Louisiana officially canceling Mid-Barataria Diversion, state's biggest coastal project

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The state is officially canceling the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, Louisiana's biggest-ever coastal restoration project, and moving to replace it with a smaller-scale version accompanied with other elements, with officials citing ballooning costs among other factors.

The announcement on Thursday had been widely anticipated, but remained a major development considering the years of study and evaluation that had gone into the $3 billion unprecedented project.

"The state of Louisiana, through its Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), has reached an agreement with the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group to terminate the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project," a statement from trustees overseeing funds from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill said.

Tony Alford, who chairs Gov. Jeff Landry's advisory commission on coastal issues, also confirmed the state was moving to cancel the project.

"At the end of the day, it's just something that we just could not afford, no way, shape or form," Alford said.

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