EAST GRAND LAKE PROJECT PETITION

We the undersigned stand in opposition to the East Grand Lake Project and ask both that the Atchafalaya Basin Program immediately halt their attempts to move forward with the project and for the New Orleans District of the Corps of Engineers not to issue the permit.

The East Grand Lake Project is a river diversions project that will excavate 12 cuts from sediment sources along Bayou Sorrel and the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway directly into the wetlands, introducing huge amounts of sand and silt, forever destroying those wetlands and the fisheries, reducing the Basin flood capacity and greatly increasing the risk of flooding for people and industry throughout South-Central Louisiana.

The East Grand Lake Project goes against Congressional mandates and the 1979 EPA directive to manage the Atchafalaya Basin for flood protection and water quality.

The East Grand Lake Project appears to be designed to fill wetlands for the benefit of oil companies, pipeline companies and powerful land companies.

The East Grand Lake Project will not improve water quality because the east to west spoil banks along the Williams Canal are blocking north to south flows and the north to south Humble Canal is capturing water flows. We ask the Corps of Engineers and the Atchafalaya Basin Program for the removal of spoil banks, restoration of deep-water habitat and management of the sand away from wetlands as the means to improve water quality and protect people and industry from flooding. NO MORE SEDIMENT DIVERSIONS.

In 2016, when the Atchafalaya Basin Program held public hearings in Bayou Sorrel and Henderson, the record shows that there was an incredible community unity of 100% opposition to the proposed East Grand Lake Project