BP Gulf Oil Spill: Local Politicians Plead For Help

June 1, 2010— -- In Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, fishermen are now fishing for oil and laying containment boom in the Gulf of Mexico in a desperate attempt to save not just their jobs but their way of life.

"I don't see BP doing anything new, I don't see him protecting our fisherman, I don't see him protecting our home," said one local politician.

Fears run wide and deep, just like the ever-growing slick in day 43 of the BP oil spill. There is great concern about the coastline and the health of the people who live along the Gulf.

ABC News' Chris Cuomo spent the day with Jean Lafitte, Louisiana, Mayor Tim Kerner to see the thin line of boom that he says is the only line of defense for people of his community and for the fragile marshes that yield 30 percent of country's shellfish consumption. Shellfish is this community's economic lifeblood.

Below the Water

The concern is what can't be seen. The water looks clean, but in the grasses of the marshes are oil-soaked booms. That has many people on the Gulf Coast scared and frustrated.

Kerner said his community and others on the Gulf are not seeing the sense of urgency from BP that they would like to see.

"I don't think anyone realizes how much marshland we have here," Kerner said.

The people on the Gulf Coast are not alone in their frustration. Today, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that a criminal investigation has been under way for weeks into the oil spill. Holder would not say which companies or individuals are being targeted in the probes into the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

Undeployed Boom