[StBernard] Landrieu Announces $1.6M in Wetland Grants

[Westley Annis]

Landrieu Announces $1.6M in Wetland Grants

 

WASHINGTON - United States Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., today announced
that the State of Louisiana will receive $1,657,349.48 to help care for the
state's crucial - albeit evaporating - coastal wetlands. These funds include
three separate grants, which are being issued by the Minerals Management
Service as part of the Coastal Impact Assistance program Plan (CIAP).

"The disappearance of Louisiana's coastline is not just a concern for our
state's coastal communities - it has implications for both our national
security and energy supply as well," Sen. Landrieu said. "We must ensure
that adequate attention is paid to coastal erosion, which brings with it
numerous problems, including reduced storm surge protection and the
destruction of irreplaceable natural habitats. I am firmly committed to
protecting our coastline, which is why I worked to design CIAP in 2005."

The CIAP program distributes $250 million annually for 2007 to 2010 to six
eligible offshore oil-and gas-producing states. Louisiana, Alabama,
Mississippi and Texas, as well as California and Alaska, receive these funds
to help minimize the effects of oil and gas production in the Outer
Continental Shelf. 

Louisiana will receive $1,342,459 to complete part of the Orleans Land
Bridge Shoreline Protection and Marsh Creation project. This plan will build
approximately 50,000 feet of rock breakwater along the Lake Borgne shoreline
between Bayou Beinvenue and Alligator Point to reduce the shoreline erosion
rate in the area by 100 percent.

"This is good news for the state, good news for the city, and good news for
the country." said Timothy Doody, president of the Southeast Louisiana Flood
Protection Authority-East. "This is a portion of the plan that will create a
safer and higher bridge, out of harm's way." 

The state will also receive $264,896 for the Falgout Canal Freshwater
Enhancement Project, the overall goal of which is to allow for the
unobstructed flow of water from the Houma Navigation Canal into the westerly
marshes that are adjacent to it. 

The money will go toward data collection, hydraulic modeling and a study of
the Terrebonne Basin to determine what volume of water should be distributed
into the basin. With these flow enhancements, it is expected that at least
5,000 acres will benefit and that salinity will be reduced. 

"We are very thankful to Sen. Landrieu for assisting us in this most
worthwhile project for the citizens of Terrebonne," said Michel Claudet,
president of Terrebonne Parish. "The Falgout Canal Freshwater Enhancement
Project is critical to our long-term and short-term restoration goals." 

The third grant will award $49,994.48 to the St. James Parish Government to
hire an engineering consultant who will conduct a study on the application
of wastewater into wetland areas. This study will include two separate sites
on each side of the Mississippi River, so the report that is produced will
have examined the potential for wastewater assimilation parish-wide. In
addition to wastewater assimilation, the project is also intended to improve
wetland quality. s

 "At St James we do not have community sewage yet, so this just one step in
that process becoming a reality," said Dale Hymel, President of the St.
James Parish. "It is something to be excited about. We will cooperate with
Sen. Landrieu's office and the federal government to continue helping our
parish."

CIAP funding includes 127.5 million to Louisiana for fiscal years 2007 and
2008, totaling $255 million. Additional allocations of the six-state total
will be made for years 2009 and 2010.

 

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