MOUND OF TROUBLE

I have been reviewing the Corps proposal for deepening of the channel to the Port of Iberia in Vermillion Parish. Deepening will, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service, destroy significant acres of wetlands. You would think with all the levee that need raising and the critical need for wetlands restoration, deepening of a channel would be one of the last things the Corps would be moving forward on. But, then the political pressure to do business as usual also never fails to amaze me.

I must admit that in this case the Corps has done a great job of trying to mitigate the loss of wetlands by proposing beneficial use of dredge spoil to create wetlands and to armor the bank line to reduce erosion of adjacent wetlands through wave action.

However, now I am hearing that Vermillion Parish would rather the Corps dump the spoil on the banks, believing that this spoil mound will create a levee of sorts, even though that supposed levee won’t meet the structural requirements of a levee and will probably not last through the first big storm.. They have gone so far as to convince our Senators to try to get a provision pass into law that would prohibit the Corps from using the dredge spoil beneficially. This is really troubling and could set a really bad precedent.

When will our politicians ever learn?


Cyn Sarthou is Executive Director of the GRN.