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Coast Guard Winding Up BP Spill Cleanup In 3 States, But Not In Louisiana

The Coast Guard is winding up its clean-up work in three Gulf Coast states with beaches soiled by the BP oil spill. But operations in Louisiana are continuing.

The Coast Guard says it will continue monitoring cleanup along 84 miles of Louisiana’s delicate wetlands and waterways. BP says active clean-up work along beaches of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida is ending. The oil company remains responsible for cleaning up oil from its blown out well that washes up on shore.

Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Commander Natalie Murphy says the response will be more streamlined. She says crews will remain stationed in Louisiana, but will be dispatched as needed in the other three states.

“You’ll still see this in parts of Louisiana," Murphy said. "There’s the clean-up crews that are on an operational schedule, so a large team and some equipment, they’re in certain areas. In the eastern states where it’s just a few tar balls that are being washed up, depending on the weather and the motion of the water, they may or may not see any oil on that particular day.”

BP says it has spent $14 billion on the response and cleanup of its oil spill.

The National Wildlife Federation issued a statement after the announcement. It says tar balls cannot become the “new normal” and a proactive assessment is needed after Gulf storms churn up the shorelines.

The Coast Guard says Alabama, Mississippi and Florida should be back under the National Response Center jurisdiction later this month. Louisiana will remain under the current system with local and state participation.

Eileen is a news reporter and producer for WWNO. She researches, reports and produces the local daily news items. Eileen relocated to New Orleans in 2008 after working as a writer and producer with the Associated Press in Washington, D.C. for seven years.

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