Crawfishermen, parish councilmen and local advocates spoke in opposition to CPRA’s proposed East Grand Lake Project in the Basin at a public hearing in Iberville Parish last week

(Plaquemine, LA) - Last week, the members of the public attended a public hearing to tell the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) they do not want the East Grand Lake Project constructed in the Atchafalaya Basin. Live testimony was offered in addition to the more than 2,000 individuals who have signed a petition in opposition to the project.

The Atchafalaya Basin Program’s East Grand Lake Project has been on the books for years but the applicant agency - the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) - is now pushing for permits to construct. The contentious project proposes to make cuts in elevated banks and spoil piles to introduce river water into back swamps in the East Grand Lake area of the Flat Lake/Belle River water management units on the east side of the Atchafalaya Basin. CPRA claims the goal of the project is to improve water quality and forest health, but locals who live, work and recreate in the Basin are all too familiar with promises like these to be convinced.

Jody Meche

Public Official/Crawfisherman

Crawfishers and hunters who regularly navigate through the Basin told LDEQ they don’t want the project because, like other similar projects constructed in Buffalo Cove and Beau Bayou, rather than deliver fresh water to improve fisheries these projects divert sediment from introduced water and silt up the backswamps until they are no longer navigable by boat. A recurrent theme of the hearing was ‘what use is water quality if you can’t get there?’ “I hope that all of the opposition testimony against the EGL project offered at the public hearing will convince LDEQ not to certify this project for the sake of preserving our Atchafalaya Basin,” stated Jody Meche, commercial crawfishermen and president of the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association-West.

Comments also were made to remind CPRA that the Basin is a spillway protecting much of coastal Louisiana from Mississippi River floods, Dean Wilson, Executive Director for Atchafalaya Basinkeeper said “floods from the filling of the Basin are already taking place, last year we experienced a historic flood from Bayou Sorrel and Bayou Pigeon all the way to Morgan City because the Basin is filling in with sand and silt. The Basin is losing flood capacity in part because of projects like this, threatening our entire industrial corridor, the port of South Louisiana and millions of people from future Mississippi River floods. Irresponsible is not a strong enough word to describe projects like this”

Advocacy organizations working to protect the Basin, including Atchafalaya Basinkeeper and Delta Chapter of Sierra Club, as well as lawyers from the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic and General Russel Honoré also spoke in opposition of the project. General Honoré bemoaned the continued mismanagement of the Basin, to the benefit of special interest groups but to the detriment of the swamps and communities that rely on the Basin.

Of the few speakers in support of the project - including proponents of the project from The Nature Conservancy and the US Geological Survey - noticeably missing in action was the applicant agency, CPRA. Some of the attendees stated they showed up to learn more about the project, the proposed activities and claimed benefits, but CPRA failed to deliver. The agency neither presented any information about the project nor offered public comment. Nevertheless, a few of the local fishermen opened the door for more communication, inviting the agencies to join them in the Basin and see what’s happening on the ground for themselves.

It’s not too late to share your comment with the regulators! In addition to the public hearing, LDEQ will accept any written comments on the East Grand Lake project submitted by no later than January 9, 2023 at 4:30 pm. Information on how and where to submit written comments are provided below.

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To view the public notice for this project and LDEQ’s public hearing and comment period, visit the following link: https://edms.deq.louisiana.gov/app/doc/view?doc=13524783

The notice provides: “Comments on the water quality certification must be received by 4:30 pm CST, Monday, January 9, 2023. Delivery may be made to the drop-box at 602 N. 5th St., Baton Rouge, LA 70802. U.S. Mail may be sent to LDEQ, Public Participation Group, P.O. Box 4313, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-4313. Emails may be submitted to DEQ.PUBLICNOTICES@LA.GOV and faxes sent to (225) 219-3309. Persons wishing to receive notice of the final water quality certification decision must include a complete mailing address when submitting comments. [and that] All correspondence should specify AI Number 210833, Water Quality Certification WQC 220609-01, and Activity Number CER20220001.”

To learn more information about the East Grand Lake project, including public notices, background chronology, comments and expert opinions, visit Atchafalaya Basinkeeper’s ‘East Grand Lake’ page at the following link: https://www.basinkeeper.org/east-grand-lake

To sign onto the petition opposing the East Grand Lake Project, visit the following link: https://chng.it/NZy6hcLy

Contacts:

Dean Wilson, Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, (225) 692-4114