Bayou Chene barge to be removed soon

St. Mary Levee District officials expect to remove the barge blocking Bayou Chene in Amelia within three months, they said at Thursday’s levee district commission meeting. The temporary flood protection structure was put in place in January to protect up to six parishes from riverine flooding.
The district will open bids June 16 on the contract to remove the structure. Ten contractors have shown interest so far in the contract, said Engineer Jeff Peña of CB&I infrastructure company.
Officials plan to have the temporary structure removed within 60 to 90 days, Peña said. In January, officials installed a barge surrounded by steel sheet piles and rocks on Bayou Chene in Amelia to prevent potential regional flooding.
At the time, forecasters predicted the Atchafalaya River would crest at 9.5 feet in Morgan City. The river ended up cresting at 8.2 feet Jan. 23.
The structure was designed to keep six parishes from flooding including St. Mary, Terrebonne, Lower St. Martin, Assumption, Lafourche and Iberville.
Michael Tamporello of Morgan City, who owns a camp south of the barge, spoke at Thursday’s meeting on behalf of several people who have property in the area of the barge to find out when it will be removed, he said.
Commission President Bill Hidalgo said the levee district is working to remove the structure as quickly as possible. But the district must follow public bid law required to be able to award the contract to remove the structure.
As soon as the barge is removed, the levee district will work with the U.S. Coast Guard to allow people to travel through Bayou Chene, Hidalgo said.
After removing the temporary structure and making necessary repairs, officials will have spent $8 million on the project. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the district for $6 million of those costs, Levee District Executive Director Tim Matte said. Having the barge in place is costing the levee district $207,000 per month, he said.
During Thursday’s meeting, the commission approved the district to sign a contract to store materials from the temporary structure to be reused for the permanent $107.5 million Bayou Chene Flood Control and Diversion Project.
Officials hope to start con-struction on the permanent Bayou Chene project in April 2017 when Restore Act funds from the BP oil spill settlement become available. The district needs the public’s support to move forward on the project to be able to construct a permanent floodgate on Bayou Chene so officials can simply press a button to close and open the gate, Hidalgo said.
The levee district received a state Department of Natu-ral Resources permit for the permanent Bayou Chene project in September 2015 and is working to get a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit, Peña said.
Avoca Inc., which owns land on Avoca Island near the Bayou Chene project site, filed a lawsuit in November 2015 in an attempt to force the Department of Natural Resources to revoke its permit for the project.
The lawsuit says DNR did not have the information needed to properly evaluate the Bayou Chene project’s impacts to surrounding property when it issued the permit. The suit is still in litigation.
In other business, the commission
—Approved entering into a memorandum of understanding with FEMA relating to the January flood.
—Approved purchasing furniture, office equipment and other equipment.
—Approved an amendment to CB&I’s contract relating to the 2016 flood fight.
—Approved engaging an appraiser for the Bayou Choupique project.
—Authorized the district’s participation with the town of Baldwin for levee construction on the Bayou Choupique project. The levee district is putting up about $200,000 for the $1.2 million project, which Baldwin applied for a $1 million grant.
—Approved the purchase of limestone.
—Adopted the district’s emergency operations manual.