USACE Hearing on St. Claude Bridge Lock Replacement

Thanks to our friends at the Lower Ninth Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development for notice of this upcoming US Army Corps of Engineers hearing in their newsletter.

PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE ON ST. CLAUDE BRIDGE LOCK REPLACEMENT PROJECT

What: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Or leans District is hosting a public meeting to provide the public with an update on the Mississippi River, Baton Rouge to the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, Louisiana, New Industrial Canal Lock and Connecting Channels Project.

The meeting will also provide a venue for community members to submit comments on the Draft Integrated General Reevaluation Report (GRR) and Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), which is currently available for a 45-day public comment period. The comment period for the draft GRR/SEIS report ends on February 20, 2017.

When: Tuesday, February 07, 2017

6:00 to 6:30 p.m. Open House

6:30 p.m. Brief introduction, presentation of the project, 20 minute question and answer period, and public comment period.

Where: Andrew "Pete" Sanchez and Copelin-ByrdMulti-Purpose Center

1616 Caffin Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70117. The meeting will be held in the multi-purpose room located on the second floor.

The draft report is available online at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District website:

http://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/About/Projects/IHNC-Lock-Replacement 

Comments should be addressed to:  

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (CEMVN-PDC-CEC)

c/o Mark Lahare

7400 Leake Avenue

New Orleans, LA 70118

Phone: (504) 862-1344

E-mail: mark.h.lahare@usace.army.mil

Sunday January 15th. NEW ORLEANS GROUP PROGRAM

The Mississippi River Delta: Is There Hope?

With the release of the 2012 Draft Master Plan for Coastal Restoration and Hurricane Risk Reduction, it is time to assess our prospects for restoring a functional delta and insuring the very future existence of our communities. Nothing less is at stake.

David Muth is a New Orleans native who has spent a lifetime in the Mississippi River delta and on the Louisiana coast, studying its geology, ecology, plants, wildlife, history and culture. He took his degree in history at University of New Orleans and became professionally interested in the connection between culture and environment in the context of the delta. He worked for 30 years with the National Park Service at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in south Louisiana, eventually managing its natural and cultural resource programs. At the beginning of 2011, he joined the Mississippi River Delta Restoration Campaign as the Louisiana State Director of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF).

The campaign is a joint effort among NWF, Environmental Defense Fund and the National Audubon Society, along with local partners like the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, and the Nature Conservancy of Louisiana, to bring about comprehensive, systemic restoration of the Mississippi River delta. They are working to find and seek consensus and national support for an ecologically sound and sustainable program to restore the flow of the Mississippi River to its dying delta, and to do so in a way that preserves the communities and culture of coastal Louisiana to the maximum extent possible.

Audubon Zoo, Dominion Auditorium. Enter gate to far right of main gate and behind statue of Audubon.  Parking plentiful and safe.  Call (504) 307-0187 with any questions.  The program is free and open to everyone. Refreshments at 6:30 P.M.  Program 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.