BP SPILL FUNDING - Louisiana will get $130 million in BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill money to link its second-largest coastal swamp back up to the Mississippi River. The RESTORE council made up of officials from the five Gulf states and several federal agencies voted to fund the River Reintroduction into the Maurepas Swamp project.
The announcement was made yesterday by Governor John Bel Edwards; at press event with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority in Baton Rouge, Edwards stressed the importance of the project.
"If we let this swamp continue to die off, we would be putting many large communities in the region at risk," Edwards explained.
The Maurepas Swamp project is the biggest project so far in the state's coastal restoration program. It will benefit 45,000 acres of swamp and help provide a barrier from hurricanes for several parish ccommunities.
