Imagine showing up for a day at the beach and being told that you’re on private property and have to leave. That’s what’s happening on Gulf beaches in the Florida panhandle, where the public’s ability to simply dip their toes into the waters of the Gulf is at risk. The flashpoint in all of this …
If you can’t get to the Gulf, how can you care about the Gulf? Read More »
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA)’s “Coastal Connections on the Water” event in on September 12 in Buras, LA, was illuminating in more ways than one. For someone like me who has a 101-level knowledge of sediment diversions, I came away with more engineering knowledge than I started with and a firmer belief …
It is no secret that some of Louisiana’s leading industries are in oil, natural gas, and chemicals. Our state is the third largest producer of petroleum in the country and, on top of that, we have the largest concentration of crude oil refineries. We also ship out more than $14 billion worth of chemicals each …
This month, I had the pleasure of touring the surge barrier with the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. DSCEJ’s Water Equity Group came from all five Gulf States to tour Bayou Bienvenue and discuss surge protection — natural and unnatural. We toured the MR GO ship channel and discussed …
The Yazoo Backwater Pumps project is a 77 year old Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) project that would have resulted in one of the world’s largest water pumping plants in one of the most sparsely populated regions of the country. The pumps would, at last estimate, cost taxpayers $220 million with at least $1 million …
Yazoo Pumps – Is this zombie project finally dead? Read More »
In Houston, Hurricane Harvey’s floodwaters displaced tens of thousands of residents, flooded more than 70 toxic sites and led to the release of hundreds of thousands of gallons of pollutants. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, Gulf Restoration Network and partners flew over Houston and other impacted areas in Texas and Louisiana documenting some …
Every year, the state of Louisiana releases a new Annual Coastal Plan the Louisiana Coastal Master Plan – the state’s 50 year, $50+ billion dollar plan to restore the coast and protect communities. The overall Master Plan is a big picture strategic document, which the state updates every 5 years. The Annual Coastal Plan gets …
Louisiana Hosting Meetings on Annual Coastal Plan Read More »
In Mobile, Alabama the trustees from the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA Trustees) held a public meeting on Thursday November 30th so that the six working groups (Trustee Implementation Groups or TIGs) spending this source of BP penalty money could report on the past year’s activities and flag important goals for 2018. Each Gulf state …
Mobile Alabama NRDA Restoration Meeting Nov. 30th Read More »
Mississippi’s second annual Restoration Summit convened on Tuesday Nov. 14th so the state could announce a new group of ecological and economic restoration projects for 2018, funded by the BP oil spill settlement and penalties. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is the lead agency managing the allocation of the funds and had the responsibility …
And the hurricanes just kept coming…In finishing my first full month on the job as GRN’s coastal organizer for Florida and Alabama, here came another one as Hurricane Nate churned toward the northern Gulf Coast. Fortunately, Nate was only a Category 1 storm when it came ashore on the Mississippi coast, but it still managed …
Of hurricanes, sewage, and fixing our existing communities first Read More »