Plaquemines Parish, La. -- Six weeks after Hurricane Isaac, FEMA has begun a new initiative to remove tons of debris on both sides of the river below New Orleans.
The further south you go in Plaquemines Parish, the worse the clutter. Thousands of tons of dead marsh grass and debris are piled up in ditches and on the back of levees.
FEMA has launched a $6.8 million debris removal program, that's expected to last four to six months. Cleanup crews began at Ironton and are working their way south.
There's nearly 80 miles of debris-laden levees and ditches to clean up. There are also burial vaults still sitting on roadways, dislodged from their interment sites.
"They're working as best they can to find out who those bodies belong to so we can get them back in the resting spot where they came from,"says Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser.
While residents appreciate FEMA coming in and clearing the ditches, they say much more needs to be done.
The marshy, grassy debris is causing problems for homeowners and their livelihoods. For instance, the Pellegrin family lost 200 head of cattle to Isaac, and now they can't get to shrimping grounds because of the leftover mess. And Leo Marchand's camp is filled with grassy debris -- he doesn't know if he will rebuild.
Debris pick-up on public lands is seen as a sign of progress in a devastated parish whose residents will take whatever help they can get.
The parish says the work currently under way is in areas that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wants to clear in order to properly assess damage to Corps levees. Eventually there will be 20 cleanup crews working to clear debris in Plaquemines.
