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Looking into the future the Pelican feeding its young from a self-induced wound in its own breast (as depicted, mysteriously, on the state flag of Louisiana) is accepted as an appropriate symbol of both self-sacrifice and rebirth. Through his selfless efforts, man is raised from the slavery of ignorance to the condition of freedom conferred by wisdom. Given the current state of affairs in Louisiana, one hopes that the understanding of the Pelican as a symbol shall point the way towards a new consciousness of ourselves as a whole, and lead us to face our futures with strength, grace, wisdom and faith, to learn from our mistakes and carry our successes and zest for living to future generations.

Environmental Group Sues to Stop Levee Construction

  1. May 01, 2008
  2. By Mark Schleifstein
  3. Source: http://www.nola.com/

Morganza-to-the-Gulf needs permit, it says

The Save Our Wetlands environmental group has filed suit against the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District over its construction of the first section of the new Morganza-to-the-Gulf levee that will protect the Houma area from hurricane storm surge.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans by the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic on behalf of the 2000-member group, asks that further work be blocked with an injunction and that fines of more than $24 million be levied against the levee district.

The lawsuit argues that the levee district should be required under the Clean Water Act to obtain a permit, which would allow it to fill in wetlands in the least environmentally damaging way and mitigate for any damage.

Levee District Executive Director Jerome Zeringue responded that his agency has followed federal environmental regulations. He said he was given permission to build the levee's first lift by the Army Corps of Engineers, which released a finding of no significant impact ruling for the construction project in April 2005.

Most of the Morganza levee project will be built by the corps. But the agency agreed to let the Terrebonne levee district build the first few reaches and use the cost as part of its match of the federal dollars used to build the entire project.

"The corps of engineers does not issue itself a permit, but goes through the evaluation procedure to comply with the Clean Water Act," corps spokesman Rene Poche said.

Luke Fontana, executive counsel for Save Our Wetlands, said the environmental group is one of several critics concerned that construction of the entire levee project threatens more than 166,000 acres of wetlands, much of which would end up behind the levees.

The result will be new residential development that eventually will be destroyed by hurricanes, just as Eden Isles was built in wetlands only to be destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, he said.

"The Landrieus, Vitters and Jindals are screaming on behalf of the levee district and developers under the guise of hurricane protection," he said.

Though it believes the levee project meets environmental regulations, the corps is re-evaluating the potential affects of the levee's path. Two different alignments are being reviewed by the corps as part of a revised Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, Poche said.

Zeringue said work already completed includes construction of 23 acres of new wetlands outside the new levee footprint as mitigation for the 2.7-mile project.

The levee reach is 8 feet above sea level and 200 feet wide, in an area about 16 miles southeast of Houma. It will eventually be raised to as high as 20 feet above sea level to protect the area from 100-year hurricanes. Other reaches of the levee could eventually stretch 85 miles around Houma and other nearby communities.

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