MDEQ Announces More Money for Restoration Projects

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has announced 10 new and supplemental restoration projects that will add approximately $37.8 million to the total being spent on restoration projects in the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

This brings the total to approximately $508 million of restoration projects that have been announced. The announcement was made Tuesday at the Mississippi Restoration Summit hosted by MDEQ in Biloxi.

“The Mississippi Restoration Summit is an excellent way to interact with the public and explain where we’ve been, where we are, and where we are headed with the various aspects of restoration funding,” said Gary Rikard, MDEQ Executive Director.

The projects announced for 2018 are all funded through the RESTORE Act.

Among the RESTORE Act projects are:

Hancock County Marsh Living Shoreline (Additional $6 million in 2018; Total project $56 million) – This funding will add additional components to the Hancock Marsh Living Shoreline project currently funded through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment program. Currently six miles of living shoreline protection is complete and approximately 1.5 miles of additional marsh shoreline protection will be constructed with this new funding.

Beneficial Use of Dredge Materials for Marsh Creation and Restoration in Mississippi ($12 million) – This program will create new marsh as well as restoring and enhancing existing marsh through the beneficial use (BU) of dredge materials. This program will support the dredging needs in the three coastal counties and may utilize accumulated spoil materials to facilitate the material necessary for marsh restoration.