Oil reaches Grand Isle- State protests federal delays in aid
by SANDY DAVIS - Advocate (excerpt)

Thick, heavy oil and tar balls flowed onto Elmer’s Island on Thursday, covering a four-mile stretch of beach while residents of Grand Isle woke up to oil washing over rock jetties near the town’s fishing pier. “We’re in awe, we just can’t believe it,” said Jan Scardino, who works in Grand Isle’s City Hall.

Grand Isle Mayor David Camardelle said he met with BP officials Wednesday to discuss the chances of oil striking the town’s coastline. “They said it may never hit us, and 24 hours later, it’s here,” he said.

Gov. Bobby Jindal, who toured the area with local officials, said oil also reached Thunder Bayou and Fourchon Beach on Thursday. The oil traveled about 110 miles from the site of a massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico to the shoreline, Jindal said. “We are very concerned that this is just the beginning,” he said.