A coalition of environmentalists and fishermen has filed a federal lawsuit to stop a multibillion-dollar sediment-diversion project southwest of New Orleans designed to restore deteriorating wetlands.
Jurisich Oysters LLC, the Earth Island Institute and others filed the lawsuit Jan. 11 in the Eastern District of Louisiana. The lawsuit challenges the federal approval of the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The project in Plaquemines Parish, which is being managed by the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), aims to stem land losses by diverting sediment and freshwater from the Mississippi River to the Barataria Basin. Supporters say the project would build up tens of thousands of acres of coastal wetlands over a five-decade period and restore coastal ecosystems.
The lawsuit acknowledges that the project tries to offset sea level rises and climate change to rebuild the coastal wetlands. But the complaint contends the diversion will have adverse effects on the basin and its marine resources.
“The influx of riverine freshwater will permanently alter water quality in the Barataria Basin which, in turn, is projected to decimate a local population of resident bottlenose dolphins,” the lawsuit states. “Alterations in salinity, temperature and nutrient concentrations are also expected to seriously disrupt (or even destroy) commercially important fisheries in the Barataria Basin, threatening many local residents’ livelihoods and jeopardizing economic stability in these communities for decades into the future.”
In addition, the introduction of contaminants and hazardous materials carried by the sediment poses a threat to human health as well as to animal species in the basin and natural habitats, according to the complaint. Such effects on the ecology of the region and the local economy will be irreversible, the plaintiffs allege.
In approving the project, the federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act, the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, according to the lawsuit, which contends the project would hurt protected bird and sea turtle species in the region.
CPRA declined to respond specifically to the allegations in the lawsuit, but the state agency emphasized that the Mid-Barataria project and similar efforts are the cornerstone of Louisiana’s efforts to deal with coastal land loss.
“They represent a sustainable, long-term solution to restoring wetlands that protect our communities and infrastructure and provide habitat to our wildlife and fisheries,” CPRA spokeswoman Marin Gelpi Clay told the Louisiana Record in an email. “Without sediment diversions, the estuaries across coastal Louisiana, (which) we rely on for jobs, recreation, travel, commerce and so much more, will continue to deteriorate until total collapse – resulting in billions in loss to industries and economies across our state and across the country.”
The Mid-Barataria project is supported by decades of scientific research and cooperative efforts and studies by both state and federal entities, according to the CPRA.
“The project has potential to restore up to 26,000 acres of wetlands in the Barataria Basin, an area experiencing some of the highest rates of land loss in the world that is also home to unique fisheries, infrastructure and communities vitally important to our state’s success,” Clay said.