He has also toured the coast along Terrebonne, Lafourche, Jefferson, and Plaquemines Parishes by helicopter with U.S. Coast Guard Captain Edwin Stanton, the Federal Coordinating Officer for the disaster, and a representative from BP. They surveyed the impact of the oil leak from the Deepwater Horizon disaster on the coastline west of the Mississippi River.

Congressman Melancon has toured by boat the coastal marshes in St. Bernard Parish with parish officials and viewed the efforts of local fishermen to deploy boom. He has also met with Terrebonne and Lafourche Parish officials and been briefed on their plans for boom deployment and other protective measures to prevent the oil sheen from damaging their coastal marshes. Over one million feet of protective boom have been deployed to protect Louisiana’s fragile coastal marshes from the oil slick.

In his conversations with local fishermen and parish officials involved in laying the boom, Congressman Melancon learned they face a severe shortage in boom material, hindering their ability to protect the coast. In response, Congressman Melancon sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting military aircraft be used to help bring protective boom to the Gulf Coast more quickly. The President granted his request and within a few days of receiving Congressman Melancon’s letter, the first Air Force aircraft arrived in Belle Chasse with additional boom.

Congressman Melancon held a town hall in Houma to listen to constituent concerns about the oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and provide information about the response efforts. Congressman Melancon invited representatives from the Coast Guard, BP, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Small Business Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and officials from Terrebonne, Lafourche and St. Mary Parishes to take part in the town hall to help answer questions and listen to concerns.

Earlier this month, Congressman Melancon organized a town hall in Chalmette to share information with constituents about the oil disaster response efforts. Representatives from the Coast Guard, BP, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Louisiana State University, Louisiana’s seafood industry, and St. Bernard Parish officials answered questions and listened to concerns.

Congressman Melancon has also worked to bring federal attention to the health needs of Louisianians impacted by the oil leak in the Gulf. Yesterday, Congressman Melancon toured the newly opened mobile health care clinic in Venice, La., and met with the staff and patients. The mobile clinic, which Congressman Melancon first requested May 19th , will treat and screen workers and residents affected by the BP oil leak in the Gulf. In his meeting last week with President Obama, Congressman Melancon again repeated this request. Later that day, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius confirmed there would be a federal commitment of health care services for south Louisiana.

Congressman Melancon has asked the federal government for assistance in establishing temporary mental health services to help residents cope with the BP oil disaster in the Gulf. Congressman Melancon has hosted two recent town hall meetings in south Louisiana where he has heard from residents who are starting to display symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.