With oil from the 2010 BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico continuing to show up on beaches and in wetlands along Louisiana's coast, the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority on Wednesday passed a resolution criticizing the Coast Guard for prematurely allowing BP to pull cleanup teams from coastal areas it declares clean. The authority passed a second resolution requesting the governor's office and the state attorney general's office to brief its members on whether any of the state's criminal statutes can be applied to BP.

View full sizeTed Jackson, The Times-Picayune archive
Workers under contract to BP clean up tar balls washing up on Elmer's Island in January 2011.
"We've pretty much reached an impasse with the Coast Guard," said Drue Banta, a governor's office attorney handling legal issues involving the spill for the authority. "They continue to tell us 'no' in different ways."