Port Of Iberia Channel Deepening Plan Opens For Public Comment
The New Orleans Engineer District has released a draft environmental assessment for a proposed navigation channel deepening project connecting the Port of Iberia, La., with the Gulf.
The draft assessment and its appendices are available for a public review and comment period that began August 24 and will end September 24.
The project is intended to provide a continuous navigation channel with a depth of 16 feet below mean lower low water between the port and the Gulf.
The proposed work includes the initial deepening of approximately 34 miles of channel, followed by maintenance dredging along as many as 57.5 miles of the existing navigation channel. The project area encompasses three segments of the existing inland waterway system: the Freshwater Bayou Canal, a portion of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the non-federally constructed Commercial Canal.
Other proposed project features include replacing the existing barge swing gates in the Freshwater Bayou Canal bypass channel, placing approximately 3,650 feet of rock revetment south of the Freshwater Bayou Lock and relocating existing utilities.
Material removed during dredging would be used beneficially to nourish marshes and other wetland habitats.
The Corps said all comments postmarked by the end of the public review period will be addressed in the final environmental assessment. A finding of no significant impact will not be signed until all environmental review and compliance requirements have been completed.
The draft environmental assessment and supporting appendices are available on the New Orleans District’s Port of Iberia project webpage.
Written comments may be mailed to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Regional Planning and Environment Division South, New Orleans Environmental Branch, CEMVN PDS, 7400 Leake Ave., New Orleans, LA 70118.
Comments may also be emailed to mvnenvironmental@usace.army.mil. Anyone interested in receiving future National Environmental Policy Act public-review documents by email should include an email address when submitting comments.
