Posted on August 11, 2016
By Keith Magill, houmatoday.com
Local and federal agencies say they have signed a deal that will clear a waterway to make it easier for Terrebonne Parish companies to move platforms and materials to and from the Gulf of Mexico oilfield.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the parish Port Commission said today that they have signed an agreement that will result in more dredging of the Houma Navigation Canal.
The canal, which runs about 40 miles from the port in east Houma to the Gulf, was last dredged in 2014. The new project’s start date has not yet been set. A dredge will work for 90 days to create a channel both 15 feet deep and wide from mile 11, just south of Dulac, to the Gulf near Wine Island.
“Execution of this agreement is a tremendous accomplishment for all involved,” Col. Michael Clancy, commander of the corps’ New Orleans District, said in a news release. “It is the result of a great team effort by the local, state and federal governments. It shows how much more we can accomplish when we pool our resources and work toward a common objective.”
Discussed for months, parish government and the port are putting up a combined $2 million to have the canal dredged to a depth of 15 feet, three feet deeper than it now averages.
The corps, which maintains the canal, had only budgeted $1.1 million for the removal of 250,000 cubic yards of sediment, which would have deepened the canal to 13 feet. About 1.2 million cubic yards must be dredged to meet the authorized 15-foot depth, officials said.
“Every year, local industry and our local economy depends on the corps to maintain the 15-foot depth,” said David Rabalais, the port’s executive director. “This year, the New Orleans District corps office had their budget cut and did not have the funds available to fully dredge the HNC to its authorized depth.”
Parish officials said without the dredging, local companies were at risk of not being able to get their materials to and from job sites in the Gulf.
“Without the full authorized depth, the parish loses business and jobs,” said Parish President Gordon Dove. “With today’s unstable oil prices, the industry has been severely cut, causing thousands of lost jobs. … Our region cannot afford to lose one more job.”
Source: houmatoday.com
