Breaux Act Newsflash - State Coastal Restoration Funds to be Used to Build 670 Acres of Marsh in Cameron Parish.

State Coastal Restoration Funds to be Used to Build 670 Acres of Marsh in
Cameron Parish.

The Lake Charles Harbor and Terminal District and the Army Corps of
Engineers signed two memorandums of agreement recently to use nearly $20
million from the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund to
beneficially use dredged material from the Calcasieu Ship Channel to build
about 670 acres of marsh in Cameron Parish.

The signing of the two MOAs comes on the heels of a February 13 signing of a
cooperative endeavor agreement between the harbor and terminal district and
Louisiana Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration officials that
allocated the money.

The signing of the CEA was announced by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in
Lake Charles on the day it was signed.

The state has provided $15.5 million to build a 440 acre tract of marsh near
Black Lake. An additional $3.8 million has been provided by the state to
build 227 acres of marsh in the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge.

The state money will be used by dredge contractors hired by the Corps of
Engineers to pay for the cost of beneficially using the dredged materials
instead of depositing the sediment removed from the ship channel in areas
that provide no hurricane protection or marsh restoration.

"The commitment of these funds is part of an overall effort by the state
Louisiana to complete projects across our coast that will use sediments
taken out of our rivers, channels and canals to rebuild our coastal
marshes," said Coastal Protection and Restoration Chairman Garret Graves.
"The sediments removed from our rivers and channels are the greatest
resource we have to rebuild land in this state and it's time to start using
them wisely rather than dumping them in deep waters off our coast where they
do no good."

The nearly $20 million for beneficial use efforts means the state now has
almost $200 million in ongoing coastal restoration and protection projects
in Southwest Louisiana.

For more information about Louisiana's coastal protection and restoration
efforts, please contact Chris Macaluso at 225-342-3968 or by email at
chris.macaluso@la.gov.