[StBernard] MOA on MRGO closure reached

[Westley Annis]

CPRA and Corps of Engineers Sign Agreement on MRGO Closure



Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority and U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers officials reached agreement on a memorandum of agreement (MOA)
late Wednesday, October 29 to begin work on a structure designed to close
the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet in St. Bernard Parish by the beginning of
the 2009 hurricane season.

The closure will consist of a rock dike spanning the width of the
decommissioned shipping channel at the Bayou LaLoutre ridge near the town of
Yscloskey in eastern St. Bernard Parish. Corps officials have vowed to have
the closure built by June 2009.

"This agreement is extremely important to the effort to bring hurricane
protection to vulnerable areas of St. Bernard and Orleans Parish," said
Authority Chairman Garret Graves, who negotiated the document on behalf of
the CPRA.

St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro Jr. applauded the news. 

 

"This is perhaps, one of the most important post-Katrina achievements for
St. Bernard Parish," Taffaro said. "Although our hurricane protection and
coastal restoration efforts are in no way complete, the forward movement of
the MRGO closure is an absolute necessity in the process of assuring the
safety and protection of St. Bernard. This is a credit to the partnership
with the new Corps, the Governor's commitment to the closure and the many
St. Bernard citizens and public support for the closure of this structure."

 

The MOA clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of both the CPRA and
the corps during the construction phase of the project.

According to the 2007 Water Resources Development Act, the closure of the
MRGO is to be paid for at full federal expense.


The CPRA has volunteered to use its resources to acquire adjacent lands to
expedite the completion of the project, according to CPRA Chairman Garret
Graves.

"I want to be clear in saying that Louisiana is volunteering to use its
money and resources to help the corps acquire lands and build this project
because its closure is long-overdue," Graves said.

The MRGO is a controversial shipping channel that runs from the Inner Harbor
Navigation Canal in New Orleans through St. Bernard Parish and into Breton
Sound which is adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. Its construction began in the
1950s and it was designed as an alternative route to the Mississippi River
for deep draft navigation to reach New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico. 

However, the high volume of shipping traffic envisioned when it was designed
was not realized and the channel has hastened wetland destruction in St.
Bernard Parish by allowing saltwater intrusion into areas that were once
fresh water and brackish marshes and swamps.

Wetland scientists and local officials have blamed the MRGO for acting as a
conduit for storm surges that contributed to the flooding of St. Bernard
Parish and parts of eastern New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

For more information, please contact CPRA Information Officer Chris Macaluso

at (225) 342-3968 or by email at chris.macaluso at la.gov.

 

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