Small towns take on small-town crime
July 3, 2012
Lafourche only local parish to allow fireworks sale
July 3, 2012
A congressional transportation bill deal reached last Wednesday has ensured that billions of dollars in BP fines will be spent on coastal recovery following the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. It also hints at the production of between 57,000 and 75,000 jobs during the next 10 years.
“This is a huge win,” state Rep. Gordon Dove (R-Houma) said regarding BP fines that could total from $5 to $20 billion, with 80 percent dedicated to the Gulf Coast.
“We believe Louisiana will get 40 to 60 percent of the funds,” Dove, who chairs the state’s Natural Resource Committee, said. “Terrebonne Parish could get up to $10 billion. Terrebonne already has $10 billion in the state coastal master plan and Lafourche is $4.3 billion.”
“This is a historic moment for our region,” Sen. Mary Landrieu said. “These funds will help jumpstart, in a significant way, coastal restoration in Louisiana. We have the science, the plan and the will, and all we needed was the money – let’s get started.”
The Resource and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourism Opportunities and Revived Economics Act, commonly referred to as RESTORE, is intended to rebuild both the environments and economies of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida as it pertains to claims made against BP.
“The U.S. Congress has created an opportunity for the largest investment in a generation in restoring a nationally important ecosystem,” Oxfam America President Raymond Offenheiser said.
As head of an international relief agency, Offenheiser said his organization is interested in restoring wetlands and oyster reefs while at the same time creating industrial jobs.
Dove said it is not known when Louisiana can expect to receive its share of the BP fines for coastal and economic restoration. “That is up to the federal government,” he said. “They will have to sit down with BP and settle it.”
Louisiana could receive 60 percent of the total fines to be paid by BP from the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon disaster. RESTORE funds have been secured by congressional deal-makers.
