Robin's Blog for Dauphin Island

 

MPR, Congress approves funding for MS islands
Congress approves money for Mississippi islands; Dauphin Island left out
Friday, June 19, 2009

By KATHERINE SAYRE and SEAN REILLY
Staff Reporters

As part of a war spending bill approved Thursday, Congress agreed to spend $439 million to restore a 45-mile stretch of Mississippi's barrier islands, according to a news release from the office of Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Jackson.

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program.

The program calls for a variety of coastal improvements, including the restoration of Ship, Horn and Petit Bois islands using about 22 million cubic yards of sand.

According to the Thursday news release, the money is in response to the Corps of Engineers' estimate of the amount needed for island rebuilding.

The bill does not include funding for island restoration in Alabama.

Dauphin Island officials have been lobbying to be added to the plan, arguing that the eroded Alabama barrier island also suffered Katrina damage and is part of the same geological chain as Mississippi's barrier islands.

"We're still forging ahead, trying to work within the system to express these concerns and hopefully make certain that Dauphin Island is not forgotten," said Glen Coffee, a biologist on Dauphin Island who has been working on the issue as a volunteer.

"Right now, Dauphin Island has been forgotten. We're trying to make certain it doesn't stay that way."

Coffee said Dauphin Island officials plan to meet with the Corps of Engineers in Mobile next month to discuss island rebuilding.

Cochran is the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, giving him unusual leverage to add money for favored projects.

A spokesman for Sen. Richard Shelby, a Tuscaloosa Republican who also sits on the committee, could not be reached for comment Thursday evening on why the bill does not include funding for Dauphin Island's restoration needs.

Sections of Dauphin Island's Gulf beach have lost hundreds of feet in recent decades. Katrina cut a breach in the undeveloped western part of the island. Many in the local seafood industry say the intrusion of saltwater through the breach threatens the ecosystem that supports oysters, shrimp and other sea life.
Posted by Robin Linn on June 22nd, 2009 5:28 PMPost a Comment (0)
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