BP oil fine settlements pay for the restoration of Louisiana’s West Grand Terre Island

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) -Work is well underway on Louisiana’s latest barrier island restoration project just east of Grand Isle.

Contractors are using material dredged from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico five miles south of the island to restore over 530 acres of dune and marsh.

West Grand Terre is one of three large-scale coastal projects currently underway, funded using $256.6 million in settlement money resulting from the aftermath of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The project is designed to address the shoreline erosion and marsh subsidence by restoring over 371 acres of beach and dune and 160 acres of back-barrier marsh, according to a spokesperson for the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

“In the Barataria Basin, this is the last segment of the island where work hasn’t been done going back to 2006,” said Greg Grandy, CPRA Deputy Executive Director.

Contractors are using over 2.5 million cubic yards of material to construct the project, enough sediment to fill over half the Superdome.

They are also installing one mile of rock breakers to cut wave action and protect against storm surge.

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