A fleet of boats under BP’s control sat idle this weekend as Jefferson Parish officials begged for the company’s help when a thick brown slick of oil threatened to enter two passes leading into Barataria Bay.
BP officials in Grand Isle told Chris Roberts, a Jefferson Parish councilman, and other parish and city officials they did not have the authority to order the boats into action.
“They said they were waiting for some direction from their people in Houma,” Roberts said. “But they never got it.”
The fleet of nearly 50 boats is part of BP’s Vessels of Opportunity program — created to help with the company’s massive oil leak about 50 miles offshore — and there is skimming and boom equipment on board, Roberts said.
But on Friday and Saturday the boats were docked in Grand Isle, Roberts said.
