Eleven parish leaders met with officials from BP, the coast guard and wildlife and fisheries today at BP headquarters to discuss how to keep oil off their coast. Vermillion Parish President, Wayne Touchet, said they discussed,” points of interest that we were concerned about booming off and we got them today to sign off on our plan." Every Parish had to approve of a map like this one that outlined the amount of boom available to each parish and exactly where it’d be placed. St. Mary Parish President Paul Naquin says he feels prepared to fight the oil “We have about 5,000 feet of oil booms in St. Mary Parish, and we have a number of feet of solvent booms,” Naquin said. St. Mary Parish, Iberia and Vermillion Parish have all teamed up to protect Acadiana’s coastline. Naquin said, "The three parishes have partnered and we are going to share booms and help them if the oil spill comes into their parish, we are going to work closely.” Touchet added, "We have a common interest which is Vermillion Bay and Marsh Islands." Touchet says small amounts of oil have already been found on the western shore of Marsh Islands. So far, there are no reports of oil in St. Mary Parish. Naquin said, "We have a high river, which is about 6 feet in the Morgan City area and the Atchafalaya River which dumps into the bay at the end, so I think we are going to be pretty good for awhile."

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