Acadiana Gulf of Mexico Access Channel Project to Move Forward

Dr. Charles Boustany has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allocate funds for a Limited Reevaluation Review to continue the Acadiana Gulf of Mexico Access Channel (AGMAC) project connecting Acadiana ports to the Gulf of Mexico.

Congress provided design authorization for the AGMAC project in the 2007 Water Resources & Development Act (WRDA), with the purpose of providing more efficient marine access to the Gulf of Mexico.

While the original authorization amount in 2007 was $131 million, due to the inclusion of language requiring the use of dredge material for incidental storm surge protection, the cost of the project spiked to $310 million.

This incidental storm surge language triggered a cost violation from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and suspended the project.

Boustany and Senator David Vitter worked to include a technical correction in the 2014 Water Resources Reform & Development Act (WRRDA) removing the incidental storm surge protection language.

The announcement of today’s funding for a Limited Reevaluation Review will allow the Corps to study the project without the incidental storm surge protection requirements skewing the cost, ensuring the project can begin moving forward again.