Louisiana Coastal Wetlands Lawyer & Attorney : Erich P. Rapp : Kean Miller Law Firm : Serving New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Louisiana

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not meet their December 31, 2007 deadline for preparing a plan to protect the Louisiana coast from category 5 hurricanes. In a December 20, 2007 letter to Congress, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, John Woodley, has stated that the Corps will not meet the 24 month congressional mandated deadline for completing its plan to protect the Louisiana coast from category 5 hurricanes.

The Corps cited the scope of the cultural, economic, environmental and residential aspects of 16,000 square miles of south Louisiana as the reason why the report is taking longer than anticipated to complete.

The report is now anticipated to be released in February 2008, but the report will likely contain no recommendations according to Louisiana state officials familiar with preparation of the report. The report will, however, likely contain reference to elements of the Louisiana master plan for restoration of the coast.

Instead, the report will likely contain an outline of  a "decision-making matrix" of how the corps will make decisions on recommendations for coastal restoration and protection.

More information on this delay can be found in Amy Wold's Baton Rouge Advocate report on December 28, 2007 entitled, Corps to miss deadline for plan to protect La.

Erich P Rapp.

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According to Ivor van Heerden Deputy Director of the LSU Hurricane Center, the barrier islands along Louisiana's coast could be restored to the conditions that existed 100 years ago within three years if the necessary effort were undertaken. This and several other shocking revelations about the government's failure to protect Louisiana's coast are found  in the WWL Channel 4 New Orleans news story broadcast on Wednesday November 14, 2007.

Erich P. Rapp.

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Louisiana is seeking to form an alliance of the four states along the Gulf of Mexico producing oil and gas. The alliance would be called America's Energy Coast Alliance and the aim of the alliance would be to create a single voice on the national level speaking in favor of coastal restoration. Louisiana officials hope to have a written accord in place by June 1, 2008. King Milling, the chairman of the America's Wetland Foundation is leading the effort. Information about the proposed accord can be found at the America's Wetland website. A news account of the Friday November 30, 2007 meeting of the representative states can also be found in the Saturday December 1, 2007 Baton Rouge Advocate in an article by Jeremy Harper entitled, Louisiana Seeks Alliance with Gulf States.

Erich P Rapp.

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On Tuesday November 27, 2007, LSU began teaching a three day "Levee School" which is officially called The Flood Protection and Ecosystem Restoration Professional Development Program. The program is designed to teach levee board members and parish officials about the issues they face as they design, build and maintain flood protection systems. A more detailed article on the program can be found in the Baton Rouge Advocate article of November 28, 2007 by Amy Wold which is entitled, LSU Levee School Opens. The LSU Levee School has also prepared its own web based brochure.

Erich P Rapp

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On Thursday November 29, 2007, the Bush Administration approved Louisiana's plan to use $255 million in funds from the Mineral Management Service to pay for more than 100 conservation and diversion projects aimed at restoration and conservation of Louisiana's coast. The approval of the use of these funds is detailed in a news article in the Friday November 30, 2007 New Orleans Times Picayune entitled, Louisiana's Coastal Restoration Plan Wins Approval by Bruce Alpert.

Erich P. Rapp

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