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By Emma Chapman

Sediment from the Mississippi River is of the utmost importance when considering ways to bolster the wetlands, as I’ve previously discussed in my blog. I mentioned a University of Texas study that showed diverting the Mississippi would allow swamps to regrow and thus redevelop the natural wetlands buffer that protects against hurricanes – all because additional sediment would be deposited into the delta region. However, it has recently become apparent that sediment already dredged from the Mississippi River isn’t being used to properly reinforce the wetlands.

According to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the Army Corps of Engineers has dredged (see photo of the Dredge Wheeler, courtesy of the US Army Corps of Engineers)at least 60 million tons of sediment from the Mississippi, which could be used to rebuild wetlands. However, the Corps has only used 12% of this material for the wetlands, saying that federal regulations require that they dispose of sediment in the most cost-effective way, which unfortunately isn’t rebuilding the wetlands. However, officials from the Department of Natural Resources say that the Corps “cannot simply determine that the beneficial use of dredged material is too costly; it must also request the needed money from Congress.”

A week ago, Garret Graves (see photo, courtesy of lacoast.gov), chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, announced that the state wants the Corps to use up to 80% of the dredged sediment to help rebuild the wetlands. Furthermore, the state is requiring that industry reuse “100 percent of its mud [picked up in private dredging operations] for restoration or pay the dollar equivalent into the state’s coastal restoration fund.”

It’s promising that the state is taking such a strong stance against the Corps on reusing sediment, which will hopefully result in a focused effort to restore the wetlands. However, the dilemma still remains of where the money will come from to use the sediment in the wetlands. A U.S. District Judge recently found that the Corps’ “gross negligence” caused the levees to collapse and thus the Corps should be held responsible for damage caused by the flooding during Hurricane Katrina. This could open up a deluge (excuse my terminology) of additional lawsuits against the Corps – which could, in turn, take away money that would have otherwise gone to coastal restoration.

According to an article published in USA Today, Oliver Houck, a Tulane law professor noted that “If there’s anything this administration doesn’t need right now is another $100 billion tab. The money that would go to coastal restoration will now go to these plaintiffs.” I don’t necessarily believe that there will be such a direct result from the lawsuits, and I do believe that the ruling was an accurate and necessary one for the residents of the Lower 9^th Ward and St. Bernard Parish. The fact of the matter is that the Army Corps of Engineers mustinvest in rebuilding the coast, or they will be vulnerable to a whole other host of lawsuits from future floods caused by their negligence. It might be expensive and it might take time, but it will save money and lives in the long run.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Green Street. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.