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A spoil bank is the pile of soil and debris left behind by the excavation and dredging machines that dig a trench through the swamp. In coastal Louisiana, all of the pipelines are buried or submerged (as opposed to being built above ground). The method for burying the pipe, then, is to dig an enormous trench. The material from the trench is then dumped right next to the new channel, and suddenly a wall is created that cuts off water and organisms from each other that were connected before. Companies are required by law, according to their permits, to return these spoil banks to their natural state once constructions is complete. However, very few companies comply with this stipulation in their permit leading to a basin filled with spoil banks, limited access to bayous and less productive crawfishing harvests. 

This is a guest blog from Cameron Bertron, a summer legal extern with Healthy Gulf. Cameron, a 3L at Tulane University Law School, is a Gulf Coast native and enjoyer of all things wetlands except mosquitoes. The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth-largest body of water in the world, and it is in part bordered

In the wake of Hurricane Barry, a lot of ink was spilled over whether the projections of the storm were too dire or not dire enough, whether the city of New Orleans made the right call to tell people to shelter in place, and whether we can trust the Army Corps to keep us safe.