BATON ROUGE, La. — An ambitious project to restore a rapidly vanishing stretch of Louisiana coastline that was devastated by the 2010 Gulf oil spill has been thrown deeper into disarray amid claims by Gov. Jeff Landry that his predecessor concealed an unfavorable study that it was feared could imperil the estimated $2.92 billion effort.

The controversy was even predicted by the previous administration as it grappled with how to handle conflicting environmental analyses for the project, according to a confidential memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The nine-page document, prepared by five attorneys working for then-Gov. John Bel Edwards‘ administration, sheds new light on a study Landry says was improperly withheld from the public and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as it was approving a permit for the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project.

The stakes were so high the attorneys even weighed whether state officials could face federal charges for withholding from the Corps a report that the diversion would generate significantly less land than another modeling projection used in a federal review.

Prosecution seemed “extremely unlikely,” the lawyers wrote to the heads of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, which oversees the diversion project, but they added that “the severe consequences and criminalization of the action warranted mention.”

The attorneys also warned that the Corps might suspend or revoke the permit if it discovered the study after the fact, the 2022 memo shows, foreshadowing actions taken last month when the Corps cited “deliberately withheld” information among its reasons for suspending its permit for the project. The move halts construction despite more than half a billion dollars being spent.

“They hid the bad stuff and only showed the (Corps) the version they liked,” Landry wrote in a post on X. “Science is easy when you just delete the inconvenient parts!”

Edwards denied his administration withheld information from the Corps and stated that “Gov. Landry’s accusations are demonstrably false.”

“When all the facts are presented, the public will see that his administration has played political games and botched this important project,” Edwards stated.

Landry countered in his own statement that “the facts speak for themselves.”

Amid the finger-pointing, conservation proponents have called the report in question a red herring that Landry is using to tank the project. The diversion, funded mostly from a settlement arising from BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, is the largest of its kind in Louisiana’s history.

Possible legal consequences

The Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion would puncture levees in southeast Louisiana, diverting some of the river’s sediment-rich flow to restore wetlands. The long-delayed project was intended to mitigate a disappearing coastline caused by a range of factors such as climate change-induced sea-level rise and the river’s vast levee system. Ground was broken in 2023, but state and federal litigation has stalled it.

Opponents have blasted its ballooning cost and crippling effects on the local fishing and oyster industries. Landry has said the project would “break” Louisiana’s culture of shrimp and oyster harvesting, likening it to government efforts a century ago to punish schoolchildren for speaking Cajun French.

Earlier this year, Landry’s administration approached the Corps with a list of concerns about the project, including a 2022 study it said “does not appear to have been disclosed to the public nor considered by all necessary persons within the Corps.”

Officials working for the state at the time defended how the report in question was handled, saying it had been focused on analyzing maintenance and operational costs related to the diversion and was not intended to be part of the federal environmental impact statement process.

The report, prepared by AECOM Technical Services and a subcontractor, produced “inconsistent” results such as a significantly lower projected land creation — as few as 7 square miles compared to the 21 square miles estimated under the primary model, according to the confidential memo.

Officials familiar with the study said its lower projection resulted from improperly accounting for sea level rise and underestimating the river’s flow. The memo also pointed to the need for “significant dredging” to maintain the diversion channel, which Landry’s administration now says will cost tens of millions of dollars.

In the memo, the attorneys outlined a series of “reputational concerns” about withholding the study and warned it would be more difficult to keep “controlling the narrative” if the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority “is on the defensive.”

An informal discussion

The memo noted the Corps and other federal agencies could delay the project for years if they attempted to integrate the modeling results into their environmental impact analysis. Failing to formally disclose the modeling results to federal agencies like the Corps, the attorneys warned, also would leave the project vulnerable to litigation.

They suggested the Edwards administration “informally discuss” the issue with federal agencies and then strategize the best way to “formally” enter it into the public record for the agencies to review.

The report’s findings eventually were verbally communicated to at least one Corps official, who indicated it was insignificant, according to multiple former Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority officials familiar with the exchange. But the complete analysis itself was not submitted into the public record, nor was the official’s response at the time, they said.

The former state officials weren’t authorized to discuss internal deliberations and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

Col. Cullen Jones, head of the Corps’ New Orleans District, told Landry’s administration last month that the Corps recently conducted a “technical review” of the modeling analysis in question and concluded it “would not affect” the permit.

But Jones said the Corps suspended the project’s permit in part because “the state deliberately withheld information … that the state knew it should provide.”

Project’s future in doubt

The Corps also pointed to actions taken by Landry’s administration, including a 90-day work stoppage announced last month amid plans to study an alternative “smaller diversion” and claims the state can’t afford the project.

It’s unclear how Landry intends to respond to the permit’s suspension. The state could dispute the permit suspension. At that point, the Corps could revoke or modify the permit as it sees fit.

Louisiana’s coastal agency earmarked about $573 million in its 2025 budget for the project, an amount now being reviewed by the legislature. Last fall, federal agencies tasked with managing Deepwater Horizon settlement money warned that if Louisiana backs out of or alters the Mid-Barataria Diversion project, money allocated for it would need to be returned.

Lauren Bourg, director of the National Audubon Society’s Mississippi River Delta program, told lawmakers that ending or altering the project “sends the message that any infrastructure project in this state may be undone by a few stakeholders who engage in politics with the right people, distorting the scientific and engineering principles upon which all of these projects are grounded.”

But many people in southeast Louisiana’s fishing industry applauded the move to halt the project.

“If all this water comes down, it’s going to kill everything,” said Mitch Jurisich, chairman of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force.

Editor’s note: Brook reported from New Orleans.

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By MARTHA BELLISLE
Associated Press

COULEE DAM, Wash. (AP) — Trump administration workforce cuts at federal agencies overseeing U.S. dams are threatening their ability to provide reliable electricity, supply farmers with water and protect communities from floods, employees and industry experts warn.

The Bureau of Reclamation provides water and hydropower to the public in 17 western states. Nearly 400 agency workers have been cut through the Trump reduction plan, an administration official said.

“Reductions-in-force” memos have also been sent to current workers, and more layoffs are expected. The cuts included workers at the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest hydropower generator in North America, according to two fired staffers interviewed by The Associated Press.

“Without these dam operators, engineers, hydrologists, geologists, researchers, emergency managers and other experts, there is a serious potential for heightened risk to public safety and economic or environmental damage,” Lori Spragens, executive director of the Kentucky-based Association of Dam Safety Officials, told the AP.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said federal workforce reductions will ensure disaster responses are not bogged down by bureaucracy and bloat.

“A more efficient workforce means more timely access to resources for all Americans,” she said by email.

But a bureau hydrologist said they need people on the job to ensure the dams are working properly.

“These are complex systems,” said the worker in the Midwest, who is still employed but spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of possible retaliation.

Workers keep dams safe by monitoring data, identifying weaknesses and doing site exams to check for cracks and seepage.

“As we scramble to get these screenings, as we lose institutional knowledge from people leaving or early retirement, we limit our ability to ensure public safety,” the worker added. “Having people available to respond to operational emergencies is critical. Cuts in staff threaten our ability to do this effectively.”

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the administration to rehire fired probationary workers, but a Trump spokesperson said they would fight back, leaving unclear whether any would return.

The heads of 14 California water and power agencies sent a letter to the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Interior last month warning that eliminating workers with “specialized knowledge” in operating and maintaining aging infrastructure “could negatively impact our water delivery system and threaten public health and safety.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also operates dams nationwide. Matt Rabe, a spokesman, declined to say how many workers left through early buyouts, but said the agency hasn’t been told to reduce its workforce.

But Neil Maunu, executive director of the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, said it learned more than 150 Army Corps workers in Portland, Oregon, were told they would be terminated and they expect to lose about 600 more in the Pacific Northwest.

The firings include “district chiefs down to operators on vessels” and people critical to safe river navigation, he said.

Their last day is not known. The Corps was told to provide a plan to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management by March 14, Maunu said.

Several other federal agencies that help ensure dams run safely also have faced layoffs and closures. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is laying off 10% of its workforce and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Dam Safety Review Board was disbanded in January.

The cuts come at a time when the nation’s dams need expert attention.

An AP review of Army Corps data last year showed at least 4,000 dams are in poor or unsatisfactory condition and could kill people or harm the environment if they failed.

They require inspections, maintenance and emergency repairs to avoid catastrophes, the AP found.

Heavy rain damaged the spillway at California’s Oroville Dam in 2017, forcing nearly 190,000 residents to evacuate, and Michigan’s Edenville Dam breached in storms in 2020, the AP found.

Stephanie Duclos, a Bureau of Reclamation probationary worker fired at the Grand Coulee Dam, said she was among a dozen workers initially terminated. The dam across the Columbia River in central Washington state generates electricity for millions of homes and supplies water to a 27-mile-long reservoir that irrigates the Columbia Basin Project.

“This is a big infrastructure,” she said. “It’s going to take a lot of people to run it.”

Some fired employees had worked there for decades but were in a probation status due to a position switch. Duclos was an assistant for program managers who organized training and was a liaison with human resources. The only person doing that job, she fears how others will cover the work.

“You’re going to get employee burnout” in the workers left behind, she said.

Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat who pushed a bipartisan effort to ensure the National Dam Safety Program was authorized through 2028, said, “the safety and efficacy of our dams is a national security priority.

“Americans deserve better, and I will work to make sure this administration is held accountable for their reckless actions,” Padilla said.

Associated Press White House reporter Chris Megerian also contributed to this report.

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By ANDREW SELSKY
Associated Press

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has determined that a large earthquake — which is expected to occur again in the Pacific Northwest sooner or later — could cause the spillway gates of a dam in Oregon to buckle, resulting “in a potentially catastrophic flood.”

The Corps announced late Monday it will try to minimize the danger by reducing the maximum height of the lake by five feet starting in April. Hundreds of thousands of people, including those in the state capital, live downstream from the Detroit Dam, whose construction in the 1950s created the narrow, nine-mile long Detroit Lake.

The move comes as Oregon and the wider Pacific Northwest are coming to grips with “the big one” that experts say is coming. Earthquakes in the Cascadia subduction zone, which extends from the ocean off Northern California to Canada’s Vancouver Island, have an average magnitude of around 9, making them among the world’s biggest.

A quake in that zone has a 37 percent probability of happening off Oregon’s coast in the next 50 years, according to Chris Goldfinger, an Oregon State University professor and earthquake geologist.

Just last week, an earthquake early warning system was launched in Oregon. Operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, the state joined California in the system that sends alerts to smart phones. Washington state is expected to join the ShakeAlert system, which operates on an array of seismic sensors, in May.

“When a Cascadia event happens, the critical seconds of notice ShakeAlert warnings provide will save lives and reduce damage to important lifeline systems,” Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said the day it launched, on Thursday.

Lawmakers are also trying to prepare the state for a major earthquake.

In the Oregon Legislature, House Bill 3083 mandates that contracts for public works must adhere to seismic safety standards and seismic rehabilitation standards in constructing or renovating public buildings or critical infrastructure in earthquake-prone areas. A House committee has a work session scheduled for the bill on April 1.

Lindsay Baker, an assistant director of the Oregon Department of Transportation, raised concerns about the bill, saying “there is simply not sufficient funding to fully armor the entire transportation system in a reasonable timeframe.”

But Baker later told the House Committee on General Government she was relieved to hear that the state’s transportation system is not the focus of a new standard for seismic resiliency.

In 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a seismic hazard analysis for Detroit Dam, and found the risk to be higher than Corps officials previously thought.

“Structural analysis has shown a possibility of the spillway gates buckling under the force of a full reservoir during a large earthquake,” the Corps said in its statement. “Risk is high enough to warrant immediate actions.”

A breach would send a surge of water shooting down the Santiam Canyon, which was devastated by a wildfire last summer, and onto where it opens up on the eastern edge of the Willamette Valley.

“Because Detroit Dam is located upstream of many communities including the state capital of Salem, Oregon, there is potential for devastating flooding to affect large portions of the narrow North Santiam River canyon and urban areas,” the Corps said in its draft environmental assessment.

Lowering the maximum level is a temporary solution to mitigate the risks and will have little impact, the Corps said. The lake is used for recreation, and most of the boat ramps would be unusable for up to a month.

The Corps said it continues to evaluate the seismic performance of the spillway and other components of the dam to determine if long-term modifications or changes to operations will be necessary. That includes the potential for major reconstruction to address seismic risk.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An environmental group in Oregon has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for not providing information about the structural integrity of Willamette River dams south of Portland.

The lawsuit, filed by Willamette Riverkeeper, stems from the Corps releasing a plan in January calling for restrictions on water levels behind Hills Creek and Lookout Point dams near Oakridge, Springfield and Eugene, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

The plan said higher water levels could increase the risk of dam failure and refers to reports on the dams.

Willamette Riverkeeper filed a public records request in March for the reports and other safety and risk assessments, but the group has yet to receive the requested information or a timeline on when it would be delivered.

“I think it begged the question for us at the very least to say, ‘What does the Corps know about the structural integrity of these 13 large dams in the Willamette River system?'” Willamette Riverkeeper Executive Director Travis Williams said. “There’s a lot that we should be able to know about all those dams, most of which have significant reservoirs behind them.”

Williams argued that if the dams need repairs, the work could open the door to adding fish passage for salmon and other environmental and conservation efforts.

The group also sued the Corps over what it calls a failure to protect threatened and endangered species of salmon and steelhead in its management of the dams. The dams were built for flood control, irrigation and hydropower, and none have fish ladders to help the fish maneuver around them.

“There could be opportunities if we’re looking 10, 15 years down the road to both improve the condition of a project if it has issues and make it have less of an impact on our river system,” Williams said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not immediately respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press.

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In spring 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency published its draft “Waters of the U.S.” rule for public comment. The rule would redefine which waters are subject to federal regulation – commonly known as jurisdictional waters – and greatly increase the areas subject to federal jurisdiction and permits.

Despite significant controversy and an extension of the initial comment deadline to Oct. 20, 2014, the EPA has pushed forward with the proposed rule. This issue is of interest to a broad community of stakeholders because the jurisdictional waters definition determines who must apply for Clean Water Act permits, including Section 404 permits governing activities in jurisdictional wetlands. If adopted, the rule would require many government agencies and real estate developers to obtain those permits for the first time, substantially increasing the time and expense required for project approvals.

Since the Supreme Court in 2001 and 2006 issued rulings that limited the EPA’s authority to regulate isolated waters – those that do not fall within the clear boundaries of federal jurisdiction – the EPA and the regulated community have wrestled over which isolated “other waters” are jurisdictional. The EPA now proposes to expand on language from a Supreme Court opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy – an opinion not signed by any other justice – to redefine jurisdictional waters.

Critics argue, however, that the EPA, with its rule, is taking liberties to secure federal jurisdiction well beyond what Justice Kennedy ever intended. According to the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, under proposed changes, 17 percent of “other waters” would be classified as jurisdictional.

The EPA insists that it is not proposing to expand its regulatory reach, but rather clarify uncertainties that followed the court decisions. At the same time, the EPA acknowledges the rule would increase the percentage of all waters definitely subject to regulation by 3 percent, which includes about 17 percent of the “other waters” with previous uncertain status. It would do this by expressly regulating waters “adjacent” to a jurisdictional water, and by then defining “adjacent” to include “neighboring.”

It also would extend the EPA’s regulatory reach by expanding the definition of “other waters.” The new definition includes waters that, “in combination with other similarly situated waters, including wetlands, located in the same region, have a significant nexus to” a regulated water. A “region” includes “the watershed that drains to” a jurisdictional water, and the “significant nexus” includes any other waters that “can be evaluated as a single landscape unit with regard to their effect” on jurisdictional waters.

When strung together, these definitions can include any waters within a watershed that are not expressly exempted from the Clean Water Act, because all waters “in combination with other” waters not only have a nexus to, but become, the large rivers that are regulated, once the water percolates or runs downhill. The exemptions are focused on agricultural uses, but many stakeholders in the agricultural sector fear that existing agricultural exemptions to the Clean Water Act will be lost or altered by the proposed rule. For other sectors, the new definitions would expand what is regulated, leading to significant new regulatory challenges.

Many stakeholders and members of Congress have asked the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to provide standards, such as measurable flow rates or specific ecological functions for “other waters,” to qualify as having a significant nexus to jurisdictional waters, but the agency has declined to do so in the proposed rule.

If the rule is adopted, most of the additional regulatory costs will fall on state and local government infrastructure projects, landowners who do not qualify for an agricultural exemption, real estate developers (and their tenants and buyers), and resource extraction industries. Some of these people are accustomed to Clean Water Act regulation of their projects, especially projects along or in the water. But those who typically work far away from larger bodies of water are likely to discover that minor or isolated hydrologic features, such as a ditch that is wet only in wintertime, is now of concern to the federal government.

On Sept. 9, in response to stakeholders’ concerns, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 5078 to prevent the EPA from implementing the proposed rule. In a pre-emptive move, on Sept. 8, the White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy stating that the president’s administration strongly opposes H.R. 5078 and will recommend a presidential veto if the Senate passes it. This stance suggests that despite considerable opposition, the administration continues to support the proposed rule – and that rule is likely to be adopted sometime in 2015.

Steve Shropshire is an attorney and the managing shareholder at Jordan Ramis PC. He also is a member of the firm’s Dirt Law practice group. He regularly advises clients on natural resources, environmental, and water law matters. Contact him at 503-598-7070 or at steve.shropshire@jordanramis.com.

Joseph Schaefer is a land use planner and a paralegal with Jordan Ramis PC. He assists the firm’s attorneys with various land use, real estate and environmental development matters. Contact him at 503-598-7070 or at joseph.schaefer@jordanramis.com.

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The Army Corps of Engineers on Friday rolled out two giant steel gate sections that are part of project to upgrade The Dalles dam navigation lock.

The sections were made at Thompson Metal Fab Inc. of Vancouver and are each 107 feet high, 49 feet wide and weigh about 350 tons. They were loaded onto barges and should reach the site on Feb. 16 for installation.

The work is part of a Corps of Engineers project to replace aging and worn gates on three dams – The Dalles, John Day and Lower Monumental.

The $50 million effort on those dams required the longest shutdown of shipping lanes along the Snake and Columbia rivers in history. Work began on Dec. 10 and The Dalles dam, which will be the last one finished, should return to service on March 23, said Scott Clemans, a spokesman.

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Work by the Army Corps of Engineers on dams in waterways of the Columbia and Snake rivers is moving along at or ahead of schedule, said Scott Clemans, a spokesman.

The project to replace aging and worn gates on three dams – The Dalles, John Day and Lower Monumental – began on Dec. 10. The work is being done as part of the longest shutdown of shipping lanes along those waterways in history.

Work on the John Day Dam is scheduled for completion on March 18 but could conceivably be done a few days early, Clemans said.

“The final two sections of that gate will be lifted in place on Saturday the fifth and Saturday the 12^th,” Clemans said. “The friction shifts are installed, and the electrical and control systems are finished.”

Work on the Lower Monumental and other damns near Walla Walla, Wash., should be finished by March 13, also on schedule, he said.

And the installation on The Dalles Dam, which was delayed due to some materials problems with gate construction, is still set on its altered schedule to be finished by March 23, Clemans said.

“For The Dalles, one gate is done and the other is just getting a final fitting of accessories,” Clemans said. “They should be loaded onto barges around Feb. 12 and should arrive at the dam around Feb. 16.”

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The Army Corps of Engineers has finished its draft report after investigating contamination on Bradford Island near the Bonneville Dam.

The site was once a landfill and was a disposal area for electrical equipment, sand blast grit and light bulbs. It also housed a target range where waste was dumped directly into the Columbia River.

The corps removed debris and some contaminated river sediment in 2002 and in 2007, but the recent investigation found that contaminants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls or PCBs, on land and in the water were still above screening levels.

The report suggests a feasibility study to determine remediation technologies and a study to determine if risks to human health are unacceptable.

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Public transit agency TriMet and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were fined alongside private companies for water quality violations, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality .

The DEQ fined 18 Portland-area organizations for violating the terms of their storm water discharge permits.

The private companies included Brundage-Bone Concrete Pumping and GS Roofing Products. Fines ranged from $4,200 to $5,766.

Companies and public agencies alike submit annual reports to the DEQ that detail their own inspections of storm water discharge sites, said Jeff Bachman, environmental law specialist with the DEQ. They also submit four samples for testing.

The burden is on the organization holding the permit, Bachman said. “But the penalties are severe for false reporting.”

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to repair jetties at the mouth of the Columbia River. The corps held a meeting last night in Astoria to discuss the repairs.

While the jetties still keep the navigation channel intact, years of Pacific Ocean waves have worn them down. Work completed in 2007 kept the jetties stable, but was intended as a short-term fix.

Corps spokesman Matt Rabe said 17 people attended the meeting, mostly contractors. Construction on the project would still be far off, Rabe said, 2012 at the earliest.

The corps is accepting comments on its proposal and has posted the .

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