LA Restoration Should Get Top Priority For BP Spill Fine Money: Enviros

"Rebuilding Louisiana's coast, including the rapidly eroding Mississippi River delta, should be the main use of billions of dollars in expected BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill fine and restoration money, according to two reports released Tuesday by the National Wildlife Federation and a coalition of national and Louisiana environmental groups.

'We already have a massive land loss crisis in Louisiana, so time is not on our side,' said David Muth, Gulf Program director with the National Wildlife Federation, during a Tuesday teleconference. 'We need to move forward and move forward quickly.'

The 19 Louisiana projects listed in the reports, all of which are in the state's 2012 Master Plan for coastal restoration, include major sediment and freshwater diversions on the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. They also include reconstruction of barrier islands and headlands along the coast, building wetlands with sediment delivered from the Mississippi by pipelines, and a saltwater barrier on the Calcasieu River on the western side of the state."

Mark Schleifstein reports for the New Orleans Times-Picayune December 9, 2014.