A Louisiana appeals court has cleared the way for the transfer of private land for a hurricane levee project designed to protect tens of thousands of people in St. John the Baptist, St. Charles and St. James parishes from storm surges.
A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal on Dec. 20 granted the Pontchartrain Levee District’s application to expropriate 364 acres of land held by Nature Land Co. for the project, which will include 17.5 miles of levees in the southeast Louisiana region. A district judge had attempted to schedule a hearing on whether to consolidate the transfer request with a legal challenge by Nature Land over the compensation amount, but the appeals court ordered the transaction to go forward.
“After careful review of the applicable law, as well as arguments and exhibits provided by the parties with their briefs, we find that the trial court erred by failing to execute an ex parte order of expropriation in accordance” with Louisiana law, the appeals court said in its opinion.
The project will include a one-mile-long concrete T-wall, drainage components, pump stations and other structures to protect residents during a 100-year hurricane storm surge, according to the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA). The construction is being overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CPRA, the levee district and the three parishes.
Jaclyn Hotard Gaudet, president of St. John the Baptist Parish, welcomed the appeals court decision and emphasized that the project is not being delayed.
“The West Shore Levee Project will provide vital flood protection to our residents who have weathered both Hurricane Isaac and now Ida,” Hotard Gaudet said in an email to the Louisiana Record. “This was a critical step to having the flood protection they deserve without delay and will protect the vitality of our beloved parish. Residents and businesses alike can have confidence that we will be protected from storm surge in the future.”
Contracts to stockpile sand and clay for the projects have already been executed, according to the Corp of Engineers, and additional construction is expected in the spring of next year. The $760 million project will be built along the western shores of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas, extending from the Bonnet Carre Spillway to the Garyville area.