Corps: $2.6B in Louisiana infrastructure, disaster money
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers will be getting $2.6 billion for Louisiana under the infrastructure and supplemental disaster acts, Gov. John Bel Edwards said.
The disaster bill to help recovery from Hurricane Ida includes over $2 billion for flood prevention in Louisiana, he said. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill includes $643 million for 21 Louisiana coastal and water management projects.
“Our unrelenting message has been that Louisiana’s coastal crisis is a national crisis. Investments in coastal protection and restoration make life in south Louisiana possible, protect interstate commerce, and support major economic engines that supply goods and services to our entire country,” Edwards said. “Today’s federal investments show that we are being heard and rewarded for our good work.”
The disaster relief money includes $783 million for a hurricane protection project from New Orleans to Venice, which is on the ragged toe of the boot-shaped state; $453 million for the west shore of Lake Pontchartrain and $163 million for the Atchafalaya Basin.
Earlier Wednesday, the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority said it plans to spend nearly $1.3 billion in the fiscal year starting July 1, with 81% of that outlay going to construction.
The Corps money is unlikely to affect that total, but details will likely need reworking to provide state matches for federal projects, authority executive director Bren Haase said.
About 60% of the agency’s planned spending for fiscal 2023 will be coming from various funds set up to dole out settlements and fines from the BP oil spill of 2010.
“Fiscal Year 2023 is a pivotal moment for CPRA and our coast,” agency chairman Chip Kline said as the draft plan was presented Wednesday. “This year marks a historic number of large-scale dredging projects, significant investments in hurricane protection, and the start of construction activities on a first-of-its-kind diversion project.”
An environmental coalition called Restore the Mississippi River was enthusiastic.
“Today’s announcement marks a turning point in Louisiana’s coastal program,” campaign director Simone Maloz said.
“This investment follows one of the more devastating hurricane seasons in Louisiana’s history,” she continued. “With so many communities still rebuilding from recent storms, the urgency and importance of restoring wetlands and protecting vulnerable communities cannot be overstated.”
In other news, the coastal authority said $13.7 million from the settlement of a 2006 oil spill will restore about 400 acres (160 hectares) of marsh in Cameron Parish. The settlement also will provide $1.5 million to create oyster reefs in lower Lake Calcasieu and $1.6 million for bird nesting habitat on an island in Terrebonne Parish.
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