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Crews cleaning oil off Louisiana's beaches spend more time on breaks than actually working, the WDSU I-Team has learned.

Reporter Travers Mackel investigated what's keeping the crews from working longer hours, and how their time on the job compares to others working in the Louisiana heat.

Residents in places like Grand Isle and Venice say they want their beaches cleaned up quickly, and they can't understand why the people doing the cleaning don't work longer hours.

Kris Nolen said watching the contract workers hired by BP to clean up the beaches makes her eyes sore. The reason? Lack of productivity.

"You see them work a little. They may work 20 minutes, then stop or rest and take a break," Nolen said.

In the weeks that have passed since the Deepwater Horizon disaster began, residents and elected leaders have questioned just how much work is being done on Grand Isle. So WDSU spent a full day just watching.

After an hour and a half lunch, one group of workers took a 40 minute break, worked for 20 minutes and then took another break. Over the course of an eight-hour work day, it added up to just a few hours of actual work.

I-Team: Oil Cleanup Crews Rest More Than Work
WDSU Observes Grand Isle Workers Taking Long, Frequent Breaks
POSTED: 12:00 pm CDT July 7, 2010
UPDATED: 8:34 am CDT July 8, 2010
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Comments (8)GRAND ISLE, La. --
Crews cleaning oil off Louisiana's beaches spend more time on breaks than actually working, the WDSU I-Team has learned.

Reporter Travers Mackel investigated what's keeping the crews from working longer hours, and how their time on the job compares to others working in the Louisiana heat.

Residents in places like Grand Isle and Venice say they want their beaches cleaned up quickly, and they can't understand why the people doing the cleaning don't work longer hours.

On Grand Isle, construction workers Bryan "Biscuit" Lambert and Cory Culver have a job to do.

"We're trying to build a new gymnasium for the school here in Grand Isle, trying to beat the heat," Lambert said.

And make no mistake -- these are the dog days of summer, with temperatures of 90 degrees and above.

Nonetheless, Culver and Lambert show up every day, because the gym needs to be ready by August, when school starts.

"We come on at 6:30 in the a.m. and take a 30-minute lunch break and get off at 5 in the afternoon, sometimes 6," Lambert said.

They work 11 to 12 hours each day on Grand Isle. But less than 100 yards away, across La. Highway 1 on the beach, it's a different story.

Kris Nolen said watching the contract workers hired by BP to clean up the beaches makes her eyes sore. The reason? Lack of productivity.

"You see them work a little. They may work 20 minutes, then stop or rest and take a break," Nolen said.

In the weeks that have passed since the Deepwater Horizon disaster began, residents and elected leaders have questioned just how much work is being done on Grand Isle. So WDSU spent a full day just watching.

After an hour and a half lunch, one group of workers took a 40 minute break, worked for 20 minutes and then took another break. Over the course of an eight-hour work day, it added up to just a few hours of actual work.

The guys working construction across the highway don't get it.

"Sound like a bunch of sissies to me," Lambert said.

Leaders in Jefferson Parish also have more questions than answers.

"(It's) another example, again, of why common sense is not being applied to this situation," said Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts.

So why are they taking so many breaks? And are they really needed?

The I-Team has obtained e-mails from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, sent to elected leaders in Louisiana. And it's unclear who is calling the shots, OSHA or BP.

One e-mail begins by stating, "The administration (or OSHA) is committed to protecting the health and safety of cleanup workers."

But it goes on to say that BP has implemented a heat stress plan that workers must follow. That plan includes a chart laying out how long crews are supposed to work before taking a break, and how long each break should be. For example, if it's 95 degrees outside and the humidity is 65 percent, crews are to work for 30 minutes and take a 15 minute break. Click here to view the complete chart.

But on Friday, June 25, the official high temperature was 94 degrees and the humidity averaged 66 percent for the day. Yet when WDSU visited three different work sites, cameras never captured anyone working for 30 consecutive minutes. Instead, all the crews WDSU saw worked 20 minutes on and as much as 40 off, always less than the maximum recommended work times.

"I would say if this was their living and they realize what these people are going through, then maybe they would wake up and really try to work and help these people out," Nolen said.

"It's just hot. It's hot in Mississippi. It's hot here. It's the time of year. You gotta deal with it," he said. "That oil spill is more important than this school. That oil spill endangers the whole state, pretty much."

Worker safety is, of course, a legitimate concern, and OSHA said there have been about 100 reports of worker illness related to heat since the cleanup began. That figure is for all Gulf Coast operations.

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