Vitter pleased with decision to move ahead on barriers

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R) applauded the efforts by BP and the federal government to move ahead with a barrier island proposal to slow the spread of oil to the coastline. 

"This is very positive, if long overdue," Vitter said in a statement Thursday. "I'm happy the president finally heard our plea to cut through the bureaucratic red tape."

The next challenge for the plan is to get the Army Corps of Engineers and other groups involved to move quickly on the dredging to create the barriers. 

"I'll be pushing the Corps extremely hard on this," Vitter said. 

BP has said it will pay the estimated $360 million for the federal government's barrier island proposal. 

U.S. government officials are planning the construction of six sections of the Louisiana barrier island proposal. BP will make payments in stages as the project progresses, but "will not manage or contract directly for the construction of the island sections, nor will the company assume any liability for unintended consequences of the project," BP said in a release. 

"BP is committed to implementing the most effective measures to protect the coastline of Louisiana and reduce the impact of the oil and gas spill in the Gulf of Mexico," BP CEO Tony Hayward said in a release. "The federal government and the state of Louisiana have agreed that the barrier islands construction is an effective response to the spill and we look forward to working with them on this project."

BP has paid $170 million to Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida for response costs and to promote tourism. The company has paid about $42 million in compensation to those affected by the spill, according to the release. 

The cost of the oil spill is nearing, and might surpass, $1 billion. BP reported spending $960 million in the latest figures released earlier this week.