[StBernard] Officials and public oppose freshwater diversion as part of MRGO ecosystem restoration

[Westley Annis]

Officials and public oppose freshwater diversion as part of MRGO ecosystem
restoration

More than 400 pack hearing to discuss Corps draft $3 billion plan that
includes a Mississippi River Diversion through St. Bernard; officials urge
citizens to give feedback to the Corps and Congressional leaders

 

More than 400 people attended a public hearing where speakers echoed the
opening statement of St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro that the
Corps of Engineers should rethink digging a freshwater diversion through St.
Bernard to help with the saltwater intrusion and damages to the coastal
ecosystem caused by the Corps-designed Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.

 

The Corps is mandated to hold public hearings and accept written and oral
feed back during the comment period that ends on Feb. 14 on its draft
Environmental Impact Statement and Feasibility Study report describing the
Mississippi River Gulf Outlet Ecosystem Restoration plan. The nearly $3
billion plan calls for among other actions, creating a fresh water diversion
channel through St. Bernard Parish.

 

After opening comments from Corps officials, Taffaro presented a 40-minute
Power Point presentation that acknowledged the Corps plan is critical to
reversing the damage done to St. Bernard Parish by the MRGO, but he
recommended the Corps devise a system of pipes to direct the freshwater to
the precise locations it needs to go rather than digging a channel.
Additionally, he said the Corps should not review the public feedback in a
vacuum. For a plan this sweeping and important, the parish presidents of the
affected parishes should be at the table incorporating any changes.

 

"We believe St. Bernard deserves the coastal restoration regardless of the
cost. We are asking for a reconsideration of the freshwater diversion,"
Taffaro said. "We all know that St. Bernard has played host to the MRGO in
our front yards and houses - literally (with the flooding of Katrina). We
don't believe the normal course of action is acceptable. We are asking the
Corps for a special Service Master to include the St. Bernard and all the
coastal parishes after the comment period to let us be a part of the
planning so these comments won't go into a black box."

 

The St. Bernard Parish Council has passed a resolution opposing any
diversion as well. Councilmen Fred Everhardt and Mike Ginart spoke out
against the diversion at the meeting. A statement from Councilman Wayne
Landry, who couldn't attend, was read into the record.

 

District E Councilman Fred Everhardt, who represents the eastern end of the
parish dotted with the parish's fishing communities, said he opposes any
additional diversions and he has questioned the impacts of the Caernarvon
Freshwater diversion over the years and said it has not successfully built
land.

 "Freshwater is not the key to building land," Everhardt said. "Sediment is.
If you put the sediment out there, you will stop saltwater intrusion and
therefore your brackish vegetation will grow and thrive where it won't if
you introduce freshwater. Brackish marsh stops storm surge. Freshwater marsh
is a soggy marsh that is soft and doesn't stop storm surge." 

 

District D Councilman Mike Ginart, who represents the areas where the Corps
is recommending as potential sites for the diversion also spoke out at the
meeting.

 

"You cut us from our toes to our head with the MRGO, and your plan to fix it
is by cutting us across our chest," Ginart said. "We aren't going to build
land with this. There hasn't been a freshwater diversion that has built land
yet. I cannot tell you how strongly this parish feels about the Corps
dredging another doggone canal in our parish."

 

The current draft plan proposes four possible sites for a freshwater
diversion with the two most likely sites being a channel that would 12-feet
deep by 250-feet wide through the Sinclair Tract in Meraux or widening the
Violet Canal which would displace 100 businesses and residences with its
500-foot right-of-way.

 

In addition to being very critical of any plans for a freshwater diversion,
Taffaro and the public said the plan failed to address the comprehensive
needs of the area because it fails to rebuild the outer areas of coastal
protection. 

 

Taffaro said it is important for officials and citizens "to let Congress
know what parts we are really supporting and when they are preparing to
spend $3 billion to restore the damage caused by the MRGO. We believe
spending the money is the right thing for Congress to do because of the
damage of created MRGO, but correcting those wrongs should not be done with
an inadequate  system or settling for something that has a cheaper price tag
just to say the work was completed by a mandate." 

 

The recommended MRGO Ecosystem Restoration Plan would benefit the Central
Wetlands, Lake Borgne, Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi Sound, and the
Biloxi Marsh in St. Bernard Parish. Features outlined in the plan include
creating marsh using dredges, planting cypress trees and other swamp and
wetland vegetation, protecting shorelines with breakwaters, creating oyster
reefs, and diverting freshwater from the Mississippi River near the
community of Violet, LA to reduce salinity and enhance wetlands and fishery
productivity.

 

The plan also includes proposed public access recreation features in Shell
Beach, Meraux and the Lower 9th Ward. The coastal restoration plan is a
follow-up report to the 2008 deauthorization plan that the Corps implemented
to close the MRGO ship channel with a rock barrier at Bayou La Loutre. 

 

During the public comment period, the Corps will host public meetings to
present the recommended plan for construction and to formally gather public
comments. The public meetings are scheduled for:

 

.       Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011: Leo Seal Community Center, 529 Highway 90,
Waveland, MS 39576. Open house 6 to 6:30 p.m. Presentation and discussion
6:30 p.m.

 

.       Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011: Light City Church, 6117 St. Claude Ave. in
New Orleans, LA 70117. Open house 6 to 6:30 p.m. Presentation and discussion
6:30 p.m. 

 

Anyone who can't attend any public meeting, may send their comments to the
Corps by Feb. 14. The report and other documents are available for review
and download at www.mrgo.gov or by request. Questions or comments concerning
the MRGO Ecosystem Restoration project should be addressed to: U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, c/o Public Affairs, PO Box 60267, New Orleans, LA
70160-0267. You may contact the Corps by phone at 504-862-2201, by fax at
504-862-1724 or by email at AskTheCorps at usace.army.mil.

 

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