Corps Scales Back Port Iberia Environmental Review

The Corps of Engineers has withdrawn a notice to prepare an environmental impact statement for the Port of Iberia feasibility study, saying that significant environmental impacts are no longer a concern.

The Corps withdrew the notice November 2, saying that since publication of the notice of intent in 2002, study conditions have changed and that the Corps has determined that an environmental assessment and not an environmental impact statement is the “appropriate level of environmental documentation.” The notice of withdrawal was signed by James A. Bodron, programs director of the Mississippi Valley Division.

Section 431 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000 authorized a study to determine the feasibility of carrying out construction of the port at New Iberia, La. A final feasibility report and environmental impact statement were completed in 2006; however, a record of decision for the environmental impact statement was not signed. The project was subsequently authorized in WRDA 2007, later amended in WRDA 2014.

“USACE has since assessed the environmental impacts of the proposed action and determined that there would be no significant adverse impact(s) on the human and natural environment,” according to the notice published in the Federal Register. “Unavoidable impacts to wetlands will be fully mitigated.”

A copy of the signed Finding of No Significant Impact is to be available on the project website at https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/About/Projects/ Port-of-Iberia/. Any future proposed federal action related to the study or property must still comply with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as amended, including the Department of War NEPA Implementing Procedures of September 3, 2026, and other related environmental review requirements.

In 2023, Belgium-based E-Crane Worldwide, a builder of electric, counterbalanced cranes since 1990, announced that it would build a new assembly and service facility at the Port of Iberia. The company cited the rising demand for barge-mounted cranes and substantial U.S. market growth in the south.

E-Crane held its Demo Days at the port in May, showcasing how E-Crane and the port have worked together over the past three years to turn what had once been an abandoned property into a crane assembly yard. The facility allows more than storage. Instead, the Port of Iberia site now serves as an assembly point where cranes can be received, prepared and positioned for delivery to customers throughout the region. It also gives E-Crane a waterside base near the industries it serves, including bulk terminals, scrap operators and other heavy material-handling customers.

The port is also continuing to move forward with a project designed to increase its capabilities. This past August, the New Orleans Engineer District released a draft environmental assessment for a proposed navigation channel deepening project to connect the Port of Iberia with the Gulf. The Port of Iberia Channel Deepening 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 an 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.