The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Board (CPRA), which sanctioned potential legal action against Plaquemines Parish earlier this June, has been just informed that CPRA was able to proceed without the need to resort to legal action to conduct soil borings as part of a geotechnical study for a potential sediment diversion in that parish.
The borings provide important data for the design of the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project and will help inform the Federal 408 Permitting process.
“ The permission to possibly litigate the matter was always something that would be used as a last resort ,” Megan Terrell, an attorney with the governor’s office , told the Board. “ But it didn’t come to that because CPRA determined it has the express authority to enter upon any lands, waters, and premises in the state to perform surveys and other geotechnical investigations. ”
Johnny Bradberry, CPRA Chairman and Executive Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Activities stated that the legal requirements were met by the state.
“ All of the geotechnical work is being performed with advanced written notice to landowners, in full compliance with all applicable laws ,” said Bradberry. “I notified Plaquemines Parish President Amos Cormier that CPRA was initiating its soil boring work. Previous to this, CPRA has already received letters of no objection for the work from its operations division and from Army Corps of Engineers. I’d also like to note that—contrary to rumor—we have restricted the work to daylight hours only. ”
Bradberry restated that CPRA is committed to addressing President Cormier’s concerns regarding the potential impacts of the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion. “ His concerns are being tracked closely, and they will be addressed as part of the comprehensive environmental review process ,” said Bradberry.
Other items on the Board’s agenda included: