The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced three public scoping meetings will be held on the Morganza to the Gulf (MTG) Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS).
The SEIS will evaluate design changes to the authorized MTG project to meet the one percent Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) Storm Surge Risk Reduction (100-year level of risk reduction).
Public Meeting Schedule:
Tuesday, July 30th, 2024
North Lafourche Levee District
3862 Highway 1, Raceland, LA 70394
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Thursday, August 1st, 2024
Montegut Fire Station
1105 LA-55, Montegut, LA 70377
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Monday, August 5th, 2024
Barry P. Bonvillain Civic Center
346 Civic Center Blvd., Houma, LA 70360
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Virtual Meeting Schedule:
Wednesday August 14th, 2024
10 a.m.
Webex Information:
https://usace1.webex.com/usace1/j.php?MTID=m48da275fe276e8902dfccd116fad562d
Meeting number:
2830 578 7864
Meeting password:
BAyPdxE?356
Join by phone
+1-669-234-1177 Toll
+1-844-800-2712 Toll Free
Access code: 28305787864
Each meeting will feature a short presentation and open house where the public can ask questions of and give feedback to USACE employees. A virtual meeting will be scheduled at a later date. The public will be notified via press release, social media, and the USACE website.
Background: The MTG hurricane and storm damage risk reduction project is a levee system located approximately 60 miles southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana and includes most of Terrebonne Parish and a portion of Lafourche Parish between the Terrebonne Parish eastern boundary and Bayou Lafourche. The purpose of this project is to reduce the risk of damage caused by hurricane storm surges.
A review of the project is needed because of the increasing susceptibility of coastal communities to storm surge due to wetland loss, sea level rise, and subsidence. The MTG Project was initially authorized by Section 1001(24) of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007 in accordance with the Reports of the Chief of Engineers dated 23 August 2002 and 22 July 2003, at a total cost of $886.7 million.
The project was redesigned in the 2013 Integrated Revised Programmatic EIS (RPEIS) and Post Authorization Change Report, both to address the project cost increase beyond the statutory limitation in accordance with Section 902 of the WRDA of 1986, as amended, and to meet updated post-Hurricane Katrina design guidelines. The MTG Project was subsequently re-authorized by Section 7002(3)5 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 in accordance with the Report of the Chief of Engineers dated 8 July 2013, at an updated total cost of $10,265,100,000.
The MTG project was authorized to provide the 1% AEP level of hurricane and storm damage risk reduction while maintaining navigational passage and tidal exchange. The project consists of approximately 98 miles of levee including associated navigation, roadway, pump station fronting protection, and environmental control structures. The 2013 RPEIS provided an assessment for both programmatic and constructible features for the MTG project. Constructible features consisted of those project features that were determined to have sufficient design details to be constructed. Constructible features included levee reaches F1, F2, G1; the HNC Lock; and the Bayou Grand Caillou Floodgate. The remaining features were designed to a programmatic design level that would require supplemental National Environmental Policy Act documentation prior to construction. The mitigation plan for the constructible features included restoration of 427 acres of intermediate marsh, 358 acres of brackish marsh and 975 acres of saline marsh.
This SEIS will disclose the context and intensity of environmental impacts, including indirect and cumulative effects, for the final array of levee alignments and associated features. Any required mitigation will also be discussed.
The public scoping period is extended until August 26, 2024. Comments must be submitted by this date to ensure they are considered in the planning of the project and captured in the Scoping Report.
Scoping comments can be submitted during the public meetings or by mail to:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District
Attn: CEMVN-PDS
7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118.
Or email: mvnenvironmental@usace.army.mil
Questions regarding the proposed action should be directed to Ms. Sandra Stiles:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District
Attn: CEMVN-PDS, 7400 Leake Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118
Phone (504) 862-2862
Email Sandra.E.Stiles@usace.army.mil.
For more information on the Morganza to the Gulf project, visit https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/About/Projects/Morganza-to-the-Gulf/
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