AG Landry Sues Corps Of Engineers Over Waterway Dispute
Attorney General Jeff Landry filed a lawsuit against the Corps of Engineers alleging that the Corps expanded the Intracoastal Waterway in Vermillion Parish beyond the borders set in a 1920s agreement.
Landry says the Corps has increased the size of the waterway far past what the state imagined, which the AG says has contributed to the decline of Louisiana’s coastline.
“The Corps of Engineers… many, many years ago when the intracoastal waterway was constructed and was granted a 300 foot easement they have neglected that particular servitude.”
Landry says he’s seeking to force the Corps to roll back the waterway to the limits the state initially agreed to.
“We’re looking for… number one, an injunction against the corps so that they will put in place, mechanisms by which the servitude is maintained and then, restore the land that’s been lost.”
The Corps routinely makes arrangements with states that allow it to construct new waterway projects. Landry says in bigger states, the Corp wouldn’t have gotten away with the over expansion.
“Those things have a tendency to focus on those much larger states that’s just how things happen in this country but certainly, it doesn’t mean that it’s right.”
The Governor has criticized the move, saying that Landry did not consult with him, or the Coastal Protection and Restoration authority, the agency charged with developing coastal protection plans, before filing the suit.