Neighbors spilled onto the streets throughout the parish last Tuesday to join in on the national annual “Night Out Against Crime” festivities.

In Belle Chasse, Plaque-mines Parish Sheriff’s Dep-uties made the rounds to eight different parties, tak-ing the opportunity to in-teract with families in an informal setting and share in food and friendly con-versation.

Standing amid balloons, tables covered in food and drinks, and kids buzzing around on bikes, District 1 Councilman Beau Black said he hosts a party ev-

ery year, and the evening always brings out a large gathering of neighbors.

On the east bank, Phoe-nix held their first com-munity parade to mark the event, ending at the park in Davant with a feast of fried

fish and chicken, boiled shrimp, and burgers. The parade included the cheer-leaders and dance team from Phoenix High School, volunteer firefighters, and deputies, and Sheriff Lon-nie Greco – who along with

his deputies also made ap-pearances at many of the Belle Chasse parties.

Rev. Hilry Thomas, who helped to organize the Phoenix gathering, said a

Following months of disagreement about whether or not the com-mittee should exist, the Plaquemines Parish Coun-cil approved the first six appointees to the Plaque-mines Recreation Advisory Committee, but not with-out continued debate.

The creation of the com-mittee was approved at the Council’s July 9 meeting in a 5-4 vote.

According to the resolu-tion, authored by District 9 Councilwoman Nicole Smith Williams, the in-tent of the committee is to “provide recommenda-tions and assist the Recre-ation Director when mak-ing decisions for the youth programs.”

District 7 Councilwom-an Audrey Trufant-Salvant has consistently spoken out against the premise of the committee in “creating another layer of bureau-cracy,” and voted against its creation. She did vote to approve the nominees, which were passed in a 7-1 vote, with District 1 Coun-cilman John Barthelemy voting against. District 4 Councilman Irvin Juneau

OCTOBER 20, 2015 88 YEARS, NO. 13 BELLE CHASSE, LA 50 CENTS

PAWS– See page 5

Kari Dequine Hardenreporter@plaqueminesgazette.com

MAILING INFO HERE

If someone missed the Plaquemines Parish De-bates on October 9, , he/she can still view the de-bate from the website www.ppdeba te s . com. Since it was posted to the internet on Oct. 12, nearly 1,600 people have viewed the debate online. People can now view a version with the excess intermis-sion time edited out also.

Debates available to view online

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin a rock embankment proj-ect along the river batture near the Belle Chasse/Scarsdale ferry landing. The construction project will halt ferry service to the Belle Chasse and Scars-dale areas for two consecu-tive weekends.

The ferry closures are as follows:

• Oct. 31 and Nov. 1• Nov. 7 and Nov. 8The Pointe-a-la-Hache

ferry can be used as an alternate route. Plaque-mines Parish Government Apologizes for the incon-venience.

BC Ferry to close for two

weekends

Controversial RecreationCommittee

has first appointees

Celebrating a “soft” opening last week, the Plaquemines Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) is get-ting to ready to launch its own low-cost wellness and preventative care clinic.

The clinic will be mobile – moving between the PAWS facilities in Belle Chasse and Myrtle Grove.

The intent is to bring these affordable services to more people and more of the parish, said Sarah Anne Adamson, marketing and event coordinator for PAWS. For now, Myrtle Grove is as far south as they are permitted to travel, Adamson said, due to restrictions related to proximity to a 24-hour veter-inary hospital.

Belle Chasse resident Mike Tredinich brought two dogs in to the clinic’s preliminary launch hours last Thursday. He said his daughter-in-law saw a post online about the clinic and was pleased to find a place they could go in Plaquemines Parish for low-cost vaccines and micro-chipping.

Melissa Barnes and Braya Gagliano check Bailey in for vaccinations and microchip-ing uring the soft l un h of ne lo ost lini Photo by Kari Dequine Harden

PAWS to open low-cost clinicKari Dequine Harden

reporter@plaqueminesgazette.com

RECREATION– See page 5

Neighbors unite for Night OutKari Dequine Harden

reporter@plaqueminesgazette.com

Grand Terre Estates Subdivision Night Out Party

NNOAC– See page 7

Calling it one of “the largest undercover operations in the history of The Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office’s Narcotics Division,” Sheriff Lonnie Greco announced the arrest of 49 defendants, with five more still at-large.

The year-long “Operation Who’s Next” targeted 50 street-level dealers “from Belle Chasse to Boothville,” and seized varying amounts of a range of illegal substances, including marijuana (about 10 ounces), synthetic mari-juana (just over one ounce), prescription pills (228 pills), heroin (16 grams), and under 10 grams of crack cocaine, cocaine, and methamphetamine, according to Eric Bec-nel, public information officer for the sheriff’s office.

Of the 49 defendants arrested, four were arrested solely for possession (apprehended while serving arrest

Andrea Lugo knew that the culture of middle school can be challenging for young girls. But when she started working in her daughter’s school as a substitute teach-er and paraprofessional, she got a firsthand look at the sometimes brutal “mean girl mentality.”

Lugo also felt there wasn’t enough in place to give girls a safe place to address issues around female bully-ing.

Even as girls grow into women, and enter the work-place culture, that same “mean girl” culture can persist, Lugo noted. She wanted to do more, but wasn’t sure what.

Then, one day when Lugo was home sick, she was watching a television awards show and Aaron Paul, one

Local mom spreads kindness

Undercover PPSOoperation nabs 54

Kari Dequine Hardenreporter@plaqueminesgazette.com

PPSO– See page 16

Kari Dequine Hardenreporter@plaqueminesgazette.com

KINDNESS– See page 5

For 24 hours a day, seven days a week, thick coffee-with-cream colored sludge will be pumped directly from a mammoth dredge on the river to an expanse of marshy lake behind Jesuit Bend.

To take a tour from the dredge operation sucking up the Mississippi mud to a pipe spouting the material into the marsh, it appears to be land building at its most efficient.

Once suctioned off the riverbed (at a depth of 70-90 feet), the mud takes a 26,000-foot journey through a 30-inch steel pipe. First, it travels

along the bank downriver about 8,000 feet to a booster station, then another 8,000 feet before taking a 90 degree turn to go under the railroad tracks and Hwy 23. The pipe-line then runs along Ollie Dr. before hopping over the back levee, then taking another 90 degree turn and traveling northwest a short distance to the mitigation site.

In approximately 45 days, the material will fill in 234 acres of a rectangular-shaped area known as the “Perez Pond.” At one time, it was freshwater marsh and cy-press-tupelo swam, but over the past century converted into open water.

From last Monday to

Thursday, the project had al-ready filled in about 30 acres, said George Howard, CEO of Restoration Systems, LLC., the company that owns the land. The total project covers 338 acres and includes en-hancement and preservation components.

On the river end, a crew of 23 operates the dredge near River Mile 70. On the other end, bulldozers push and spread the mud, while a swamp buggy fans out the spewing sludge and builds new land for the bulldozers and crew, who must con-tinuously add length to the pipeline.

Mitigation Project builds land fastKari Dequine Harden

reporter@plaqueminesgazette.com

MITIGATION– See page 2

ELECTION DAY: OCTOBER 24DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

riv tely fun e hour ro e t is un er y to fill in n re in re of o en ter behin esuit en using m teri l re ge from the ississi i iver

2 OCTOBER 20, 2015 THE PLAQUEMINES GAZETTE

The crews work 12 hour shifts, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The dredge is capable of excavating 32,000 cubic yards of material every hour, or enough to fill about 320 dump trucks every hour.

The project, which started operating last week, is unique in that it is privately funded. Restoration Systems, a North Carolina-based company, is partnering with Great Lakes Dredges and Dock Compa-ny. Through the national “mitigation banking” pro-gram, Howard said the idea is to first recoup costs, then to eventually turn a profit.

According to the Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA), “A mitigation bank is a wetland, stream, or other aquatic resource area that has been restored, established, enhanced, or (in certain cir-cumstances) preserved for the purpose of providing compensation for unavoid-able impacts to aquatic re-sources.”

Basically, when a compa-ny or governmental agency destroys wetlands in one lo-cation, they are required in the initial permitting process to compensate by buying credits in another location. During construction, they have three options when it comes to wetlands: avoid, minimize, or mitigate.

While the program is not as common in Louisiana, it has been widely used in oth-er states like Florida. The pro-gram was established under the 1972 Clean Water Act. The Jesuit Bend Mitigation Bank is also very unique in that it is the only mitigation project in Louisiana using sediment from the Mississip-pi River.

It will take about two years to recover the dredging costs, Howard said. Restoration Systems has more than 50 mitigation banks across the country.

At one time, Howard said the area behind Jesuit Bent was an indigo plantation, a cow pasture, and used in oil and gas exploration. “The in-tense use took the wetlands,” he said, “and they can come back –we just need to give Mother Nature a little help.”

The areas Restoration Sys-tems chooses to restore must meet very specific criteria (including elevation and the consolidation/hardness of the bottom surface) to ensure that the restoration is sus-tainable. Other factors that went into the planning and permitting process were Lou-isiana’s 2012 Coastal Master Plan, the incorporation of the best available science, and the effort to mimic the natural system. They were also required to leave a “me-andering canal” through the new land to allow a free flow of water for the health of the marine life. The canal will also give boaters continued access through the site.

After the land building phase is complete, the area will be planted with three dif-ferent types of marsh grass, and will be forever protected by a conservation easement.

While the dredge area in the river is not directly in the shipping lane that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regularly would be dredg-ing, it is an area to which dredging is still beneficial to navigation, Howard said. And, the method is preferred over some in-situ restoration projects that move sediment from one location to another (instead of using the river’s material), so, “You’re not rob-bing Peter to pay Paul.”

So why not do this all the time, all over the parish?

For one, because it’s very expensive. Howard estimat-ed the cost of dredging at about $10,000 an hour.

And, the permitting pro-cess is lengthy and intensive (it took Howard five years). And, there are no oyster leas-es behind Jesuit Bend. The marsh is freshwater, so salini-

ty is not a major issue. Howard said he hopes

the model of using private financing will spread in Lou-isiana, and “unleash the cre-ativity of private industry” in rebuilding the coast. Large state bureaucracies aren’t able to act as nimbly as his company can, he said.

But, Restoration Systems does take a big risk on the assumption that all their mitigation credits will be re-leased and sold. The mitiga-tion bank is not yet in effect, Howard said, and even when it is, it will take about three years before they anticipate turning a profit.

While the process has been long (delayed another six months by the high riv-er), Howard said the varying permitting agencies, includ-ing the Plaquemines Parish

Council (who unanimously approved the permit), have been very supportive of the project.

The neighborhood is sup-portive too, said Jason Kalisz-eski, whose property backs up to the canal that runs along the mitigation site. He said that water pushed by storms like Rita and Gus-tav threaten to overtop the back levee. Relatively, the new land represents a small footprint, Kaliszeski said, but it will undoubtedly provide greater protection to neigh-bors, especially related to wave action.

Kaliszeski said that he’s been frogging in the pond for the past 20 years. Asked about the effects to his frog-ging activities, Kaliszeski said that “I’d much rather have the marsh.”

Taking the unofficial role of a point person for the neighborhood, Kaliszeski said that he hasn’t heard any opposition. The number one question he’s been asked is, “Why aren’t they filling in the rest of the pond?”

Howard said they’d like to.District 6 Councilman

Charlie Burt, also a Jesuit Bend resident, said that he thinks it is a great project, especially since the parish is not spending any money on it during tough financial times. He also likes keeping the mitigation bank in the parish, instead of credits getting outsourced to re-build land in other states or regions. Burt said a few concerns have been voiced by neighbors, mainly relat-ed to increased traffic on Ollie Dr., and people who

own land across the pond wanting to make sure it is still accessible.

Howard said that his company will be leaving the infrastructure behind so that it can be used for future projects. He empha-sized that they are interest-ed in buying more of the water-covered land that sits to the north of the current project. “We’d like to pur-chase that for phase two,” he said.

As he stood at the edge of the airboat and watched the mud gush out of the end of the pipe for the first time, Howard said it was well worth the five years of plan-ning and permitting. “Next to my wife in her wedding dress, and my two kids, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

MITIGATION CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT PAGE

From the bottom of the Mississippi River, a massive dredging operation is piping sediment through 26,000 feet of i e to bull o ers n s m buggies iting on the other en to buil l n behin esuit en rom the bottom

of the Mississippi River, a massive dredging operation is piping sediment through 26,000 feet of pipe to bulldozers n s m buggies iting on the other en to buil l n behin esuit en Photos by Kari Dequine Harden

3THE PLAQUEMINES GAZETTE OCTOBER 20, 2015

RELAY FOR LIFE OF PLAQUEMINES PARISH

TOP TAILGATE CHEF COOK-OFF

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When we walk together,

bigger than cancer.

Relay For Life of Event Date | Time | Location

For more information contact [Name]

at [Phone Number] or [Email] or visit [relayforlife.org/relayname].

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2015BAYOU BARRIERE GOLF CLUB

2 PM - 10 PM

All are invited! Enjoy delicious local cuisine and beer, participate in our 5K Glow Run, hear live performances from local musicians, and many activities for the kids!

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your team TODAY at www.relayforlife.org/plaqueminesla

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Breast CancerAwareness Month!

SUPPORTTHE FIGHT!

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WHEN: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

TIME: 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

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AS YOU CAN SEE, I AM VERY PROUD OF MY FAMILY AND PROUD OF THE WEST BANK. FOR THESE REASONS AND MANY MORE, I WILL WORK HARD FOR YOU. . . EVERYDAY. . . AS YOUR STATE SENATOR.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE #43 JEFF ARNOLD , ON SAT., OCT. 24TH

Team Jeff Arnold - Married 22 Years and Counting!

Proudly Endorsed By

VOTE #43 SATURDAY, OCT. 24TH

Louisiana Legislative Experience for Senate District 7• Chairman, House

Judiciary Committee

• House of Special Committee on Military & Veterans Affairs

• House & Governmental Affairs Committee

• House Executive Committee• Southern Legislative Conference

• Louisiana State Bond Commission, Former Member

• House Commerce Committee, Former Chairman

• National Conference of State Legislators

• Former Member of: House Committee on Ways & Means, Transportation, Natural Resources, Retirement

AFLC OIA m e r i c a n F e d e r a t i o n o f L a b o r • C o n g r e s s o f I n d u s t r i a l O r g a n i z a t i o n s

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ONLY CANDIDATE IN THE RACE WHO IS MARRIED AND RAISED THEIR KIDS ON THE WESTBANK!