Port wants marsh creation project in coastal master plan

Port of Morgan City leaders are pushing to see that Louisiana’s coastal master plan includes a marsh creation project that would use fertile sand dredged out of the Atchafalaya River to create land on the Terrebonne Parish coast.
Randy Moertle, who serves as land manager for Point Au Fer Island, spoke at Monday’s Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District meeting about the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s 2017 master plan.
Point Au Fer Island in Terrebonne Parish acts as a buffer against hurricanes for the surrounding area, Moertle said.
The island is subsiding, which is why officials want to replace the land that’s been lost, Port of Morgan City Executive Director Raymond “Mac” Wade said.
The Point Au Fer project is included in the draft of the state’s 2017 coastal master plan, Moertle said. That draft will be officially presented Jan. 17. The state comes out with a master plan every five years.
Officials considered the project for the 2012 master plan, but it didn’t end up getting included.
Moertle is hoping to get as many letters of support as possible from people in the Morgan City area, Moertle said.
Officials would need to construct about an 8- to 10-mile pipeline to transport the sediment to Terrebonne Parish, Wade said.
If officials can build a permanent sediment pipeline from the Atchafalaya River to Point Au Fer Island, the 3 million cubic yards of sand dredged each year from the river can create as much as 500 acres of marsh land annually, Moertle said.
Point Au Fer Island protects the navigation channel in the Atchafalaya River because the island takes the brunt of the impact of any tropical storm or hurricane that comes from the southeast, Moertle said. The island slows down a storm “so it just doesn’t take all the material in the open bay and just dump right in your navigation channel,” he said.
Getting Point Au Fer in the coastal master plan would open up another possible funding source to dredge the Atchafalaya River, while finding a beneficial use for the dredge material, Wade said.
“This is our only hope to receive some of this money the state’s going to be receiving for many years,” Wade said of the BP oil spill settlement funds.
“This is a no brainer,” he said.
The importance of being included the state’s coastal master plan is that any projects local entities want to get federal funding for have to be consistent with that plan, Moertle said.
State officials have determined the Point Au Fer project is the No. 5 most feasible and effective marsh creation project in the state, Moertle said.
Point Au Fer is currently listed in the third implementation period for the $50 billion coastal master plan, which means it could take 20 years to become a reality. However, Moertle says the project should be moved into the first 10-year implementation phase due to its effectiveness.
Among the possible funding sources for the project is the Coastal Wetland Planning, Protection and Restoration Act, the largest funding source in Louisiana dedicated to coastal restoration, Moertle said.
Using a pipeline to pump dredge material from the Atchafalaya to Terrebonne would decrease coastal restoration costs. Creating one acre of marsh land costs roughly $120,000 right now, he said.
Other potential agencies that could assist with the project include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Environmental Protection Agency, Wade said.
“We’re chasing all of them,” Wade said.