Reports saying that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved an environmental permit needed to create sand barrier islands are false, Corps Public Affairs Chief for New Orleans Ken Holder.

“It is correct to say it is still under review,” Holder said in an email to The Lens. Holder said there is nothing else the Corps is reporting at this time.

This afternoon, WBRZ Channel 2 News in Baton Rouge reported that Attorney General Buddy Caldwell said the Corps “approved Louisiana’s plan for using sand booms to protect sensitive marsh lands from the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.”

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said on Saturday that a Corps official said the plan would be rejected. This was immediately disputed by the Corps, which said no decision had been made.

Meanwhile, Gov. Bobby Jindal and a state delegation of Congress members and legislators have been calling for the Corps to hurry with a decision on whether or not to begin dredging to build the barriers. At a news conference on the Louisiana coast today, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar added his voice to that chorus.