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    • Opponents of Louisiana’s largest coastal project insist the state violated the Endangered Species Act
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    Opponents of Louisiana’s largest coastal project insist the state violated the Endangered Species Act

    Umito Posted on

    NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Opponents of Louisiana’s largest coastal project say state and federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act when they failed to consider harm to vulnerable species and the potential negative effects of chemicals in the Mississippi River.

    Attorneys for the plaintiffs suing to stop the Mid-Barataria sediment diversion have asked the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to cease work on the project until further study is completed.

    The nearly $3 billion diversion would funnel up to 75,000 cubic feet of water per second into Barataria Bay on the west shore of Plaquemines Parish.

    Elizabeth L. Lewis, the plaintiffs’ attorney, wrote that her clients “previously explained that the Services ignored the best available science and failed to examine the serious effects that contaminated river water and sediment carried by the MBSD project… would have. on several listed species.

    The letter to CPRA and several federal agencies cites two bird species — the threatened piping plover and red knot — as well as the endangered loggerhead sea turtle, green sea turtle and Kemp’s tortoise.

    The letter was written on behalf of Jurisich Oysters LLC, AmedPure Processing Inc., Matthew Tesvich, the Earth Island Institute International Marine Mammal Project, the Earth Island Institute Project ALERT, and the Earth Island Institute .

    “Most egregiously,” the letter states, the services did not even mention the potential for “increased contamination of the Barataria Basin with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known to contaminate the Mississippi River.” .

    PFAS persist in the environment for decades and are dangerous to listed species (and human health), the letter states.

    This argument adds an additional layer to the diversion debate.

    When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted the permit in December 2022, the government was just beginning to consider regulating PFAS.

    In September 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency released science-based final water quality concentrations for 10 PFAS that will “help states and tribes protect fish and other aquatic life from these chemicals,” according to an agency website.

    The website notes that “scientific studies have shown that exposure to certain PFAS in the environment may be linked to adverse health effects in humans and animals.”

    The plaintiffs contend that none of these factors were at play when federal agencies granted CPRA the two federal permits required for the diversion.

    Computer models showed that the MBSD would create 27 square miles of land over 30 years, although some land would be lost in subsequent years to sea level rise and subsidence.

    Supporters argue that using the river’s natural building power is the best alternative for sustaining parts of coastal Louisiana for the long term.

    Most of the funding would come from fines and settlements associated with the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

    Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, citing the rising cost of the project, sought to reach a compromise with Plaquemines Parish government leaders, who also sued over the diversion.

    However, federal administrators who oversee British Petroleum’s oil settlement money recently wrote to CPRA leaders, demanding to know whether the state intended to move forward with the project.

    That raises the possibility that Louisiana will have to return the more than $500 million it has spent so far on Mid-Barataria on design, engineering and early construction.

    The project would not necessarily be doomed to failure, even if some federal agencies changed their conclusions about the effects of the diversion.

    The Corps, for example, could impose additional conditions on the State to carry out the diversion.

    CPRA President Gordon Dove did not respond to a request for comment.

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    Umito
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