Louisiana has been approved for an additional 234 million dollars in BP Oil Spill funds that will be used to facilitate five different coastal projects.
Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Deputy Director Greg Grandy said the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group’s decision to release the money is fantastic news.
“It is part of mitigating the impact to the resources that were damaged as part of Deepwater Horizon, and also provides a measure of protection as we seek to restore the natural ecosystem buffer that we once had in Louisiana,” said Grandy.
LA TIG has approved 900 million dollars for restoration projects in total for 2020.
Two of the biggest projects are the Plaquemines Parish Grand Chenier Marsh Creation Ridge, which will create over 600 acres of marsh, and the Terrebonne Basin Ridge and Marsh Creation Project, which will restore over 1,400 acres of brackish and saline marsh along with 80 acres of ridge habitat. The Grand Chenier and Terrebonne Basin projects will cost 65 and 157 million dollars respectively.
3.1 million dollars will go towards the Terrebonne Houma Navigation Channel Island Restoration. Grandy said it will provide a habitat for nesting birds that were impacted by the spill.
“It’s literally a project for the birds,” said Grandy.
The other project included is the Birds Foot Delta Hydrologic Restoration, a six million dollar dredging project.
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