Federal Enviromental Study Holding Up New Orleans Industrial Canal Project

By Bacques, Lisa

A project to expand and deepen the locks on the Industrial Canal is in a holding pattern until the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes an environmental impact statement to comply with a court order.

In October 2006, U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon ruled the Corps, which leases the locks from the Port of New Orleans, can’t continue the work until it reconsiders the project’s environmental impacts.

In February 2003, the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association filed a lawsuit against the Corps, which the Gulf Restoration Network and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network later joined. Cynthia Sarthou, executive director of the Gulf Restoration Network the past 12 years, said the Industrial Canal had been used as a dump for various warehouses throughout the years.

“The lawsuit was looking at what contamination levels were in the area and what would be released into the Industrial Canal and also into Lake Pontchartrain,” Sarthou said.

The lock project, which requires dredging and disposal of 3 million cubic yards of sediment and soil, would uncover toxic materials such as heavy metals in the canal. Before Hurricane Katrina, the Corps planned to put the spoils, or dredged material, in an area near the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet. Since Katrina caused 17 breaches along the levees of the MR-GO, there is even more concern about how the spoils will be disposed.

The lock project’s current cost is $764 million. The existing lock is 75 feet wide, 640 feet long and 31.5 feet deep. The new lock would be 110 feet wide, 1,200 feet long and 36 feet deep. The project will not widen the Industrial Canal, only the lock, according to the Corps’ Web site.

Larry Poindexter, senior project manager for the Corps, said he expects to see the environmental impact statement in 18 months.

“Once it is completed, we will present the information to the district court,” Poindexter said. “If the judge rules that we did comply with his request, we will get federal and non-federal funds and the project will begin.”

The project is expected to take eight years. Poindexter said the Corps is considering cost escalation and revisiting the estimated cost of the project.

“We expect prices to stabilize during the time the project is under way,” Poindexter said, adding that the Corps does not foresee scaling back the project.

However, Sarthou doubts whether Congress will provide the money for the lock project. “It may be better economically to move industries to the Mississippi River (from the canal),” Sarthou said. “Congress wants justification for this project in light of all the money Louisiana is already asking for. How much do we expect to get? If it is levees versus the Industrial Canal, I think levees are going to win.”

Larry Brown, general manager of Bollinger Gulf Repair, at 4900 Almonaster Blvd. on the Industrial Canal, said whether his business remains on the canal depends on the environmental study. Alternate plans are being considered to relocate the facilities on the Mississippi River, but the decision to move will be made by the corporate office with the Port’s assistance, Brown said.

Brown has two contracts in the yard requiring six months’ worth of work and a $25-million price tag.

In addition to converting ships to meet new regulations, the yard also repairs large deck barges, drill barges, deepwater tugs, and supply boats. Brown said he is not having problems hiring at the moment, but labor issues may arise depending how long the locks remain closed.

“People may hesitate to come to work here because they won’t be sure if the available work will be reduced in the future,” Brown said.

The Industrial Canal was created as a shipping canal connecting the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain. Dredging of the canal began in June 1918, and the finished project was dedicated in May 1923.

A connection to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was added midway in the Industrial Canal in the 1930s. During World War II, the federal government leased the lock from the Port of New Orleans and took over its operation and maintenance.

(Copyright 2007 Dolan Media Newswires)

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