Louisiana cancels controversial project that would have fouled Mississippi Sound

Louisiana has officially canceled another large-scale plan to rebuild lost wetlands in southeast Louisiana through a controversial sediment diversion, a long-expected move by Gov. Jeff Landy’s administration drawing sharply divergent reactions.

In Mississippi, environmental advocates were jubilant because the Mid-Breton Sediment Diversion would have poured polluted water from the Mississippi River into Breton Sound and, eventually, the Mississippi Sound. The river water jeopardizes dolphins, oysters and other aquatic life. In addition to carrying chemical pollutants, the river water dilutes the salinity balance that oysters and other aquatic life need to thrive.

“This is a major victory for Louisiana and Mississippi fisheries and tourism,” said Gerald Blessey, attorney and manager for the Mississippi Sound Coalition.

The Mid-Breton diversion was to be built on the east bank of the Mississippi River near Wills Point, across from Delacroix. The aim was to address land loss in the area by mimicking the way the Mississippi built south Louisiana in the first place by channeling river water and sediment into the Breton Basin.

It was meant to be a companion project to the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, which was to be built on the west bank of the river near Myrtle Grove. The state officially canceled that unprecedented $3 billion project in July after having previously said it intended to abandon it even though it had broken ground in 2023 following years of study and planning.

Some $619 million in funds related to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon spill had already been spent on Mid-Barataria. Around $90 million in BP funds had previously been approved for Mid-Breton. Gordon Dove, chairman of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, said the latest numbers that he saw showed around $70 million spent on the project, though the total could now be higher.

Dove said the state was working with trustees overseeing the BP funds in the hopes of earning interest from unspent money to recoup at least some portion of what has been spent while proposals for new projects are put forward.

Mid-Breton was to be about a third smaller than Mid-Barataria. Costs and strong opposition from commercial fishers, as well as the two parishes in the project area — St. Bernard and Plaquemines — contributed to its demise.

Dove said in May that the state was moving to cancel the project. He confirmed Thursday that Louisiana informed the Army Corps of Engineers the state was withdrawing its application for project permits, a decision now reflected on the Corps’ website.

He argued the project was unnecessary and too costly, saying new estimates of the total price had grown to $1.8 billion. An earlier cost estimate put the price at nearly $800 million.

He pointed to already existing natural and manmade diversions on the east bank of the river, including the Caernarvon Diversion at the St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parish line, as well as Mardi Gras Pass and Neptune Pass farther downriver. He also noted land-building projects in the same area using dredged sediment, including the Lake Borgne Marsh Creation project, the state’s largest such project to date.

“You don’t have the money to do it, and you don’t have any need for it,” Dove said. “The BP money wasn’t meant for one project. That was never the intention.”

‘Still a need’

St. Bernard Parish lauded the withdrawal of the permit application, with officials there having long argued the damage would have outweighed the benefits.

“We do think it would have severe damage to the seafood industry and the commercial fishing industry, which is an economic engine for St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parish,” said John Lane, director of coastal operations for St. Bernard. “And we think there’s better methods to rebuilding the coast than these large-scale diversions.”

Many coastal advocates had long argued in favor of Mid-Breton, saying its scale was needed to address the worsening land loss crisis along that part of Louisiana’s coast.

James Karst, communications director for the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, the state’s oldest such organization, said natural and manmade river diversions have shown that such projects can build land by working with nature.

“The writing has been on the wall for a long time,” said Karst of the Mid-Breton cancelation. “We should be thinking about what else we are going to do because there is still a need.”

Dove said the state would seek to reprogram the money slated for Mid-Breton for a range of projects, including landbridge building using dredged sediment in the Barataria Basin, on the river’s west bank.

Sun Herald Staff Writer Anita Lee contributed to this report.