| 12/05/2006 |
Conservation advocates have released a report detailing strategies for closing the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO), a little-used shipping canal that costs U.S. taxpayers tens of million of dollars a year to maintain, has destroyed large parts of Louisiana’s coastline and contributed to the devastating storm damage in New Orleans. The report was issued in advance of the 15 December deadline for the US Army, Corps of Engineers to propose a closure plan as directed by Congress. MRGO is an artificial channel that the Corps of Engineers built in 1965 as a shipping shortcut from the Gulf of Mexico to the New Orleans inner harbor. MRGO was supposed to bring more business to New Orleans, but it has been a huge economic disappointment.
"Closing the deadly MRGO and fixing the damage it caused is a win-win situation for both American taxpayers and Gulf Coast residents," said Paul Harrison, Coastal Louisiana Project Manager at Environmental Defense. "MRGO remains an enormous physical danger for New Orleans, has degraded its environment, and cost the American taxpayer as much as $45 million each year to maintain, yet it is used by fewer than 10 ships a day."
The new report relies on modeling by scientists at Louisiana State University and the University of New Orleans to show what the Army Corps of Engineers must do to reverse the damage and restore the natural landscape that used to protect New Orleans from storm surge. It includes the following seven recommendations:
1. Deauthorize MRGO as a federal navigation channel and cease maintenance dredging.
2. Restore the Bayou la Loutre Ridge that was cut when the channel was built.
3. Plug or constrict the channel with soil at strategic locations.
4. Restore/Maintain the narrow land between Lake Borgne and the MRGO.
5. Expand riverine influence with greater flows from the Mississippi River.
6. Restore/Rehabilitate bank lines along the MRGO.
7. Allow the channel to infill naturally.
In addition to Environmental Defense, the report is endorsed by the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, National Wildlife Federation, Gulf Restoration Network, Louisiana Wildlife Federation, American Rivers, and St. Bernard Parish President Henry "Junior" Rodriguez.
"The MRGO has been a nightmare for St. Bernard since it was dredged," said Rodriguez. "We've been trying to close it for 30 years. It's got to be closed now for St. Bernard to survive."
"This report leaves no doubt that MRGO needs to be shut down so that the natural conditions that used to protect New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish from storm surge can be restored," said Carlton Dufrechou, Executive Director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. "We’ve found some viable ways to accomplish those goals."
"We are asking Congress to oversee the Corps’ continuing planning and make sure an effective, sensible and environmentally sound plan is presented to them," said Mark Ford, Executive Director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.
Louisianans have been calling for closure of MRGO, commonly called "Mister Go," for decades, but the issue received national and congressional attention after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The report details the damage MRGO has done, including how it exposed New Orleans and surrounding communities to hurricane storm surge that breached levees.
"Closing MRGO and restoring the natural ridges and wetlands that used to protect New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish is a litmus test of whether the Army Corps and Congress are serious about protecting the New Orleans area from hurricanes," said Melissa Samet, Senior Director for Water Resources at American Rivers.
The Corps of Engineers created the MRGO by slicing through the natural land bridge and barrier islands that separated New Orleans from the Gulf. It has conveyed saltwater into the area’s freshwater bayous and lakes, killing tens of thousands of acres of coastal forests and marshes that had served as natural hurricane barriers. The juxtaposition of the MRGO with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and Inner Harbor Navigation Canal creates a "pinch point" for rising waters from the Gulf, and the MRGO’s southeast/northwest orientation makes it the perfect conduit to catch surges pushed by a hurricane’s counter-clockwise rotation and bring them into the city. The loss of natural hurricane barriers and the increased storm surge from the MRGO put an unprecedented strain on manmade levees, many of which failed.
"In hindsight, but consistent with the premonition of many, MRGO was the perfect design to provoke the catastrophic flooding of New Orleans that we witnessed last year," said Randy Lanctot, Executive Director of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. "Surely the lesson has been learned; it’s past time to fix the problem."
See full report. |
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