF Secretary Robert Barham announced on Monday.

One portion of the inside waters to be opened comprises from the western shore of Bayou Petit Caillou to the eastern shore of the Houma Navigation Canal. The other portion begins north of the inside/outside shrimp line to the eastern shore of Bayou Grand Caillou.

In additions, two portions of territorial waters will be opened on June 7 too. The first portion runs from the state outside waters north of the inside/outside shrimp line to the southwestern shore of Pointe au Fer Island, while the second one begins in the same spot up to the Freshwater Bayou in the west.

The removal of the precautionary closures of recreational and commercial fishing is a result of the ongoing efforts to stop the oil spill and also due to the negative reports of oil sightings in the area. LDWF recommends visiting its website for accurate maps and locations of the opened areas.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

GRAND ISLE, LOUISIANA (BNO NEWS) – Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and other community leaders on Monday took BP Managing Director Bob Dudley to see firsthand how the oil spill is affecting Louisiana’s coastline. Dudley said that BP will pay for the first six segments of State’s sand-berm plan.

Governor Jindal showed Dudley the oil impact at Queen Bess Island and East Grand Terre where the state has built a sand-berm to block oil from the fragile marshland. The Governor stressed the importance of Mr. Dudley seeing the oil firsthand and also emphasized the need for BP to start providing funds so the first segments of the State’s dredging plan can be built immediately.

After a tour of the coast and discussions with Governor Jindal, Mr. Dudley – who is in charge of the company’s clean-up operations — announced that BP would be fully funding the first six segments of the State’s sand-berm plan.

“We are glad Mr. Dudley came with us today to see the devastation of the oil impact on East Grand Terre and Queen Bess Island. After seeing the destruction of the miles and miles of oil along our coast, we spoke to Mr. Dudley and he agreed to announce today that BP would pay the full estimated $360 million cost of the six segments of our 24-segment sand-berm plan that was approved by the Coast Guard.”

Dudley said that he would immediately wire the State $60 million into an escrow account set up by State officials and will also commit to paying the rest of the $360 million estimated to continue work on those segments.

“The state’s sand-berm plan was confirmed by both the Corps of Engineers and Admiral Allen to have a positive effect on the environment and will serve as an important action to facilitate the removal of oil before it gets into our coastal wetland and critical fishery nursing grounds,” a spokesperson for Governor Jindal concluded.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

ROBERT, LOUISIANA (BNO NEWS) – Science has played a critical role in the United States government’s response to the Deepwater BP oil spill, President Obama has relied on the best science available to measure and mitigate the impacts of oil, monitor air and water conditions, and assess any impact to the environment and human health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco said on Wednesday.

“From day one, the Obama administration has ensured sound science was driving this response. While we have marshaled all the resources available to fight this unprecedented spill, we have also engaged the full expertise and assets of the best scientific and engineering minds throughout the country to study impacts and assess response efforts,” said Lubchenco.

Department of Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu assembled a team of top scientists, with support from approximately 200 personnel from America’s national laboratories, to analyze the response efforts and recommended additional options for stopping the oil leak.

Lab personnel have independently analyzed two–dimensional gamma ray images which are crucial in helping to understand what is happening inside the Blow-Out Preventer (BOP) and informing the approach moving forward.

Lubchenco praised NOAA’s ongoing scientific response to the Deepwater BP oil spill which so far consists in an ongoing acoustic survey of the submerged oil fields or plumes, a collection of water samples and the net sampling of pelagic species throughout the water column, and the Thomas Jefferson that is returning to sea on Wednesday.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)

ROBERT, LOUISIANA (BNO NEWS) – Rear Admiral Mary Landry, who has served as the Federal On-Scene Coordinator for the BP oil spill response, will rotate back to her role as Commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season, the Coast Guard announced on Tuesday.

Rear Admiral James Watson, who has served as Landry’s deputy since April 23, will assume the role of Federal On-Scene Coordinator. Landry has served as the On-Scene Coordinator since the oil rig exploded on April 20.

“The plan for Rear Adm. Landry to return to her command of the Eighth District at the beginning of the hurricane season has been the strategy since the beginning of this response,” said Admiral Robert Papp, commandant, U.S. Coast Guard. “It is critically important that she make sure the Eighth Coast Guard District forces are ready for a potentially busy hurricane season in the midst of this environmental disaster.”

Landry said that her time as Federal On-Scene Coordinator gave her a deep understanding of the impact that the oil spill will have on the States in the Eighth District. She continued, saying that she will continue to work closely with Rear Admiral Watson to further their mutual goal of bringing affected areas and communities through the disaster.

The Eighth Coast Guard District, headquartered in New Orleans, covers all or part of 26 states throughout the Gulf Coast and Heartland of America. It stretches from the Appalachian Mountains and Chattahoochee River in the east, to the Rocky Mountains in the west, and from the U.S./Mexico border and the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian border in North Dakota.

Planning for the 2010 hurricane season has involved considerable efforts to calculate the effects the BP oil spill could have on response capabilities and recovery scenarios.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)

HOUMA, LOUISIANA (BNO NEWS) — Two crewmen were medically evacuated from two controlled burn fleet vessels after they started experiencing chest pains, the Unified Command in Louisiana reported on late Friday, two days after a similar incident.

The incident happened when the vessels were actively searching for oil concentrations for future burns, but there were no controlled burning of oil being conducted in the area.

The Command said that the master of one of the fishing support vessels started experiencing chest pains and was transferred to the dive support vessel Premier Explorer, which has emergency medical personnel aboard. Two remaining crew members aboard the vessel were experiencing seasickness and were also transferred to the Premier Explorer.

The second vessel also had a crew member experiencing chest pains. He was taken to the dive support vessel Sea Fox where emergency medical personnel were awaiting his arrival.

A medevac helicopter was dispatched to hoist the crewmen for transfer to West Jefferson Hospital in Marrero, Louisiana.

Aerial dispersants have been used in the area of the burn fleet, but as per safety restrictions, the Command said no dispersants were deployed within two miles (3.2 kilometers) of any vessel or platform.

On early Thursday, the Unified Command recalled 125 commercial vessels that had been outfitted with equipment for oil recovery operations in the Breton Sound area after several crew members on three vessels reported experiencing dizziness, headaches, and chest pains on Wednesday afternoon.

Crews have been trying to contain an oil spill that began on April 20 after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig — off of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion killed 11 people and injured 17 others.

The platform later sank, causing one of the worst environmental disasters in modern history.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)

PORT FOURCHON, LOUISIANA (BNO NEWS) – Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal walked on East Grande Terre on Thursday to view the state’s dredging operation currently underway to produce sand boom as part of the state’s ongoing fight to protect the Gulf Coast.

Governor Jindal said, “We need this first project to be done as quickly as possible so work on the next five segments can get underway. We are calling on the federal government to get this two-mile segment done quickly. We know it works, we have seen it work, but if they need to see it work, they need to do that quickly. We don’t want the federal government creating excuses for BP. They could have built nearly 10 miles of sand boom already if they would have approved our permit request when we originally requested it.”

He continued, saying that there are two possible outcomes: the sand boom works or doesn’t. He stated that he already knows that it does as he has seen it work, and that BP needs to pay for all the sand boom segments. Governor Jindal expects the federal government to hold BP accountable and ensure that they act responsibly.

“We encourage the Army Corps of Engineers and Incident Command to continue the review of our other proposed components. Our entire coast is important. There are millions of gallons of oil now floating above and below the surface of the Gulf. This oil will continue to threaten our coast for months or years. Every day we wait is another day where thousands of gallons of oil pollute our wetlands, our estuaries, our fishing grounds, our coastal communities and our way of life.”

The one completed segment of the state and coastal parish sand boom plan to protect Louisiana is on a two-mile gap of an island off Plaquemines Parish. The State’s total sand boom plan request works on 24 segments, totaling around 100 miles, to protect the coast from millions of gallons of BP oil spilling into the Gulf.

“Again, this is why we need to fight against this spill on every front we can. This is not just about our wetlands and our environment – indeed, our land and our marshes support our economy and our way of life. We are in a fight for our state’s future. During this time of year the exact place where we stood today would be full of economic activity, fishermen and shrimpers – but today the beaches are largely empty because of this oil spill.”

He concluded, saying that the State government is frustrated by the response, saying it is “too little too late” and have started taking matters into their own hands. Last Friday, Louisiana directed a dredge conducting restoration work to immediately begin constructing sand boom called for in their plan.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)

WASHINGTON D.C. (BNO NEWS) — The National Incident Commander for the BP oil spill, Admiral Thad Allen, on Thursday approved the implementation of one section of Louisiana’s barrier island project proposal that intends to help stop oil from coming ashore, the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center announced.

Louisiana intends to rebuild the barrier islands as an artificial shield against the massive oil slick. The project plans to dredge and dump sand into 40 gaps in the chain of islands that stretch from St. Mary Parish to Mississippi. The project will protect the Louisiana coasts still not affected by the oil spill and it will also protect them from hurricanes and erosion.

The dredging project was proposed by two Dutch organizations and its one response to keep the oil out of Louisiana’s fragile estuaries and marshlands. The project will cost an estimate of $350 million.

Admiral Allen’s approval will save Louisiana the cost of construction for this section of the project by integrating it with the federal government’s ongoing oil spill response. The payment will be made by either BP or the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

“We are relentlessly working to secure the spill at source and attack the oil being released using every safe and reasonable technique available,” said Allen. “Implementing this section of the proposal will allow us to assess this strategy’s effectiveness in protecting coastal communities and habitats of the Gulf region as quickly as possible. We will not be satisfied until the spill is stopped, the oil is removed, the communities are safe, and their way of life restored.”

The Army Corps of Engineers granted partial approval for the barrier island project proposal, thus covering approximately half of Louisiana’s original request and including six sections. With this permit, the state is authorized to construct the barrier islands at its own expense, so long as construction meets the terms and conditions established by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The original proposal presented by Louisiana Governor Jindal has been modified and adapted as the oil spill situation continues to unfold. Many factors have been considered, including the conservation of the fragile ecosystems in the area and the impact of a major construction project while a response operation of more than 20,000 personnel and 1,300 vessels is currently taking place.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without explicit prior permission from BNO News B.V. Contact sales@bnonews.com for more information about subscriptions.)