River Diversions and Destruction Give Us the Truth Give Us the Facts

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser joins opposition to LA CPRA two billion dollar diversion. 

The Advocate article by Mark Schleifstein at link

https://www.nola.com/news/politics/article_fda47b86-a2d5-11eb-9d97-cfaf61e2cbc6.html

At a recent St Bernard Parish Parish Council Meeting, Louisiana's Lt Governor cited the absurdity of Congress to change the marine mammal act in 2018;  instead of studying the effects of the diversions, congress passed a waiver; they will not conduct a study and instead will monitor the disastrous effects for five years, will provide funding " for dolphins and fixing the turtles and put refridgeration on shrimp boats and raise the road in Plaquemines if they flood... no! Give us the truth. Give us the facts," Nungesser said [1] Nungesser also points out the wasted funds by LA CPRA in a propaganda campaign to convince people the river diversions are good for the coast. 

As Councilmember Kerri Callias notes, this would be at the expense of our livelihoods and way of life.  around the 20:25 minute mark in video   https://sbpg.viebit.com/player.php?hash=noCIGOZo3Muu

[1] FROM WGNO TV Chris Welty
Nungesser ultimately agrees there is a need to restore the coast, but says the diversion project is not the way to do it.
“We gotta start being open and honest or we’re never going to do the right thing, we’re never going to get the right thing done for our coast or for Louisiana,” Nungesser said.
CPRA is collecting public input on the project until May 4th.

Link to submit comments: 
https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Permits/Mid-Barataria-Sediment-Diversion-EIS/ 

From The Save Louisiana Coalition

The public needs to understand that there is no more debate over the destruction Louisiana's proposed MS River Diversions will cause - the Draft Environmental Impact Statement has been released...

As The Save Louisiana Coalition, the Gulf Coast Resource Coalition, and our partners have stated all along:

--Minimal land gain close to the diversion, while causing land loss to accelerate in other areas;
--Shrimp, oysters and dolphins gone...along with tourism/hospitality, restaurant and other industries dependent on and fueled by our seafood-based culture.

This experimental waste by the LA CPRA of billions of dollars in precious, limited coastal restoration money must stop!

https://www.mvn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/Permits/Mid-Barataria-Sediment-Diversion-EIS/

https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectId=100083

From Marine Mammal Commission

Effects of Low Salinity Exposure on Bottlenose Dolphins Webinar

When St Bernard gets serious about recycling

St Bernard has no real drive to recycle plastics, cardboard, newspapers, or glass. Residents and parish officials seem more content, almost proud, to provide curbside junk disposal then reducing waste. We can't afford to keep all our fire stations open, yet we pay dumpster tipping fees for almost anything.

Let's get serious and begin by manufacturing less plastic (i.e.,  #stopformosa ) using less plastic, and demanding actual recycling for what plastic we might purchase. Demand different packaging.

According to Laura Sullivan's 2020 article, we can no longer ship used plastic for overseas recycling.

Then why is Louisiana gifting more industrial tax exemptions to a proposed massive plastics plant in St James and the sponsoring a State Port in St Bernard for plastics pellets containers [1]? Does that mean St Bernard's proposed State Port container shipyard will also become the plastics storing hub?

When St Bernard gets serious about recycling, our decisions will be to reduce use, reduce waste.

According to Laura Sullivan's 2020 article, we can no longer ship used plastic for overseas recycling.

Here's the basic problem: All used plastic can be turned into new things, but picking it up, sorting it out and melting it down is expensive. Plastic also degrades each time it is reused, meaning it can't be reused more than once or twice.

On the other hand, new plastic is cheap. It's made from oil and gas, and it's almost always less expensive and of better quality to just start fresh.

All of these problems have existed for decades, no matter what new recycling technology or expensive machinery has been developed. In all that time, less than 10 percent of plastic has ever been recycled. But the public has known little about these difficulties.

NPR How Big Oil Misled The Public into Believing Plastic Would be Recycled

Laura Sullivan

Formosa Louisiana Wrong Products Wrong Time Wrong Place Wrong Finances

IEEFA  March 2021

Tom Sanzillo, Director of Financial Analysis 

Suzanne Mattei, Energy Policy Analyst

[1] State Port townhall meeting in St Bernard, the proposed State Port container shipyard will be used for exporting plastic pellets to produce retail containers for products like shampoo and laundry detergent.