EPA Protects Louisiana Coastal Waters; $2.5 million grant will help restore wetlands

Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $2,502,401 to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana to improve coastal wetlands in Louisiana. The project will create 300 acres of barrier marsh and nourish 130 acres of developing marsh near Bayou Moreau using dredged material from the Gulf of Mexico.

NOAA, partners announce major progress on Gulf of

Mexico restoration

NOAA and its fellow Natural Resource Damage Assessment trustees in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have announced the signing of a formal Record of Decision to implement a Gulf restoration plan. The 44 projects, totaling an estimated $627 million, will restore barrier islands, shorelines, dunes, underwater grasses and oyster beds. This announcement marks the largest suite of Gulf early restoration projects selected thus far in the wake of the 2010 oil spill. The projects aim to address a range of injuries to natural resources and the subsequent loss of recreational use.

NOAA Sea Grant awards $15.9 million for projects to build resilient coastal communities

NOAA Sea Grant announced today grants totaling $15.9 million to support over 300 projects around the nation that help build resilient coastal communities and economies. Through university, state and other partnerships, Sea Grant Programs will supplement the federal funding with an additional $7.9 million in non-federal matching funds, bringing the total investment to more than $23.8 million.

Judge: Lawsuit To Kill EPA Climate Rule 'Runs Contrary To Basic Law'

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the state of Nebraska's lawsuit seeking to kill the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to limit greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants, saying the state was wrong for trying to sue over a rule that hasn't even been finalized yet, much less implemented. U.S. District Judge John Gerrard said Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning had "jumped the gun" when he sued the EPA in January, just three months after the agency proposed its carbon pollution standards for new natural gas-fired turbines and coal-fired power plants. Those proposed standards are intended to ensure that all new power plants, the largest stationary contributors to climate change in the United States, use technologies that limit emissions of the carbon pollution that drive it.

Dredging of Scarborough River begins next month                                      Dredging of the Scarborough River channel to rid it of excess sand deposits will continue this winter. Ed O'Donnell, chief of navigation in the Army Corps of Engineers New England District, said the project could begin as soon as early November.SouthWind Construction Corporation was awarded a bid to do the $2.3 million job on Tuesday, Sept. 23. The corporation, which is based in Evansville, Indiana, finished a 138,000 cubic yard dredging project in Wells late last year. SouthWind previously dredged Scarborough Harbor in 2004 and removed 85,000 cubic yards of sand.

Staten Island's South Shore to benefit from $100 million in city coastal protection improvements

Approximately 43 miles of the city's unprotected shoreline -- including Staten Island's South Shore, which was badly battered during Hurricane Sandy -- will get more than $100 million in coastal improvements. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking a team of experts to come up with protection measures for low-lying areas of the city's shoreline. The effort is part of city's $3.7 billion coastal protection plan, which is now nearly half-funded.

NJ - What are 'living shorelines'?

Last week the Beachcomber News reported that the city of Brigantine had received a $125,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to "make the bay side of the island more resilient by creating living shorelines." The term "living shorelines" is a new addition to our island jargon, and it might be helpful to illuminate this concept.

DE State projects deficit for shoreline management

It's a steep climb up the sand dunes for many Fenwick Island residents, but there's not much the town can do to fix them.

Throughout the town of Fenwick, there are 20-foot tall dunes. Although the town's public works department is equipped with Bobcat excavators which could level the sand, the state maintains ownership of the dunes and is unlikely to ever relinquish them.

Army Corps recommends Charleston's shipping lanes be deepened to 52 feet

Charleston Harbor would have the deepest shipping lanes on the East Coast if a new federal recommendation is approved, potentially giving the port a big advantage as ocean carriers deploy more supersized vessels. The Army Corps of Engineers states in a 345-page study released Tuesday that the main navigation channels should be deepened to 52 feet from 45 feet to accommodate the larger cargo ships.

First of two Grassy Flats Lake Worth Lagoon islands completed

One of the two muck-capping sand islands that's part of the Grassy Flats Lake Worth Lagoon restoration project was completed this week and work began Monday to add seagrass habitat. The Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management and other state and federal environmental agencies began the project, adjacent to the Par 3 Golf Course, last December. They plan to cap muck sediments with sand and create seagrass habitat to improve water quality and increase the abundance of fish and other aquatic species in the lagoon.

More than $100 million approved for Louisiana barrier island protection

Trustees overseeing the BP oil spill money have approved more than $100 million for barrier island fortifications off Terrebonne Parish's shore.

The final approval of the third phase of early restoration money covered $340 million in projects for Louisiana out of $627 million Gulf-wide.

The money is part of a $1 billion down payment BP made under the Natural Damage Resource Assessment process, which is ongoing.

Terrebonne will receive $110 million to restore beaches, dunes and back-barrier marshes on Whiskey Island. That will not only provide protection from storm surge but will aid in the effort to protect shorebirds on the island where scientists have worked to establish new colonies of brown pelicans.

Alabama receives $93.8 million in oil spill money

Nearly $627 million in oil spill money has been approved for dozens of restoration projects designed to help Gulf Coast communities recover from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It's the third - and by far the largest - installment of money for 44 projects designed to reverse damage from the nation's worst environmental catastrophe.

Port Angeles gains two cove-like beaches as waterfront improvement project continues

Construction of the city's new beaches is complete. But residents won't be able to gaze at Port Angeles Harbor from them until spring. The areas, called pocket beaches, are the first step in creating a new city park between the Valley Creek estuary to the west and the waterfront esplanade. "The beaches will be open after the park-related elements are in," said Nathan West, the city's community and economic development director, on Friday.

Corps of Engineers plans major upgrades on Columbia River jetties

The Corps of Engineers plans major work on the jetties on both sides of the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington that were built nearly a century ago to help ships navigate the channel. Work is starting this month on the north jetty that could affect access to a popular part of Cape Disappointment State Park for two years. More work on the south jetty in Fort Stevens State Park is scheduled for 2017, The Daily Astorian reported.

SF's waterfront land could be soaked by sea-level rise in just decades

San Francisco Bay waters are projected to rise as much as 6 feet by 2100, but long before then about 700 acres of land along The Embarcadero could be inundated. As much as $5 billion may be needed within the next two decades to rebuild the wall that has been San Francisco's waterfront for 100 years, and now defends prime real estate from a rising Bay, according to a Port of San Francisco official. Built over 30 years, the 4-mile-long rock-and-concrete seawall turned 700 acres of tidal marsh into developable land -- most of it highly coveted real estate today -- and allowed for the construction of the 40 piers that made San Francisco a shipping hub for most of the 20th century.