[StBernard] Landrieu Announces $869, 594 for Bayou Lamoque Floodgate Removal

Westley Annis Westley at da-parish.com
Fri Jun 6 18:40:30 EDT 2008


Landrieu Announces $869,594 for Bayou Lamoque Floodgate Removal
Project will create 620 acres of new marsh over 20 years.



WASHINGTON - United States Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., today announced a
$869,594 Minerals Management Services (MMS) grant to Louisiana for the Bayou
Lamoque Floodgate Removal project, which will remove existing floodgates and
allow water to flow unimpeded into Bayou Lamoque and surrounding marshes. In
combination with other efforts that will divert water to the area, the
project is expected to generate 620 acres of new marsh over 20 years. Sen.
Landrieu secured the funding for the project in the Coastal Impact
Assistance Program (CIAP), which was included in the Energy Policy Act of
2005.

"Removing the gates that currently prevent the free-flow of water along the
East Bank of the Mississippi River will help preserve and expand critical
marshland habitat as well as provide storm surge protection," Sen. Landrieu
said. "This project is among a series that will help restore our eroding
coastline."

In 2005, Sen. Landrieu worked to design CIAP, a project that distributes
$250 million annually for 2007 through 2010 to six eligible Outer
Continental Shelf oil and gas producing states. Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska,
California, Mississippi and Texas receive these funds to help minimize the
effects of oil and gas production in Outer Continental Shelf. The funding
includes $127.5 million to Louisiana for fiscal years 2007 and 2008,
totaling $255 million. Additional allocations for the six-state total will
be made for years 2009 and 2010.

In April, an $8.8 million MMS grant was awarded to Louisiana for
improvements to a five-mile stretch of LA 1 to be complete by 2011. The road
is incredibly vulnerable to coastal erosion and is the only artery
connecting America's oil and gas assets to the mainland.

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