Latest Mississippi River Delta News: January 18, 2013

Greater New Orleans Foundation, Ford Foundation fund study on coastal residents’ challenges
By Benjamin Alexander-Bloch, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). January 17, 2013.
“While projects already exist to restore Gulf of Mexico wetlands and build levees, the Greater New Orleans Foundation and the Ford Foundation are funding a new project to focus on the needs of people who live in vanishing coastal communities…” (Read more)

New Mardi Gras Pass could be restricted if oil facility gets OK to rebuild road
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. January 17, 2013.
“A small oil company that lost the only road to its Plaquemines Parish storage facility south of Pointe a la Hache when the Mardi Gras Pass crevasse was formed in early 2012 has asked the Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Natural Resources to rebuild the road atop four 6-by-46-foot culverts that would be built into the crevasse…” (Read more)

Coastal restoration plan totals $50 billion
By Sable LaFrere, The Houma (La.) Courier. January 16, 2013.
“While damage from the 2010 BP oil spill is not fully understood, money is becoming available to help protect and sustain the southern Louisiana coast, a government official told the South Central Industrial Association Tuesday…” (Read more)

New Orleans area levee improvements already outpaced by science, engineering, engineer says
By Mark Schleifstein, The Times-Picayune. January 17, 2013.
“Even as contractors for the Army Corps of Engineers are putting finishing touches on the major upgrades to the New Orleans area levee system built to new design standards adopted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a consulting engineer working for the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East says those standards are already outdated…” (Read more)

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