First, the state oversight board for coastal restoration and hurricane protection, after months of foot-dragging, appointed a scientific panel to review the Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane-protection system.
Then, a Metairie-based environmental group that has long criticized the project filed a lawsuit that aims to stall construction.
Finally, Jerome Zeringue, executive director of the Terrebonne Levee District who has spearheaded the project locally since its inception, said he’s leaving to take a job with the state.
What a week. Sorting through what it all means for Terrebonne’s $11 billion plan to save itself from extinction at the hands of the next Big One will take time. Until then, some initial thoughts:
SCIENCE AND POLITICS
It was a bold step for Zeringue and other local officials to ask the state last year to review whether Morganza will work. It amounts to a metaphorical roll of the dice. Yes, there’s a chance this group of scientists, geologists, engineers and other experts will give the levee system an unqualified blessing. But the odds are just as great that the panel will find fault with Morganza, issuing a recommendation that could kill the project.
One open question is whether this panel will turn out to truly be independent, a highly subjective term. Making such determinations, again, will take time, and the answers may never be clear. Some of the eight panelists’ names are familiar. A few have taken stands that could be construed as supportive or critical of Morganza, but their comments have often been qualified with ifs, ands and buts, making their positions less than certain.
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has appointed eight panelists with a working knowledge of Louisiana’s coastal plight. All are from Louisiana with the exception of Charles Groat, a professor at the University of Texas. But Groat has a long history of involvement with Louisiana’s wetlands; he was a professor at LSU for many years and served as head of the state’s Coastal Zone Management Program.
Critics may argue that it would have been better to appoint at least some members from outside the state, experts who have no ties, or perceived ties, to Louisiana politics. Yes, it would be great to bring in outside expertise, particularly from places like the Netherlands, which has a proven track record of protecting itself from the sea. But it’s also quite possible that a panel entirely from Louisiana is best equipped to do this job, especially if it calls on that outside expertise and uses it to make good decisions. We’ll have to wait to see.
In the meantime, here are a few of the questions I hope the panel will answer:
Will Morganza work? Will it provide the Category 3 protection promised?
How will it impact the area’s wetlands, which nearly everyone acknowledges are themselves an essential buffer against storms?
How will Morganza affect any river or other freshwater diversions that might be necessary to stem or reverse wetlands loss?
What are the alternatives to Morganza, and are they better or worse?
What is the cost -- economically, culturally and environmentally -- of waiting for another solution or doing nothing at all?
GOING TO COURT
They said it was coming, and they finally did it: Save Our Wetlands, a 200-member environmental group from Metairie, filed a federal lawsuit aiming to stymie Morganza construction. Specifically, the group claims the Terrebonne Levee District failed to obtain required permits for levee work now under way in Pointe-aux-Chenes, a contention Zeringue rejects.
That sounds like something easy enough to prove, but it’s not. The case will likely center on whether the district needed the permits in the first place, a debate that will involve a lot of interpretation, semantics and arcana.
Regardless of who’s right, the tragedy is that this case will likely cost time and money -- something Terrebonne residents and taxpayers can hardly spare.
GOODBYE, SORT OF
Zeringue’s departure as Terrebonne’s levee chief will have either a positive or negative impact, depending on your worldview. Some believe his new position, as right-hand man to Louisiana coastal chief Garret Graves, will be an even bigger benefit to Terrebonne. Others see it as the unfortunate departure of Morganza’s single greatest champion whose knowledge will be irreplaceable. Both could be true.
It will be interesting to see how much sway Zeringue will have in helping Terrebonne save its coast. In his new job, he will serve as liaison between the state coastal office and levee boards across Louisiana. That will require him to navigate the interests of competing levee districts, all vying for limited money and resources.
Another question that will help determine his departure’s impact: Who will replace him? Get ready for more politics.
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Courier Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or keith.magill@houmatoday.com.