State department to front $40M for Houma locks

The Terrebonne Parish Council’s Public Services Committee passed a resolution at its meeting on Feb. 25 to bring in $40 million of state Department of Natural Resources money for the Houma Navigation Canal locks.

The state had originally planned to provide $33 million in Coastal Impact Assistance Program money for the locks to match federal funding, but the Army Corps of Engineers told the state the Corps could not accept CIAP money as matching funds.

CIAP, passed in 2005, distributed federal money to Gulf Coast states suffering adverse environmental impacts from oil exploration and drilling.

To gain the $40 million for the locks, Terrebonne has agreed to provide $7 million in parish CIAP funding to the state Department of Natural Resources for the West Caminada Headland Project.

The committee also listened to several officials voice their support for deepening the Houma Navigation Canal. The committee passed a resolution in support of providing local match funding for the Corps’ deepening of the waterway.

Roger White, an employee of Edison Chouest, the Galliano shipbuilder, which is constructing the LaShip shipyard at the Terrebonne Port, said that the size of vessels is increasing to meet the demands of the world market.

“The vessels can be built,” he told the committee. “The difficult part is getting them out of the port.”

Roy Francis, an official with Gulf Island Fabrication, echoed White’s statements.

“The Houma Navigation Canal is our corridor to the rest of the world,” he said. “I’m happy to say we’re building a new corporate office here. We need this depth.”

Terrebonne Port Executive Director David Rabalais also pointed to the increasing size of seagoing vessels.

“As the oil industry moves further out into the Gulf of Mexico, vessels need to get bigger,” he said. “The Corps wants to deepen it by 20 feet. Deepening will require a non-federal sponsor. I ask you for your support of this project.”

Following the Terrebonne Parish Council’s Public Services Committee approval of a resolution last week, the state Department of Natural Resources will provide $40 million to put locks on the Houma Navigation Canal. The council wants the locks in place before dredging to deepen the canal begins. * File photo • Tri-Parish Times