For Immediate Release: February 27, 2009
Contact: Chris Macaluso
(225) 342-3968
chris.macaluso@la.gov

State Coastal Restoration Funds to be Used to Build 670 Acres of Marsh in Cameron Parish.

The Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District and the Army Corps of Engineers signed two memorandums of agreements recently to use nearly $20 million from the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund to beneficially use dredged material from the Calcasieu Ship Channel to build about 670 acres of marsh in Cameron Parish.

The signing of the two MOAs comes on the heels of a February 13 signing of a cooperative endeavor agreement between the harbor and terminal district and Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration officials that allocated the money.

The signing of the CEA was announced by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in Lake Charles on the day it was signed.

The state has provided $15.5 million to build a 440 acre tract of marsh near Black Lake. An additional $3.8 million has been provided by the state to build 227 acres of marsh in the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge.

The state money will be used by dredge contractors hired by the Corps of Engineers to pay for the cost of beneficially using the dredged materials instead of depositing the sediment removed from the ship channel in areas that provide no hurricane protection or marsh restoration.

"The commitment of these funds is part of an overall effort by the state Louisiana to complete projects across our coast that will use sediments taken out of our rivers, channels and canals to rebuild our coastal marshes," said Coastal Protection and Restoration Chairman Garret Graves. "The sediments removed from our rivers and channels are the greatest resource we have to rebuild land in this state and it's time to start using them wisely rather than dumping them in deep waters off our coast where they do no good."

The nearly $20 million for beneficial use efforts means the state now has almost $200 million in ongoing coastal restoration and protection projects in Southwest Louisiana.

For more information about Louisiana's coastal protection and restoration efforts, please contact Chris Macaluso at 225-342-3968 or by email at chris.macaluso@la.gov.

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The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority's mandate is to develop, implement and enforce a comprehensive coastal protection and restoration master plan. For the first time in Louisiana's history, this single state authority will integrate coastal restoration and hurricane protection by marshalling the expertise and resources of the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Transportation and Development, and other state agencies, to speak with one clear voice for the future of Louisiana's coast. Working with federal, state and local political subdivisions, including levee districts, the CPRA will work to establish a safe and sustainable coast that will protect our communities, the nation's critical energy infrastructure, and our bountiful natural resources for generations to come. The CPRA of Louisiana was established by Act 8 of the 1st Extraordinary Session of 2005.