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Amtrak officials say a train departing from New Orleans derailed not far from Chicago's Union Station.more>> Amtrak officials say a train departing from New Orleans derailed not far from Chicago's Union Station.more>> A government report says construction of a new Veterans Affairs hospital in New Orleans is $370 million over budget and 14 months behind schedule.more>> A government report says construction of a new Veterans Affairs hospital in New Orleans is $370 million over budget and 14 months behind schedule.more>> The State Fire Marshal's Office is asking for assistance in the investigation of a series of fires in St. Charles Parish.more>> The State Fire Marshal's Office is asking for assistance in the investigation of a series of fires in St. Charles Parish.more>> Authorities say a 12-year-old boy accidentally shot his 8-year-old brother with a gun he found in a closet at his grandparents' Baton Rouge home.more>> Authorities say a 12-year-old boy accidentally shot his 8-year-old brother with a gun he found in a closet at his grandparents' Baton Rouge home.more>> The Tangipahoa Parish School Board will use rededicated sales tax revenue, cuts to transportation services, elimination of a perfect-attendance salary bonus and a one-time reduction in the board-mandated minimum fund balance.more>> The Tangipahoa Parish School Board will use rededicated sales tax revenue, cuts to transportation services, elimination of a perfect-attendance salary bonus and a one-time reduction in the board-mandated minimum fund balance.more>> Police are investigating a fatal accident Sunday morning that left an unidentified man dead.more>> Police are investigating a fatal accident Sunday morning that left an unidentified man dead.more>> The National Flood Insurance Program has set up a hotline to provide information to Louisiana residents.more>> The National Flood Insurance Program has set up a hotline to provide information to Louisiana residents.more>> It's all about the odds, and one lone ticket in Florida has beaten them all by matching each of the numbers drawn for the highest Powerball jackpot in history at an estimated $590.5 million, lottery officials said Sunday.more>> It's all about the odds, and one lone ticket in Florida has beaten them all by matching each of the numbers drawn for the highest Powerball jackpot in history at an estimated $590.5 million, lottery officials said Sunday.more>> The incident happened Saturday afternoonmore>> The incident happened Saturday afternoonmore>> 1500 jobs could be in jeopardy if the Algiers-Canal Street ferry goes out of service because of lack of funding. That's according to a local non-profit who recently surveyed riders.more>> 1500 jobs could be in jeopardy if the Algiers-Canal Street ferry goes out of service because of lack of funding. That's according to a local non-profit who recently surveyed riders.more>>
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - BP PLC and the Coast Guard were excoriated Tuesday by Louisiana's Republican U.S. senator who charged the oil giant was trying to "run away from its full cleanup responsibilities" two years after the nation's worst offshore oil spill and that federal regulators are "too cozy" with BP. U.S. Sen. David Vitter criticized the cleanup at a field briefing in New Orleans of the Committee on Environment and Public Works, which he sits on.
Vitter expressed frustration that more is not being done to clean up about 200 miles of oiled Louisiana coast. Vitter and other Louisiana officials contend the Coast Guard has allowed BP to wind down cleanup operations prematurely.
The Coast Guard denied that Tuesday. Although invited to appear, BP did not have a representative at the Senate briefing.
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