A new plan is being developed by the Louisiana Trustee Implementation Group to evaluate options for restoration to address injuries to wetlands, coastal, and nearshore habitats caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Louisiana’s wetlands and barrier islands provide habitat and storm surge risk reduction and are a critical component of the northern Gulf of America ecosystem.
The Draft Restoration Plan #8.1: Raccoon Island and East Orleans Landbridge builds on the August 2022 Final Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment #8: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats. In it, the trustees funded the engineering and design of two projects:
- New Orleans East Landbridge Restoration would create and restore marsh habitat separating Lake Pontchartrain from Lake Borgne and the Gulf of America
- Raccoon Island Barrier Island Restoration would create and enhance beach, dune, and tidal habitats through sand fill placement and potentially shoreline protection
Informed by a period of engineering and design for both projects, the Louisiana Trustees are developing this restoration plan to evaluate and select the best designs to restore natural resources injured by the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Louisiana Restoration Area. The goal is to compensate the public for the lost ecological services these resources provided before the spill.
The Louisiana Trustees expect to release a draft of Restoration Plan #8.1 and associated environmental analyses in 2026. The public will then have an opportunity to review and provide input. After the public comment period ends, the Trustees will review, consider, and incorporate public comments as appropriate into a final restoration plan.
The Trustees will ensure any development of the Restoration Plan for Raccoon Island and East Orleans Landbridge is consistent with the Trustee Council’s Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan, the Oil Pollution Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and all other applicable Federal and Louisiana laws.
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