MARITIME FOREST RIDGE AND MITIGATION AREA, PORT FOURCHON, LOUISIANA

摘要

Port Fourchon is Louisiana's southern most port located where Bayou Lafourche empties into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the major support base for the Central Gulf of Mexico oil and gas activities and LOOP, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port. The port's proximity to the Gulf presents special challenges during hurricane season. The Maritime Forest Ridge the adjacent Mitigation Marsh Restoration Mitigation Area performs several important functions. The impetus behind the creation of the Ridge was to develop a world class birding area, use the dredged material generated from the port beneficially and provide hurricane protection. Much has been published about the concept and the implementation of the concept.It was not until Hurricane Katrina that a fuller appreciation of the third function became apparent, the importance of the Maritime Forest Ridge as both an economic and environmental protective structure.This paper will briefly reiterate some of the science, both physical and environmental, that went into developing the Maritime Forest Ridge and Marsh Restoration (MFRMR) project. With that as the foundation, the paper will then discuss the experience of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the protection provided by the small portion of the Maritime Forest Ridge. And finally, the paper will discuss the options available to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in reimbursing the Port for dredging the Flotation Canal and the process followed by the Greater Lafourche Port Commission, operator of the Port, and FEMA in identifying how best to use this dredged material to build the remaining portions of the planned MFRMR as a Hazard Mitigation Project as provided under the authority of the Stafford Act.