even trying to pick up all the oil. bp has been directed to meet a government set standard of less than 1% visible coverage. within that section and within that entire section of beach, there has to be less than 1% coverage. reporter: so out of every thousand feet of beach, you can still have ten feet of oil? yes. reporter: that sounds like a lot to me. it s the standard that was determined. well, now migratory birds are nesting on the still contaminated island and others in the gulf. a year ago, oil was thick on the surface in the marshes. today, now it s on the bottom. some beaches are suffering from chronic re-oiling, oil that washes back onto the shore. and many gulf businesses are still feeling it. even though tourism here in new orleans is vibrant, it s less on the shore.
i m going to spare no effort to respond to this crisis for as long as it continues. and we will spare no resource to clean up whatever damages cost. a year later, much of the coastline looks clean, until you do what cnn s david mattingly recently did when he visited one of the mississippi barrier islands. take a look. reporter: it s been almost eight months since bp oil blackened the beaches of mississippi s barrier island and i find that the oil is still here. it s brutal. uh-huh. reporter: not at all like we saw last summer. it crumbles like a cookie almost. surprisingly, bp crews aren t even trying to pick up all the oil. bp has been directed to meet a government set standard of less than 1% visible coverage. within that section and within that entire section of beach, there has to be less than 1% coverage. reporter: so out of every thousand feet of beach, you can still have ten feet of oil?
i find that the oil is still here. it s brutal. uh-huh. reporter: not at all like we saw last summer. it crumbles like a cookie almost. surprisingly, bp crews aren t even trying to pick up all the oil. bp has been directed to meet a government set standard of less than 1% visible coverage. within that section and within that entire section of beach, there has to be less than 1% coverage. reporter: so out of every thousand feet of beach, you can still have ten feet of oil? over that entire thousand feet, yes. reporter: that sounds like a lot to me. it s the standard that was determined. well, now migratory birds are nesting on the still contaminated island and others in the gulf. a year ago, oil was thick on the surface in the local marshes. today, in many of those same marshes, it s still thick, but now it s on the bottom. some beaches are suffering from
here. it s brutal. uh-huh. reporter: not at all like we saw last summer. it crumbles like a cookie almost. surprisingly, bp crews aren t even trying to pick up all the oil. bp has been directed to meet a government set standard of less than 1% visible coverage. within that section and within that entire section of beach, there has to be less than 1% coverage. reporter: so out of every thousand feet of beach, you can still have ten feet of oil? yes. reporter: that sounds like a lot to me. it s the standard that was determined. well, now migratory birds are nesting on the still contaminated island and others in the gulf. a year ago, oil was thick on the surface in the marshes. today, now it s on the bottom. some beaches are suffering from