BOEM and CPRA Sign Agreements to Help Restore Louisiana’s Gulf Coast

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the State of Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) have signed two agreements to aid in the restoration of Louisiana’s Gulf coast.

Nearly seven miles of shoreline and 1,400 acres of beach, dune, supratidal and marsh habitats will be restored using approximately 10 million cubic yards of sand from the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) on Trinity-East Island, Timbalier Island and West Belle Barrier Headland. In addition, the project will create a 68-acre feeder beach for West Belle Barrier Headland. The restoration effort will provide and improve habitats for marine and estuarine fisheries resources and their forage species, sea turtle nesting and a wide variety of avian communities.

The overall project is one of several that CPRA is developing to address the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and work toward the long-term recovery of the coast. This restoration effort is funded through the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, which is administered through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

BOEM coordinates, and enters agreements, with local and state governments or federal agencies to use OCS sediment resources for these projects.

Since 1995 and including this project, BOEM has issued 58 leases to convey more than 162 million cubic yards of OCS sand for projects to restore approximately 346 miles of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Approximately 63 million cubic yards of OCS sand have been leased to restore Louisiana’s coast.