Attorney general seeks restoration

Another suit has been filed that seeks to get more efforts to restore land that is so much needed along the coast of Louisiana.

This one has been filed by none other than Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry against the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to do restoration work in the 72,000-acre state nature preserve in Vermilion Parish.

The suit blames the Corps for losing land that has disappeared along the Intracoastal Waterway. The suit claims the Corps was totally responsible for the disappearance of land along the canal because it failed to maintain the channel for decades.

Landry claimed in an interview Friday that the waterway is now wider than the original land corridor where it was located.

When the canal was dug, the Corps was granted a 300-foot servitude by homeowners carved out of Louisiana and Texas swamps between New Orleans and Galveston.

“Today, in some places, the channel is over 900 feet,” the attorney general pointed out.

The canal servitude is now managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Landry has intervened in other lawsuits parish governments have filed claiming oil company drilling, dredging and canal building have destroyed wetlands, which most observers of the coastal land in Louisiana will agree with.

Landry, who is a Republican, has been mentioned in state news as a possible opponent of Gov. John Bell Edwards, a Democrat, in the coming gubernatorial election in 2019.

Edwards office reportedly said Friday that Landry filed the lawsuit against the Corps without consulting the governor or the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

“While coastal restoration is a top priority of Governor Edwards, as evidenced by the significant work we have done over the last two years to expedite projects, we will review the lawsuit once the lawsuit is provided to us and determine the best path forward for the state,” the governor assured citizens of the state.

At least it is good to know that our present governor is firm in his desire to make Louisiana a solid coastal state once again.

And now we have some assurance that our next governor may have the same desire if Landry comes through with success in the possibility he will seek the top office in our state government.

 

About Allen Lottinger 433 Articles
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