A beautiful article - Louisiana Wetlands: Why We All Need Them, And Why Oil Companies Aren't The Only Ones On The Hot Seat

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Louisiana Wetlands: Why We AllNeed Them, And Why Oil Companies
Aren't The Only Ones On The Hot Seat. 

The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority – East (SLFPAE) has pursued legal action against 97 oil and gas companies for damages to Louisiana’s coast.  In an interview with Harry Shearer, SLFPAE vice president John Barry offers big-picture insight into the factors degrading the coast and driving the suit.

The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority – East (SLFPAE) has pursued legal action against 97 oil and gas companies for damages to Louisiana’s coast. In an interview with Harry Shearer, SLFPAE vice president John Barry offers big-picture insight into the factors degrading the coast and driving the suit.

12 August 2013  | Author John Barry is best known for his eminently readable accounts of scientific advances, while humorist Harry Shearer is best known for his improve and voice acting skills. Barry, however, is also vice president of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority – East, (SLFPAE) which was created after Hurricane Katrina to protect the east bank of the Mississippi River in the greater New Orleans area, while Shearer also hosts Le Show, a weekly syndicated public radio show often found on NPR stations.

The SLFPAE is the levee authority that’s suing Chevron, Exxon Mobil and 95 other oil and gas companies over wetland degradation along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, and Le Show has been blending hard news, satire, and commentary for 30 years. It should come as no surprise, then, that Shearer’s interviews with Barry over the years provide a very clear and understandable insight into the role of New Orleans in the US economy, the interconnectedness of US waterways, and how this lawsuit has been brewing for some time.

To begin with, Barry pointed out in the August 4 show, no one disputes the damage oil companies have done to the wetlands.

“It’s a fact which they admit,” Barry says. “Chris John, who runs the Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, conceded that we are, quote, ‘partly responsible’. Unquote. They know that. The issue is who pays to fix it.”

Background

The degradation to these wetlands means Louisiana is losing the coastal wetlands that have long protected the coast from hurricanes and slow erosion. The 1900 square feet of land loss helped to absorb a hurricane’s energy and reduce damage from the storm surge.

“We don’t blame the oil and gas industry for all of the land loss,” Barry says. “We do say they are responsible for some of the land loss. We’re just asking them to pay for the part that they’re responsible for.”

As Barry points out, a number of factors are contributing to the land loss. Related to the energy industry, the 10,000 miles of canals and pipelines that these companies install allow saltwater in, which kills plants and causes soil to melt away into the ocean. The majority of companies were permitted to dredge the canals so long as they restored and maintained them.

Dams built along the Missouri River, which flows into the Mississippi, also contribute to the land loss. Before these dams were built, deposits of sediment replenished Louisiana’s coastal lands. But the dams prevent a lot of sediment from flowing down the river. The dams provide flood protection, hydroelectric power and irrigation to the Midwestern and High Plains states, but they also contribute to Louisiana’s vulnerability to weather, Barry says. Jetties built for the shipping industry also encumber the land replenishment process by carrying sediment out into the Gulf. Previously, the sediment had led to huge sandbars that blocked the Mississippi River system from the ocean hindering the industry. Barry points out that 60% of the nation’s grain exports travel the Mississippi and, without the jetties, this wouldn’t be possible.

What’s the Solution

Barry and the SLFPAE would like to achieve 500-year storm protection for New Orleans. The current system provides 100-year protection, which is the lowest standard in the developed world. The Dutch, British and Japanese have 10,000 year protection standards, Barry says, with cows receiving 100 year protection.

To achieve this will require funds exceeding New Orleans’ capacity, Barry says. Because the changes made to the waterway benefit the entire nation economically but have also contributed to Louisiana’s land loss and increased exposure to hurricane risk, Barry believes the state’s vulnerability is a national issue.

“We import and export and distribute all over the country through the Mississippi River system, so we think there is a responsibility for the nation to take care of it,” he says.

They also think the oil and gas companies should do their part since a large chunk of the responsibility belongs to them, which is why the state entity is suing.

The SLFPAE decided to sue after comparing their responsibility of protecting southeast Louisiana from flooding to lawsuits against tobacco companies. In the suits against the cigarette companies, individuals that smoked and developed cancer couldn’t sue and win because they had been warned smoking causes cancer. But states that had to pay enormous medical bills from patients on Medicaid that had cancer from smoking were able to sue tobacco companies and win. The states argued they didn’t have the choice not to smoke and there was enough proof that the cancer or illness had been caused by smoking.

And Barry found this situation similar to what the SLFPAE was facing in Louisiana. Their obligation to residents to create a secure flood protection system was compromised by the loss of this coastal land. And this land loss was partly caused by oil and gas companies...

SOURCE ECOSYSTEM MARKETPLACE

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