Louisiana restoration projects to get another $52 million

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By Mark Schleifstein, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune


Six coastal and wetland restoration projects and a study of the lower Mississippi River will receive $52 million from Clean Water Act fines paid by Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon drillship that exploded during the BP oil spill disaster in 2010.

The Louisiana projects include:

$14.2 million for planning and design of a freshwater diversion from the Mississippi River into Maurepas Swamp.
$9.3 million for continuation of a long-term study of how best to manage water and sediment resources of the lower Mississippi.
$8.7 million for filling in old oil exploration canals located in the Barataria Unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve.
$7.3 million for construction of a beach, dune and back marsh restoration project on West Grand Terre Island.
$5.2 million for planning and design of a ridge and marsh restoration along Bayou Dularge in Terrebonne Parish.
$4.3 million for planning and design for the restoration of the Golden Triangle wetlands adjacent to the new Lake Borgne surge barrier.
$3.2 million for planning and design of a "living shoreline" of oyster reefs along the southern edge of the Biloxi Marshes.

The Restore Act fund is expected to receive another $4.4 billion in Clean Water Act fine money over 15 years under the terms of a proposed settlement between the Justice Department, the coastal states and local governments that was announced on July 2.

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