Gov. Landry: Compromise could come soon over Louisiana’s largest coastal project

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he hopes negotiators iron out a compromise soon over the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, the state’s largest and most controversial coastal restoration project.

The diversion, which has been the centerpiece of Louisiana’s coastal program, would channel up to 75,000 cubic feet per second of Mississippi River water into the bay to mimic how the river built the delta is South Louisiana.

Computer models suggest Mid-Barataria would build 21 square miles of land over a 50 year period.

While many coastal activists hail the project as game changing for a disappearing delta, the project is bitterly opposed by commercial fishing interests. They fear that much fresh water would doom their industries and devastate marine life in Barataria Bay.

COAST IN CRISIS

Plaquemines Parish Government filed suit over the project and issued a stop work order, which brought construction to a screeching halt earlier this year.

In a tentative compromise, the Landry administration and Plaquemines Parish worked out an agreement allowing some construction to continue while negotiators work on a long term deal.

This week, Landry voiced concern about litigation delaying the project and about its rising costs, which have escalated over the years to reach an estimated $2.9 billion.

“We have projects along the entire coast that need to be funded,” Landry said.

Simply downsizing the diversion presents a number of challenges, coastal activists say.

Revising the plans would require an Environmental Assessment from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which could lead to a full-fledged Environmental Impact Statement and the possibility of years of delay.

Funding for the project flows from fines and court settlements associated with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

Any change in the scope or scale of the diversion would require the approval of the boards that administer that money.

Landry declined to go into specifics about what a compromise might entail, but sounded an optimistic note about the prospects for a solution.

“I can tell you I believe the negotiations between us and the parish and the contractors is going well,” Landry said.

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