The diverted fresh water amounts to a river bigger than New York's Hudson. When the river is high, it could undermine levees along the Mississippi, but its impact on Barataria Bay's lucrative fisheries — a flashpoint in the fight over the state's Master Plan for coastal restoration — remains unclear.
The Jindal team's attack on the Flood Authority lawsuit is complex and hard to follow — a sure sign that they've been thrown on the defensive.
Last week, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council approved a plan to spend fines levied on BP for the 2010 spill. So far, however, there's little money in the fund. And even if BP ends up paying close to its maximum penalty of $17.1 billion, it's unclear how much will go to Louisiana.
Attorney General fires off press release, and coastal chief flames attorney on Twitter.
An "olive branch" extended by the levee authority has turned to ashes.
Barry, a member of the levee authority that is suing oil and gas companies for damage to the coast, writes: "We have been criticized for trying to collect from an industry which was complying with the law at the time it conducted its operations. We believe that they were never in compliance with the law."
The Jindal administration has contended that a local levee authority acted improperly in suing oil and gas companies.
A local levee authority has offered to hold off on some of its lawsuit against oil and gas companies if the state can get the industry to discuss voluntarily paying for damage. But the comments by the Flood Protection Authority and the Jindal administration don't signal much movement on their key disagreement.
With tropical wave threatening the Gulf, early storm protection is activated — but not whole system.
They questioned why the board acted alone and and suggested that it's acting outside of its legal authority.
