Contact: Gordon Helm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 713-2370 5/13/95
Louisiana's East Timbalier Island, suffering from severe erosion and years of storm damage, will benefit from a $4,026,000 federal coastal habitat restoration project, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.
The project is the largest single restoration program funded to date in Louisiana by NOAA and the second part of a two-phase plan to rehabilitate the island. The restoration project was developed by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service.
"This two-phase project protects critical coastal habitats that help preserve the long-term value of Louisiana's commercial and recreational fisheries," said NOAA Administrator D. James Baker. "This approximately $6 million in federal funds goes right into the local economy for engineering and design, surveying, construction and associated businesses."
The project site encompasses the eastern half of East Timbalier Island. The island is part of the chain of barrier islands in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes that fronts Timbalier Bay. Through Phase II of the cooperative agreement with the fisheries service, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources will create 129 acres of saline marsh and protect 24 acres of existing saline marsh on the island by placing approximately 1,875,000 cubic yards of sediment taken from an area near the island. By increasing the width and integrity of the island, project managers expect to extend the current life span of the Timbalier Island chain while protecting marshes on the mainland of Timbalier Bay.
Louisiana's barrier islands are the primary line of defense against waves from the Gulf of Mexico and protect an extensive estuarine system and the mainland marshes in the Terrebonne and Barataria basins. These barrier islands provide valuable habitat for migratory birds, nesting shorebirds and waterfowl, and aquatic nursery habitats for fish and shellfish.
The erosion and breaching of East Timbalier Island has reduced its effectiveness in preventing storm surges from reaching mainland marshes. The lack of an effective barrier has resulted in increased wave damage to bay marshes. Restoration is critical to sustaining the island and reducing mainland marsh loss.
Currently, Louisiana is losing between 25 and 35 square miles of valuable marine habitat a year. Louisiana contains 40 percent of the wetlands in the 48 contiguous states. Nationally, 80 percent of the coastal wetlands loss occurs in Louisiana due to erosion, subsidence and other forces.
This $4 million project, or Phase II, is actually the third restoration project to benefit East Timbalier Island. A project was undertaken in 1994 by Greenhill Petroleum Corp. following a settlement with federal and state trustees. In the settlement Greenhill agreed to create 21 new acres of marsh on the island as compensation for an oil spill that occured in September 1992. Phase I of the two federal/state projects will use 890,000 cubic yards of material dredged from nearshore sand deposits to create 88 acres of intertidal wetlands. The first phase is designed to reinforce the vital interior marshes of the island and provide prolonged protection to an additional 1,900 acres of coastal wetlands within the Timbalier Bay estuarine system. The cost of Phase I was estimated at $1.4 million, with construction to begin later this year.
The National Marine Fisheries Service will provide 75 percent of the funds for both phases of the East Timbalier projects; Louisiana will pay for 25 percent of the project with state funds. Louisianažs Department of Natural Resources will implement the project.
Federal funds for the project are provided through the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act. The Act mandated the organization of a task force consisting of five federal agencies and the state of Louisiana. The task force currently is coordinating the implementation of almost 60 projects aimed at mitigating Louisianažs severe coastal erosion and wetlands loss. Funding for these projects totals approximately $35 million annually.