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Louisiana officials alarmed by coastal erosion
January 26, 2005
It's later than feds think, they warn
The Times-Picayune
By: Mark Schliefstein
BATON ROUGE -- Louisiana university leaders asked officials from coastal parish and community governments on Tuesday how university researchers can help them in dealing with growing problems caused by the state's rapidly eroding coastline.
They got a long list of responses, but the biggest need -- money -- remained the most frustrating missing link that local officials say they face.
St. Bernard Parish President Henry J. "Junior" Rodriguez was the most blunt, saying there's no need for more studies yet.
"You Republicans need to go talk to the cowboy and you need to get some of this money back," Rodriguez said, referring to President Bush and proposals to get Congress to give Louisiana a larger share of offshore oil revenue. "You give us the money, and we'll get the job done."
Raising awareness
William Jenkins, acting chancellor of Louisiana State University, arranged the President's Forum on Meeting Coastal Challenges as a way of addressing what he sees as an increasing concern that the proposed $1.9 billion federal-state Louisiana Coastal Area ecosystem restoration plan will not be put in place quickly enough. If it is not, there may not be time to save some communities or a number of roads, water systems, oil and gas production facilities and other infrastructure along the coast.
"We all know how much is at stake," said Gov. Kathleen Blanco in an introductory address to the all-day meeting. "The safety of our citizens, navigation, economic development, our fisheries, our oil and gas economy, and all together, that sounds like a lot of Louisiana life to me."
Following her talk, Blanco said that while the Bush administration continues to support the proposed restoration plan, there's been no movement by Congress on either the plan or the money that Louisiana needs to pay its share of construction costs.
The effects of erosion have come as a surprise to even those living close to rapidly disappearing wetlands, some local officials attending the meeting said.
Lafitte endangered
"Being from Louisiana, I didn't realize what people were saying," said Timothy Kerner, mayor of Jean Lafitte. "I couldn't comprehend the disappearance of 25 square miles of wetlands a year, an acre every 33 minutes, not until I got into a helicopter and flew over the coast."
With that knowledge, he said, he's now concerned about the future of his town.
A number of officials had concrete suggestions for assistance needed to deal with unprepared residents being forced to move inland, industries and residents running into problems finding insurance, and legal problems resulting from lost coastline and the structures that once were on dry land.
In Terrebonne Parish, where the 2000 Census indicated a significant shift northward of its residents, officials would like university assistance in determining the legal liability the parish may face when it is forced to decommission highways and streets as entire communities are uprooted.
"If we decide a state or parish road can't be maintained because of the high cost, the legal implications of that action is unclear," said Al Levron, Terrebonne Parish director of public works.
And in a parish dependent on both commercial and recreational fishers for a significant part of its economy, Levron said he wants help in determining the rate of decline of commercial fisheries as a result of lost wetlands. He also wants a study of limits on the number of commercial and recreational fishing licenses, and other management practices that might be necessary to deal with a shrinking fishery.
West as bad as east
Terrebonne Parish President Donald Schwab said he'd like assistance in planning hurricane evacuations so his residents aren't caught by the exodus of more populated areas in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
"During Ivan, when people tried to evacuate, it could have been a death trap," he said. "People couldn't get out of Houma."
Tina Horn, administrator of the Cameron Parish Police Jury, said she'd like help in getting other parish officials and officials at the federal and state level to recognize that the state's western shoreline is facing problems similar to the erosion occurring to the east.
The Louisiana Coastal Area plan contains no projects in western Louisiana, setting them aside for further study or for consideration later.
"We need updates on our shoreline and bank erosion because our shoreline studies are not accurate," she said, adding that the parish also needs assistance in updating Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance maps.
Outsiders' suspicion
Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach asked for help in refining the message that the state is using to sell its case nationally for help in paying for coastal restoration.
The problem, he said, is that many people from outside the area are unfamiliar with Louisiana's working coastline, where oil and gas production operates alongside commercial and recreational fishing, and where people must live surrounded by wetlands to be close to their jobs and their historic homes. Not only are they unfamiliar with the area, but they are suspicious of restoration plans backed by both local politicians and the oil industry, Roach said.
When he tried to explain the state's restoration plans to a meeting of the National League of Counties recently, county officials from other states were suspicious of the backing of Shell Oil Co., he said.
"And they wanted to know, 'Why are you developing land down there if the problem's so bad? Why are you allowing people to continue to build in wetlands,' " he said.
In addition to the marketing message, he suggested that university help is needed to study potential changes in the International Building Code, the building code officially adopted by the state, that would address the unique challenges of building in coastal Louisiana.
Yarrow Etheredge, environmental adviser to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, said she'd appreciate assistance in finding ways to legally limit development of rapidly eroding areas, such as property along Lake Catherine in eastern New Orleans that is undergoing a spurt of new construction. That property is part of a fragile land bridge that separates Lake Pontchartrain from Lake Borgne and the Gulf of Mexico.
Plaquemines Parish President Benny Rousselle said he'd like help in determining what's causing insurance rates to be 50 to 60 percent higher than in neighboring parishes. And, like Rodriguez, he said he's frustrated at being asked to propose more studies.
"My constituents don't come to meetings like this anymore," he said. "They've already heard that. You've already heard it as well."
LSU AgCenter Vice Chancellor Paul Coreil said this was the first of several meetings between scientists at universities across the state, including the University of New Orleans and Tulane, and local officials.
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