To fix damage from old canals, corps plans new one

MERAUX, La. (AP) — On a wedge of Louisiana where criss-crossing canals have killed off native plants and sped erosion, the Army Corps of Engineers has a controversial proposal for undoing environmental damage: They want to dig another canal.

The trench is part of a $3 billion plan to fix damage left by the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a 78-mile shipping channel dug in the 1960s. The corps says the work will help protect New Orleans from hurricanes by restoring wetlands, the natural buffer Louisiana is losing along this low-lying coast.

Scientists and many residents of St. Bernard Parish agree that its marshes need an infusion of nourishing Mississippi River water and the land-building sediment it carries. But after a century of flooding and environmental damage caused by misguided water projects — many built by federal engineers — the corps is having trouble selling its latest one.

Handyman Michael DeFranza, for one, fears the new project could be another example of poor long-term planning by the corps.