West Shore Lake Pontchartrain levee perform subject of two community hearings | Natural environment

The Army Corps of Engineers has scheduled two virtual general public conferences subsequent week to assemble responses on its revised analyze of the environmental results of building the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain hurricane levee.

The research, re-produced April 15 to suitable a description of the allow course of action for the proposed diversion of Mississippi River h2o into Maurepas Swamp, describes how the Corps will use the diversion to mitigate environmental damage triggered by the levee’s building. 

The conferences will be held just about on Might 11 at 6 p.m. and May perhaps 12 at 10 a.m.  

The diversion would move 2,000 cubic toes per next of freshwater from the river to the swamp. It is built to make improvements to wetlands in the identical place exactly where they will be wrecked by the $1.2 billion levee. The levee is previously underneath design along the edges of the swamp on the east bank of the Mississippi River in St. Charles, St. John and St. James parishes.

The corps at first rejected the Maurepas diversion, due to the fact its approximated $200 million expense was significantly much more than the amount of money of mitigation needed for the levee. But it reconsidered right after Louisiana state officials manufactured very clear that they planned on counting only a portion of the diversion’s expense toward the neighborhood share of levee construction charges. State officers say that portion should not be far more than $120 million.

The diversion’s true development fees will be paid by cash the condition will receive from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill environmental restoration system.

The new West Shore levee is aimed at safeguarding the river parishes from hurricane storm surges. It is to be lifted in height more than the up coming 50 years, to account for upcoming sea level increase, officials claimed.

The community conferences will be done by means of WebEx and concurrently streamed on the corp’s New Orleans District Facebook page. Log in information and facts for the meetings is obtainable on the project’s site, as are the report and supporting details.

Folks may possibly also dial these toll-totally free telephone numbers to access each and every assembly:  

• Wednesday, May 11, 6 p.m. – (844) 800-2712, conference number 2762 265 1486
• Thursday, May well 12, at 10 a.m. – (844) 800-2712, conference number 2760 486 9415.

General public opinions or requests for reprints of the revised environmental doc might be submitted to Landon Parr, Military Corps of Engineers, Environmental Preparing Branch, Regional Planning and Environmental Division South, CEMVN-PDC-C, 7400 Leake Ave., New Orleans 70118.

Comments may possibly also be submitted by e-mail to [email protected].

The public remark period ends May possibly 31. 

This function is supported with a grant funded by the Walton Spouse and children Foundation and administered by the Modern society of Environmental Journalists.