Almost no oil recovered from sand berms

NEW ORLEANS -- The big set of sand barriers erected by Louisiana's governor to protect the coastline at the height of the Gulf oil spill is being criticized by a presidential commission as a colossal waste of $200 million so far.

Hardly any oil ever reached the berms, government documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

Gov. Bobby Jindal, who pushed the venture over the objections of scientists and federal agencies, is defending it. And despite the commission's scathing report, he plans to move ahead with the project, though with some changes to make it more beneficial.

In its report, the commission said Thursday that its staff can "comfortably conclude that the decision to green-light the underwhelmingly effective, overwhelmingly expensive Louisiana berms project was flawed."