bonano says the wall would also be cheaper-- about $16 million.urrently the barge operation costs $30 million a month. but holland says the water that would be re-channeled might not only damage the barrier islands, but could also rupture oil pipelines in the bay. >> there are a lot of pipelines that go through these passes. and if we increase tidal scouring then we could potentially have another oil spill on our hands. and that's the last thing we'd want to have happen. >> reporter: bonano has been holding a series of meetings with groups of scientists, hoping to come to an agreement. >> we challenged them. don't just tell us this is a bad idea. you tell us as scientists how we can modify this project to address your concerns of the effects of the estuary, yet still protect it from the oil. that's the challenge we left them with. >> reporter: dr. ioannis georgiu is one of the scientists who reviewed the application. he says scientists want to help. they just need more time. >> i understand the emergency situation and i don't disagree. i agree thi

. >> well, this is dino bonano who is the homeland security director down there and the fire chief mark scardino. they said you've never been down to that parish and that's one of the most toxic areas that's been hit since the spill took place. why haven't you been down there? >> congressman burton, first of all, we believe that the last count that i saw had 11 times that we had been in the gulf coast states -- >> this is one of the hardest hit. >> i have been through louisiana, alabama, mississippi, florida. i don't know the exact parish by parish, but let me just say since april 20th and even before that, i spent a lot of time on the gulf coast and i continue to spend a lot of time down there and will and will work relentlessly on this problem until we get it fixed and we charge the way forward -- >> it seems like this would have been one of the top priorities. i don't understand why you weren't there and they were complaining very vigorously that you had ignored their problems there. >> the president, the vice president and members of the cabinet have been down there countless times.

. >> well, this is dino bonano who is the homeland security director down there and the fire chief mark scardino. they said you've never been down to that parish and that's one of the most toxic areas that's been hit since the spill took place. why haven't you been down there? >> congressman burton, first of all, we believe that the last count that i saw had 11 times that we had been in the gulf coast states -- >> this is one of the hardest hit. >> i have been through louisiana, alabama, mississippi, florida. i don't know the exact parish by parish, but let me just say since april 20th and even before that, i spent a lot of time on the gulf coast and i continue to spend a lot of time down there and will and will work relentlessly on this problem until we get it fixed and we charge the way forward -- >> it seems like this would have been one of the top priorities. i don't understand why you weren't there and they were complaining very vigorously that you had ignored their problems there. >> the president, the vice president and members of the cabinet have been down there countless times.

. >> well, this is dino bonano who is the homeland security director down there andhe fire chief mark scardino. they said you've never been down to that parish and that's one of the most toxic areas that's been hit since the spill took place. why haven't you been down there? >> congressman burton, first of all, we believe that the last count that i saw had 11 times that we had been i the gulf coast states -- >> this is one of the hardest hit. >> i have been through louisiana, alabama, mississippi, florida. i don't know the exact parish by parish, but let me just say since april 20th and even before that, i spent a lot of time on the gulf coast and i continue to spend a lot of time down there and will and will work relentlessly on this problem until we get it fixed and we charge the way forward -- >> it seems like this would have been one of the top priorities. i don't understand why you weren't there and they were complaining very vigorously that you had ignored their problems there. >> the president, the vice president and members of the cabinet have been down there countless times.