Plaquemines Parish Taps River Sediment

Over the last decade, Breaux Act projects using dredged sediment delivered via pipeline have built thousands of acres. During construction of the West Bay Sediment Diversion, for example, sediment dredged from the bank of the Mississippi River was pumped into the deteriorating wetlands of West Bay in Plaquemines Parish. The result: more than 200 acres of rebuilt land.

Greg Miller, USACE

“In our parish, where land is being lost more rapidly than in any other area of the state, pipeline transport has been used to build land for marinas, highways and subdivisions,” says Benny Rousselle, Plaquemines Parish president. The commercial and infrastructure applications of pipeline conveyance are well established, he says.“It’s vital that we also continue to look for opportunities to apply that technique to coastal restoration.”

Future projects in Plaquemines and other coastal parishes plan to restore wetlands using sediment pumped from the river. In the Mississippi, Rousselle notes, “We have the resources to restore our coast running right through the middle of the state.”