Latest Mississippi River Delta News: June 18, 2013

Plans for coastal restoration debated in St. Bernard
By Amy Wold, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.). June 17, 2013.
“CHALMETTE – The crowd at a coastal restoration meeting Monday agreed something has to be done to reverse coastal land loss in Louisiana, but sharply disagreed with how the state’s plans to move forward with large river diversions…” (Read more)

The Louisiana Coast: Last Call — Coastal Restoration Crucial For Business
By Bob Marshall, WWNO (New Orleans). June 17, 2013.
“Restoring the Gulf Coast is also a critical business issue, as R. King Milling, chairman of the governor’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection and Restoration and the former president of Whitney Bank explains…” (Read more)

Louisiana constitutional limits on Gulf oil spill money fails in Legislature
The Associated Press. June 17, 2013.
“Attempts to limit Gulf Coast oil spill penalty money to coastal restoration, in the Louisiana Constitution, failed to gain legislative passage for a second year, while disagreements continue over just how tightly the dollars should be restricted…” (Read more)

With West Bank’s flood-protection ring complete, officials focus on still-vulnerable areas
By Manuel Torres, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans). June 17, 2013.
“Even as they celebrated construction of $3 billion in flood protection for the West Bank of Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines and St. Charles parishes, local officials Monday emphasized the need also to protect communities outside the new system. Their reminders came during a ceremony at which they joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to mark completion of all permanent structures in the West Bank and Vicinity project, a 75-mile network of levees and floodwalls extending from Ama in St. Charles to Oakville in Plaquemines…” (Read more)