Questions still unanswered over Company Canal

The Lafourche Parish district attorney may not have had the answer Gheens residents wanted to hear, but one parish councilman is continuing to uncover the true ownership of the Barataria and Lafourche Company Canal.

Councilmen Lindel Toups met last week with District Attorney Camille Morvant to determine if the parish government holds legal rights of way to the waterway.

For nearly a year, parish efforts to relieve drainage woes in the Gheens community has been stymied since the waterway was dammed in 2007 by property owner Arlen “Benny” Cenac Jr.

“When a heavy rain comes, the water just overtops the Gheens highway,” explained Toups, who represents District 6. “We need to open that canal so that the water can drain into Bayou Lafourche and out to Lake Salvador.”

The canal’s ownership has been a contentious subject among Gheens homeowners. It dates back to Cenac’s purchase of Golden Range Plantation from the Kentucky-based Gheens Foundation. The land – including the canal, according to documents – was purchased in two installments paid in 1998 and 2004.

Residents, however, contend that Cenac’s ownership extends only to the plantation, not the canal.

The Gheens community sued the towboat fleet owner over the title of the land. They argued – with the Lafourche Parish Council’s support – that the canal, in use publicly since the 1800s, should be considered a public right-of-way.

The waterway, which was reportedly dug between Morgan City and New Orleans in the 1830s by slaves, was more recently used by locals to reach their fishing camps in Lake Salvador.

Cenac erected the dam after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that he was the rightful owner and could legally restrict access. The effort to reverse the state Supreme Court’s ruling is ongoing.

Residents have asked the state Attorney General’s Office to research the canal’s title to determine ownership.

Morvant said at last week’s meeting that he would assist the group in setting up a meeting with the attorney general.

J. Bradley Oubre, a retired real estate expert who has litigated past property issues, former state Sen. Michael Robichaux and Andy LeBouef are spearheading the fight.

“That canal means everything to the Gheens community,” Toups said. “Everyone had their camps back there on Lake Salvador. When Cenac closed the bridge it forced any resident from this area who wanted to go fishing to have to travel to either Lockport or Des Allemands to access navigable waters.”

But while that battle has no foreseeable end, Toups and Councilman Phillip Gouaux are more concerned with a short-term threat: flooding.

“Any time a heavy rain comes, that area floods,” he said. “With the canal being plugged, the water flow is restricted. So the only place it can go is into the marsh, on everybody’s land or into the woods.”

Approximately 9,800 people live in Gheens and are impacted by flooding from the canal, according to Toups. Neighboring District 7 residents, who are represented by Gouaux, are also at risk.

“Its time to move on this,” Gouaux said. “We have to move to provide drainage to new developments.”

John Brady Development is seeking to build two major projects in the area: A new golf course surrounded by a housing development and a new pump station on the canal’s south side.

“The development along the Gheens highway could bring in big bucks from taxes,” Gouaux said. “It’s the dream of the deceased John Brady. Anyone who knew John understands he left no stones unturned. I can remember meeting with John and other key parish officials at the time to discuss this development and each and every time he spoke about drainage.”

Both projects called for the development to drain through the Mathews and Company canals, according to the councilman. All work has been delayed because of the dam, he contends.

Meanwhile, LeBouef maintains that the parish has evidence granting it access to the canal.

“The document we have dates back to 1899,” he said. “We took it to the District Attorney’s Office for Mr. Morvant to look at. It clearly shows that the parish had a right-of-way to the canal.

“This information will also show proof that the state owns the canal, too,” LeBouef added.