Army Corps of Engineers personnel standing on the lock structure next to the new pumping station, all part of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex in Belle Chasse. Photo by Chris Johnston

Barely two weeks ahead of hurricane season, the Army Corps of Engineers tested the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Complex just south of Belle Chasse.

The pumping station is the largest of its type in the world, consisting of 11 Caterpillar engines, each with 5,444 horsepower. In addition to the pump station, the complex consists of a navigable floodgate, floodwalls, sluice gates, foreshore protection, and an earthen levee, all part of the 133-mile perimeter protection system around the Greater New Orleans area, in which Belle Chasse is included.

Crews putting the finishing touches on the newly- operational pumping station in Belle Chasse, the largest of its type in the world. Photo by Chris Johnston

The construction of that protection system now appears to be nearing the end. Colonel Ed Fleming made reference to issues last year where temporary measures were used to plug holes in the system.

“By the first of June this hurricane season, the entire system will be complete,” he said. “We will not have to worry about any Hesco baskets, sheet pile, sandbags, or anything like that around the perimeter. We will have the final features in place around the entire perimeter of the system.”

Fleming, engineers with the Army Corps of Engineers, along with Parish President Billy Nungesser, attended the test.

“We have 100-year protection in Belle Chasse, and ac- tually the Jesuit Bend levee south, that project will start soon,” said Nungesser. “We are looking forward to seeing that gap in Plaquemines complete over the next several years.”

In remarks before the test, Nungesser stressed the 100- year protection that this structure provided, especially be- fore Hurricane Isaac when seniors from Riverbend Nursing and Rehabilitation Center were evacuated.

“It gave us— for the first time in Plaquemines Parish, when we did need to call for an evacuation— a feeling of confidence in the flood protection here… We were able to evacuate those elderly people to the northend of the par- ish and feel surely they were safe behind this pump station and the 100-year protection in Belle Chasse.”

When the 225-foot floodgate is closed during a storm event, the 19,426-cubic-feet-per-second 11 bay pump station is required to evacuate the rainwater that is pumped into the Harvey and Algiers canals by nine other pump stations along the canals.

There was also some discussion of the raising of 2.5 miles of Highway 23 below the floodgates, Nungesser said he believed it would be completed before the height of hur- ricane season this year.

Although the church’s antique organ was destroyed by
flood waters, the St. Paul Choir filled the void during the
May 5, “Rededication Day” service. The service was the
first for the church in nine-months.

For the last nine months, the small community of Ironton has been feverishly working
to come back from Hurricane Isaac’s devastation, and on May 5, 134-year-old St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, was officially back in full-force.

The gutting and renovation process was slow, but through volunteers and church member donations, its work was finally completed a few weeks ago.

One of the church’s main casualties from Isaac was the antique organ, which was as old
as the church itself, but the St. Paul Gospel Choir managed to fill the organ’s void at Sunday service. Church members singing along with the choir could be heard from the street.

Church member Thomas Carerre said the rebuilding is a “great example of the resilience of
this community and the resolve of the people of Plaquemines Parish.”

Buras, Councilchair Byron Marinovich and local insurance agent Bill Bubrig represented Plaquemines Parish on last week’s trip–which was coordinated by GNO Inc.— to lobby Congress to make changes to the Biggert-Waters Act. Buras and Marinovich both said that after talking with lawmakers and their staff who helped draft the legislation it was clear that most did not foresee the immense harm it would cause to coastal communities
like Plaquemines.

“They had no clue— it was deer in the headlights,” said Buras. Marinovich echoed those thoughts and called the meeting with FEMA “a circus show.”

“In the two days I was in Washington D.C., I can only tell you that I once again I saw the dog chasing his tail,” Buras continued. “We met with every member of the congressional delegation, and depending on which party you talked to there was a different interpretation of what the act was supposed to do, what congress needed to do, and what FEMA could and couldn’t do.”

Bubrig presented members of the delegation with a testimonial of how the elimination of subsidies will skyrocket the premium for a home in Jesuit Bend that currently pays $633 annual for flood insurance and is built at a +3 ft elevation. Thanks to the new base flood
elevations, that home is now at a -6 ft elevation level and is looking at paying $28,554 annually for flood insurance.

“In Plaquemines alone, we have approximately 5,000 buildings outside of 100-year protection,” Bubrig wrote. “These 5,000 building were built at or above the NFIP requirement when constructed. Without grandfathering these properties/homes will become too expensive to insure and impossible to sell.”

Buras said that all members of the Louisiana Delegation committed to doing something, but they weren’t sure exactly what they could do or how long it would take to get anything done.

“I really am optimistic that something is going to get done,” said Buras. Bubrig also said that after meeting with the Louisiana delegation and their staffers, he is “cautiously
optimistic” that something will be done.

Their optimism may be justified since Senator Mary Landrieu filed an amendment to the Biggert-Waters Act last Tuesday, that if approved by Congress, will stop flood insurance rate increases until FEMA completes an affordability study. The amendment is up
for vote this week.

But in the long run, delaying the premium increases is a temporary fix– it does not change the law or how FEMA is determining the Base Flood Elevations that are used to set flood insurance premiums. The overall goal for Plaquemines Parish is to get FEMA to consider the Coastal Master Plan and on-going levee improvements– for which several millions of dollars have been allocated.

The parish is working to appeal the maps, and will continue to actively lobby Congress, but the message was clear at the May 9 PPC meeting– every Louisiana representative needs to hear from the residents whose lives are being turned upside down by their actions.

“We didn’t get represented…so we need residents who are affected by this to call, write, contact their representatives to show their displeasure with the way our delegation acted on this,” said Buras.

Last week’s lobbying group was unable to meet with Senator Maxine Waters, D-CA, directly due to scheduling conflicts, but did manage to sit down with her staff. Last Friday, Waters released a statement addressing the legislation and pledging to join the fight to undo its damages.

“As one of the primary authors of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act and a longtime advocate for the people of southern Louisiana, I can state that it was never the intent of Congress to impose the types of punitive and unaffordable flood insurance premiums that residents of southern Louisiana are currently facing,” Waters wrote. “I am committed to working with my colleagues in Congress and with the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to solve this problem.”

“The guy who designed this plan, if it doesn’t work, his life will go on… we will suffer
forever,” said Clint Guidry, President of the Louisiana Shrimpers Association.
Guidry, along with Mike Lane of RodnReel.com, Charter Boat Captain George Ricks,
and Dr. Pat Fitzpatrick of Mississippi State University are leading the charge on the
Save Louisiana Coalition, an organization against large scale diversions.
Photo by Helmut Ermlich

Hundreds of concerned fishermen attended the second meeting of the Save Louisiana Coalition last Monday night to get informed on what coalition leaders say is the biggest issue facing fisheries today: large-scale freshwater and sediment
diversions.

The Louisiana Coastal Master Plan, approved last year, has several large-scale diversions slated for Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parishes. One planned for the
Plaquemines/St. Bernard border in Braithwaite will flow 250,000 cubic feet of
freshwater and sediment per second into the area’s marshes. That planned project is the same capacity of the Bonnet Carré spillway.

A 50,000 cfs diversion planned for the Myrtle Grove area has already gone out to bid.

“We’re not fully against the master plan, we’re totally opposed to any new diversions,” said Mike Lane, one of the organizers of the Save Louisiana Coalition. “I had a long conversation with Garrett Graves [Chairman of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority] and he told us that the plan might
displace people, displace communities, but they’re going to do it anyway.”

Proponents say the diversions are designed to allow freshwater and sediment to flow into the marshes to re-nourish them. The marshes have been cut off from
nourishing river sediment over the last 100 years by levees and other manmade
structures. They also say that these diversions are the most cost-effective and sustainable way to combat erosion and subsidence.

However, opponents of diversions—largely commercial and recreational fishermen, marina owners, shrimpers and oystermen, say that these diversions are a risky experiment that could wipe out their livelihood.

“They’re basing this on theoretical science that relies on computer modeling,” said Clint Guidry, President of the Louisiana Shrimpers Association. “The guy
who designed this plan, if it doesn’t work, his life who designed this plan,
if it doesn’t work, his life will go on… we will suffer forever.”

Their alternative is marsh creation by way of year-round sediment-dredging from the floor of the Mississippi River. They say that dredging creates land in years,
where diversions are estimated to take decades– around 20 – 40 years– to see results.

“Base the goals on land built, not hypotheticals,” said Dr. Pat Fitzpatrick, an associate research professor at Mississippi State University. Fitzpatrick says
that the State Master Plan’s emphasis on large-scale diversions is flawed, one reason being that river water is not as sediment-rich and healthy as it was 100 years ago.

Currently, the state operates three freshwater diversions– one at Davis Pond near Lafitte, one near Bayou Lamoque in Plaquemines and the other in Caernarvon near the St. Plaquemines/St. Bernard border.

Fitzpatrick said that some of the worst erosion of the last decade has been in the area impacted by the Caernarvon Diversion. Fitzpatrick says that area’s erosion has a direct correlation to harmful chemicals in the river water.

“The Mississippi River has fertilizers and pollutants in it, and organic-based soil, which is what Delacroix has, is very sensitive to fertilizers,” he explained.

He said that when plants have easy access to fertilizers, they do not grow deep roots. And when strong storm surges move through, they easily rip the plants from the soil base.

Coalition leaders and fishermen who have navigated area waters for generations
say that the Bayou Lamoque diversion in Plaquemines–an 8,000 cfs (cubic feet of water per second) diversion– is directly responsible for low oyster counts in the area. The diversion is still open today.

Jody Donewar, a Plaquemines-based boat captain and charter guide, says that since the oil spill in 2010, the Bayou Lamoque diversion has been opened at full capacity to combat post-oil spill erosion.

“In three years, it’s killed every oyster,” said Donewar. “During the spill, I
took Diane Sawyer’s news crew out there to see effected sites, and I can tell you for
a fact that no oil was even in this area.”

Donewar continued, “You pull them [oysters] out of the water and there’s
no sign of life on the shell; it looks like the whole batch has been rinsed off
with a garden hose. It’s like trying to catch speckled trout in a desert out there.”

At the April 25 PPC meeting, District 7 Councilman Jeff Edgecombe introduced
an ordinance opposing the construction of any more freshwater and sediment diversions until scientific evidence proves that they will not adversely affect the commercial and recreational fishing industries in Plaquemines Parish.

The St. Bernard Parish Council passed similar legislation last month.

Parish President Billy Nungesser and St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta have spoken out against the large-scale diversions. Plaquemines Parish Coastal Director P.J. Hahn was in attendance at Monday’s meeting and said that coalition
had he and President Nungesser’s full support.

Plaquemines Parish Coastal Director P.J. Hahn was in attendance at last week’s Save Louisiana Coalition meeting and said that the coalition had he and President
Nungesser’s full support. Photo by Helmut Ermlich

Hahn and St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta both commended the crowd; both said they were encouraged to see so many—commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen, charter guides, marina owners, land owners— all gathered together for one cause.

“We all represent different groups, but this is the first time I’ve seen everyone together,” said Peralta. “Politicians listen to numbers. This is what will make us win.”

Plaquemines Parish’s own Coastal Master Plan

Last year, the council approved a $65 million bond to fund the three-phase
Plaquemines Parish Coastal Restoration Plan that includes building berms and barrier islands, as well as island and ridge restoration. President Nungesser says that he is working with the Corps of Engineers and is close to getting Phase 1 Corps certified.

Phase 2 of the parish’s Coastal Plan includes barrier island and ridge restoration
that will start once phase 1 is complete. Phase 3 is the building up of the outer barrier islands.

Right now, the permitting, surveying, geotechnical and engineering activities for four reaches of ridge and marsh creation are underway: Reach A (Port Sulphur to Empire), Reach B-1 (Empire to Ft. Jackson), Reach C (Phoenix to Bohemia), and
Reach 1 (Braithwaite to White Ditch).

The parish is also investigating the feasibility of a 35/65 cost sharing agreement with the Corps of Engineers for dredge material. If finalized, the Corps would cover 65 percent of dredging costs and supply the parish with the material, and the parish would pick up the other 35 percent of the tab.

“It’s a no brainer,” said Councilchair Byron Marinovich. “And a win-win for the parish and the Corps– they can help us by giving us some dredge material and we can start working on some of the these restoration projects.”

In a statement released before the April 25 meeting, Commander Eric Becnel stated that “due to misinformation in the public, Sheriff Lonnie Greco has respectfully requested that the vote of an ordinance that was scheduled for today to establish the use of photo speed enforcement in Plaquemines Parish be deferred by the Parish Council until further notice.”

The press release said that Greco will hold a series of town hall meetings in May, and he will address the public’s questions about the speed and stop sign enforcement cameras.

The specifics

The photo enforcement ordinance was introduced on behalf of the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office by District 9 Councilwoman Marla Cooper at the April 11 council meeting.

Sheriff Greco explained that the cameras were necessary to “change traffic behavior in the parish” and to back up his deputies who are already spread thin covering a sprawling
parish divided by a river.

“Our whole focus is to make the public safer,” said Greco. “If we can do something to slow people down out there and possibly save a life, then why wouldn’t we?”

Appeals

The ordinance also states that the Sheriff’s Office will mail a notice of violation to the alleged speeder within 30 days of the violation. If the fines are not paid, the Sheriff’s Office can boot vehicles, report them to collection agencies and/or take the case to small claims court.

A person who received a notice of violation may contest the ticket by requesting an administrative adjudication hearing in writing to the Sheriff’s Office within 30 days of
receiving the notice. Evidence proving that the driver was violating the speed limit to make way for an emergency vehicle, or was following the directions of a police officer, or evidence that the vehicle was stolen during the violation, are all worthy reasons in the eyes of the PPSO to contest a ticket.

Sheriff Greco confirmed that the photographic equipment also takes video, and a 30-second video clip of the alleged offense will be used as evidence during adjudication hearings.

If a driver’s appeal is denied, they’re slated to pay the full fine amount, any late fees associated with the fine, and a $30 hearing fee.

Response to criticism

According to the ordinance, the money collected from the traffic camera penalties will go toward the cost of the photo enforcement program. Redflex, the vendor who will hold the contract for the cameras if the ordinance is approved, receives $32.75 per ticket said Sheriff Greco, and PPSO keeps the remainder, which will be deposited into a Public
Safety Fund account established by PPSO. The funds will be available for use at the Sheriff’s discretion.

Councilchair Bryon Marinovich stated previously that he was “absolutely against” the measure and felt it was “not a public safety measure, it’s a revenue stream.”

Sheriff Greco said he understands the cameras are unpopular, but his job is to enforce the laws and the cameras will help his department do so.

“If you don’t speed, what is the cost to you?,” said Greco in a phone interview. “People don’t like enforcement, but what price do you put on a life?”

There is no cost to parish government for the system, and Commander Becnel says that Redflex will incur all expenses. The ordinance states that some of the funds from penalties collected will go to pay for the program, with the rest going into the Public Safety Fund.

Greco said he chose the company because of the results seen in Jefferson and Westwego area.

“When people see those trucks or cameras out there, they slow down, and that’s what I want to see here,” said Greco.

Father Joseph Tran was on hand for the 18th Annual Blessing of the Fleet at Daybrook Fisheries in Empire on April 14. Every year Tran blesses the ships, the crew and their families and prays with them for a successful season. Photo by Jessica Gonzalez

With sunny skies and a backdrop of blue and yellow ships waiting for their crews, over 100 Daybrook Fisheries employees and their families gathered together at the plant in Empire on April 14 to kick off another successful pogie season.

Before the fishing crews were sent off, Father Joseph Tran walked the dock sprinkling holy water on every vessel, blessing them for a safe and successful harvest. At this year’s Blessing of the Fleet, the 18th annual for the plant, the Daybrook team was awarded the Gerald H. Halpin Safety Excellence Award from Signal Mutual Indemnity Association—a Longshore insurance provider— for a year of outstanding employee safety records.

Of the near 200 Signal Members around the U.S., Daybrook Fisheries was selected to receive the award, which is the insurance company’s highest honor. Signal looks at not only the safety statistics, but at company safety culture, safety contributions to the industry, and safety and health activities in the community.

Gregory Holt, President of Daybrook Fisheries and Executive Vice President Borden Wallace commended employees for yet another year of hardwork, and recognized Chief Engineer Juan Sarria with an award for catching 1 billion fish last season.

Sarria, a Costa Rica native, is sitting this season out for medical reasons but says he is so grateful to work for a company that truly cares about their employees’ well-being.

“I really wanted to go out but they won’t let me because I’m having surgery,” Sarria explained. “They really take care of you here…I came here to fish one year, and ended up staying for 35 years.”

An ordinance bringing the cameras was introduced on behalf of the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office by District 9 Councilwoman Marla Cooper at the April 11 council meeting. It can be voted on as soon as the April 25 meeting.

“I have a lot of respect for Sheriff Greco, and if he thinks they’re needed I will support him 100 percent,” said Cooper.

Sheriff Lonnie Greco says that the intention of establishing a traffic camera enforcement system is to “change traffic behavior in Plaquemines Parish.”

“We get so many calls about speeding and people running red lights and stop signs,” Greco explained. “I don’t have enough guys out there to go out and respond to each one. This could really help us get the traffic situation under control.”

When asked about the potential location of cameras, Greco said that they have not been determined but the Sheriff’s Office would look at high-traffic, high-problem areas that
elicit the most calls.

The ordinance also establishes civil penalties for the various violations:
• Speeding 5 to 10 mph over the established limit calls for a $75 civil penalty or $95 if in an active school zone;
• 11 to 15 is a $120 civil penalty or $140 if in an active school zone;
• 16 to 20 is a $175 civil penalty, or $195 if in an active school zone;
• Greater than 20 mph is a $200 civil penalty; or $220 if in an active school zone.

If the fines are not paid, the Sheriff’s Office can boot vehicles, report them to collection agencies and/or take the case to small claims court. According to the ordinance, the money collected from the traffic camera penalties will be deposited into a Public Safety Fund account established by PPSO. Money from the fund will first go toward the costs of
the system itself, with the remaining funds available for use at the Sheriff’s discretion.

Councilman Stuart Guey said that although he has not made up his mind on the traffic
cameras, he does like that they can be installed on school buses. When placed on the buses, the cameras can detech if someone is ignoring a school bus’ stop sign, or speeding past a school bus.

Councilchair Byron Marinovich said he is “absolutely against” the imposition of traffic cameras.

“It’s not a public safety measure it’s a revenue stream,” said Marinovich. “This is not Jefferson Parish.”

David Muth, director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Mississippi River Delta Restoration Program, and other scientists are studying the residual toxins from the BP oil spill and how it affects all organisms in the food chain.

The shoreline of Bay Jimmy, one of the most dramatic disaster sites during the BP Oil Spill, looks a lot different today than it did three years ago.

It is no longer smothered in thick black oil, wildlife has gradually returned, and seafood production is strong, but scientists with the National Wildlife Federation, NWF, are concerned with the unseen havoc.

“Despite the public relations blitz by BP, this spill is not over,” said David Muth, director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Mississippi River Delta Restoration Program. “In 2012 six million pounds of tar mat and contaminated material from the BP spill were cleaned up from Louisiana’s coast. Justice will only be served when BP and its co-defendants pay to restore the wildlife and habitats of the Mississippi River Delta
and the Gulf of Mexico.”

Since the trial is still on-going, the total amount BP and Transocean are expected to pay out in civil damages has yet to be finalized but NWF is making recommendations on where that money would be best served. In a recently published report, they rate the health of six key Gulf species as well as coastal wetlands and make recommendations on how the settlement money and fines could best serve the areas most affected by the disaster.

Wildlife

Pelicans taking in a rest in Bay Jimmy, one of the most dramatic sites during the 2010 BP oil spill.

“The most dangerous, toxic elements of the oil tended to dissipate into the system,” explained Muth during a tour of Bay Jimmy last week. “We need to look at the long term effects of that.”

Wildlife has slowly returned to Bay Jimmy, like the snails seen here, but scientists wonder how these smaller organisms were affected. “These toxins could be amplified up the food chain,” said David Muth.

In their report, scientists with the NWF say they are seeing high rates of abnormalities in dolphins and a record-high dolphin mortality rate. More than 650 dolphins have been found stranded in the oil spill area since April 2010– four times the historical average. A stranding is defined as when marine mammals, either come ashore alive under abnormal circumstances, are injured close to shore, or wash ashore dead, whether individually or in groups. Blue fin tuna numbers are down, and sea turtle strandings and deaths are at record-breaking highs.

As a small crab jumped from the marsh to his arm during a tour of Bay Jimmy, Muth asked “how much oil is this crab carrying?”

“These toxins could be amplified up the food chain.”

Wetlands

NWF also rated the health of the coastal wetlands as poor. In northeastern Barataria Bay, thin bamboo poles are staked in the sea floor to mark where the shoreline was in 2010. Today those poles are roughly 200 feet away from the marsh’s edge.

About 1,110 miles of shoreline were oiled when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20, 2010, killing 11 people and dumping 4.4 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. That massive contamination weakening the root system of the marsh grass, topped off with Louisiana’s long running battle with subsidence and coastal erosion, is proving to be a deadly combination for the vital wetlands.

“We’re trying to measure the effects of an oil spill on a system that was already in decline—it’s going to be tremendously hard to sort out these results,” said Muth.

Restoring the damage

Muth says that the silver lining of the horrible tragedy is money for coastal restoration. From the civil trial, experts are expecting up to $17.6 billion in Clean Water Act Penalties from BP; and $1 billion from Transocean. Thanks to last year’s passage of the RESTORE Act, 80 percent of Clean Water Act fines paid by BP and other parties responsible will be put into a trust fund.

Of the total money collected in the trust fund,
• 35 percent is equally allocated among each of the Gulf Coast states— Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida;
• 30 percent is dedicated to the development of a Gulfwide Ecosystem restoration plan;
• 30 percent for state-specific environmental restoration plans;
• 2.5 percent for grants and research;
• 2.5 percent for long-term fisheries monitoring and ecosystem science.

In January, the court approved a $4 billion settlement for BP’s criminal violations of the Clean Water Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the loss of 11 lives. Of that, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will be doling out $2.4 billion to Gulf coast restoration projects, and another $350 million will go to the National Academy of Sciences for research.

In February of 2013, the court approved a $400 million settlement with Transocean for its criminal violations of the Clean Water Act, and $150 million of that will be distributed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for Gulf coast restoration.

State Master Plan

NWF is a big supporter of the State Master Plan, which calls for several diversions and marsh creation projects.

“Diversion” is an ugly word in Plaquemines Parish, as many local oystermen say that pumping more freshwater into brackish areas where oysters grow will kill off production and the oyster industry in the parish as we know it.

The State Master Plan has a 75,000 cubic feet per second sediment diversion in the Myrtle Grove/mid-Barataria area, that will be going out to bid soon. If the first 30-year phase of implementation is successful Muth says that the state could move on to expand that diversion to 250,000 cfs— which is the size of the Bonnett Carre spillway.

An Eastbank diversion of the same capacity is also planned in Braithwaite.

“We’re very excited about this project [Myrtle Grove Diversion],” said Muth. “In 40 years, we could see oaks growing out in this marsh if this diversion is built. It doesn’t happen now because of the salt water. Having a mix [of sediment and freshwater] is important.”

Fishermen and coastal advocates in Plaquemines Parish, including parish officials are skeptical of large scale diversions. Parish Coastal Director P.J. Hahn said at last month’s PABI luncheon that he wishes the master plan would look at the West Bay Diversion as an example of how dredging and diversions can work hand-in-hand. Officials were considering shutting down the West Bay Diversion altogether because it did not work, but a local cattle rancher persuaded them to build islands with dredged material, which in turn slowed the diversion and began creating land.

In a period of about four years, the area flourished.

“Would you like to see land built in 40 years, or 4?” said Hahn, questioning the amount of time it takes for diversions to build land.

Byron Marinovich, Councilchair and owner of the Black Velvet Oyster Bar in Buras, said he sees both sides of the argument.

“I know a lot of the oyster fishermen are afraid of big diversion’s blasting out 250,000 cfs and wiping out oysterbeds, but they need to realize that if we don’t do something now they’ll be fishing out of New Orleans East.”

Muth says any fears of a diversion operating at full cfs, year-round are unfounded. Any changes will be gradual—it takes 20 to 40 years to see results— and the diversions open in conjunction with seasonal rise of the river. The State Master Plan does have $20 million worth of dredging projects on the books, but Muth says it takes both dredging and diversions for optimal results.

“A mix of Gulf and river water is what makes estuaries and deltas healthy and productive,” explained Muth. “The mouth of the Atchafalaya and the Bird’s Foot Delta are the only places where we let the river out, and they are the most healthy and productive.”

“We’re going to see changes in fisheries,” he continued.

“That’s the way its been for hundreds of years…the idea that there’s any permanence to this system is incorrect. If we want to live down here, we need to be adaptable.”

The ordinance passed unanimously, and authorizes Parish President Billy Nungesser
to negotiate and execute agreements in conjunction with an appeal of the FIRMs. It also brings on Dr. Joseph Suhayda, Director of the Louisiana Water Resources Research Institute, as a consultant. Suhayda has 30 years experience in coastal engineering, and has conducted evaluations of the hydrologic impacts of several restoration projects in Louisiana using computer modeling.

District 4 Councilman Stuart Guey was on the council in the 1990s when he and his fellow councilmembers filed an appeal based on several levee and coastal project for which they had plans and money allocated. The appeal was granted. But sometime over the last 20 years, FEMA stopped considering unfinished projects.

“From what FEMA told me, until a project is completed and certified it will not be considered in determining Base Flood Elevation,” said Guey. “In the 90’s they considered these things [uncompleted projects], but somewhere along the line the
rules got changed.”

Guey says that he has a strong interest in finding out when, where and why this policy
change occurred, and since Dr. Suhayda was heavily involved in the process during
this time period, he hopes he will be able to shed some light on the subject.

Councilchair Byron Marinovich and President Nungesser both said that the appeal
is leaning on the fact that the parish invested millions into coastal restoration and
levee projects, that were not taken into consideration when this mapping was done.

Last year, the council approved a $65 million bond to fund the three-phase Plaquemines
Parish Coastal Restoration Plan that includes building berms and barrier islands, as well as island and ridge restoration. Nungesser explained that he is working with the Corps of Engineers and is close to getting Phase 1 Corps certified. Once in place, the berms will work with existing levees to lower storm surge 5 to 8-feet in several locations around the parish.

Phase 2 of the parish’s Coastal Plan includes barrier island and ridge restoration that will start once phase 1 is complete. Those projects are projected to lower storm surge another 5 to 7-feet. Phase 3 is the building up of the outer barrier islands, which is projected to lower storm surge by 5 to 8-feet when completed.

“Added up, those projects would give Plaquemines Parish the protection it needs
and deserves,” said Nungesser.

In another separate but related piece of legislation, the council unanimously approved
an ordinance that allows the Parish President to continue implementation of the Coastal Plan to perform permitting, surveying, geotechnical and engineering activities for four reaches of ridge and marsh creation: Reach A (Port Sulphur to Empire), Reach B-1 (Empire to Ft. Jackson), Reach C (Phoenix to Bohemia), and Reach 1 (Braithwaite to White Ditch).

The ordinance also allows them to investigate the feasibility of 35/65 cost sharing
agreement with the Corps of Engineers for dredge material. If finalized, the Corps
would cover 65 percent of dredging costs and supply the parish with the material, and the parish would pick up the other 35 percent of the tab.

“It’s a no brainer,” said Marinovich. “And a win-win for the parish and the Corps– they can help us by giving us some dredge material and we can start working on some of the these restoration projects.”