Ballard Marine Construction’s Post

"The feds threaten to withhold $2.2 billion from the massive effort to save and restore the state’s diminishing coastline if leaders don’t act soon. Louisiana state leaders are mum about whether a nearly $3 billion project that’s been touted as a linchpin in the state’s coastal restoration efforts will move forward as pressure mounts from the federal government to get the work done.  Gov. Jeff Landry’s office and officials with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority did not respond to multiple emails and calls related to the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project. The state is now in danger of losing billions in funding if leaders don’t clearly commit to seeing the project through. The massive project is in limbo as it faces two separate legal challenges that have pitted local leaders and fishermen against scientists and environmental advocates. Proponents of the project stress the need to rehab Louisiana’s heavily damaged and steadily eroding coastline, which is disappearing at a rate of approximately a football field every 100 minutes — a process that’s worsened as climate change accelerates sea level rise and intensifies extreme weather events including hurricanes. Saving the coastline resonates with local voters. This week, roughly two-thirds of Louisiana voters approved a constitutional amendment to dedicate any revenues from offshore wind projects to future coastal projects. The restoration funding for the Barataria Basin — approximately 1.5 million acres of wetlands southwest of New Orleans — is part of the more than $8 billion settlement the state was awarded after BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The project touches nine parishes and is scattered throughout the Louisiana Gulf Coast. The project would essentially reconnect the sediment-carrying Mississippi River to the basin to maintain and restore land that provides protection from flooding and storm surge..." #DeepwaterHorizon #restoration #Louisiana #BaratariaBasin #funding #jeopardy #lawsuits #sediment #wetlands #MississippiRiver #NOAA #CPRA #SeaLevelRise #SaltwaterIntrusion https://lnkd.in/gmSxtUF7

Did you know that marine construction in the Pacific Northwest is heavily influenced by the tides? Timing is everything, as work often needs to align with tidal patterns to ensure efficiency and protect local marine life. For example, during low tide, crews can access areas that are otherwise submerged, making it easier to build or maintain critical marine infrastructure. At Orion, our teams are experts in navigating these unique challenges to deliver exceptional results while prioritizing sustainability and environmental stewardship. The extreme low tides in January provide an excellent opportunity for inspection and maintenance projects. Our Tacoma team knows how to make the most of this natural schedule! This is the January photo on our Pacific Northwest's annual Tide Calendar- highlighting our Tacoma Yard. Stay tuned as we share more from the Tide Calendar each month and highlight the incredible work of our Pacific Northwest Marine team! 🔷 #MarineConstruction #TideCalendar #PacificNorthwest #OrionMarine #Sustainability #EnvironmentalStewardship #TacomaYard #PredictableExcellence

Fugro is significantly expanding its role in the Florida Seafloor Mapping Initiative (FSMI), a multiyear effort by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to map the state’s seafloor for improved #coastalresilience, infrastructure planning, and environmental protection. More: https://lnkd.in/eCaWYKzn #oceanmapping #coastaldevelopments

Biden Issues Major Coastal Protection Decree Before Trump Handover – USA WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden on Jan 6 banned offshore drilling across an immense area of coastal waters, weeks before Donald Trump takes office pledging to massively increase fossil fuel production. The ban encompasses the entire Atlantic coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific coast off California, Oregon and Washington, and a section of the Bering Sea off Alaska. Biden issues major coastal protection decree before Trump handover - The Straits Times https://lnkd.in/guWP-k3R #Coastal #CoastalNews #CoastalProtection

Dredging is excavation carried out underwater or partially underwater, in shallow waters or ocean waters. It keeps waterways and ports navigable, and assists coastal protection, land reclamation and coastal redevelopment, by gathering up bottom sediments and transporting it elsewhere.

"Statewide media outlets have taken note of the 13 NPDES permit violations and formal compliance actions MAEDA incurred up through July 2024. By August 6th, MAEDA incurred five more, and EGLE found that none of the previous violations had been remedied. Over the summer to date, there have been a minimum of four documented instances where sediment-laden stormwater unlawfully exited MAEDA’s construction site, traveled over 303 designated wetlands, and entered the Kalamazoo River. Dating back to fall of 2023, MAEDA (and its network of at least five contractors) has demonstrated a consistent pattern of: - failure to provide a timeline for site stabilization (first noted October 2023) - failure to properly document on-site progress in weekly logs (first noted October 2023) - providing inadequate SESC plans (first noted November 2023) - failure to follow, properly implement, and maintain existing SESC plans (first noted June 2024) Yet since fall of 2023, EGLE has renewed MAEDA’s NPDES permits three times–in some cases directly after violations have occurred (see attached timeline for detail). More urgently: it’s clear that further regulatory protections are necessary to mitigate damage to adjacent wetlands and streams. In January 2024, EGLE determined that no Part 301 and 303 permits would be required because MAEDA’s stormwater management plan is to capture and infiltrate all runoff from up to the 100-year storm, in both temporary and permanent stabilized conditions. However, in the minimum of four instances of polluted stormwater leaving the MAJOR site and entering the Kalamazoo River, the stormwater traveled through wetlands, as noted in four on-site inspections conducted by EGLE’s local quality analysis team. It’s clear that the plan MAEDA and its contractors have designed to capture and infiltrate all runoff is not feasible. Given both the apparent inadequacy of the site plan and the pattern of noncompliance demonstrated by MAEDA’s team, it’s extremely likely that unfiltered stormwater will continue to contaminate these protected bodies of water."

In this latest installment of our Q&A series, Andy Raichle, executive vice president of marine engineering and climate resiliency at Bowman, examines the pressing challenges facing the ports and harbors market sector. Drawing on more than three decades of experience, Raichle offers insights into how the industry is adapting, Bowman’s forward-looking strategies for resilient infrastructure and advanced tools helping clients navigate an ever-changing coastal environment. Dive into the full Q&A here: https://lnkd.in/eMa4SWeu #TeamBowman #BetterWithBowman #BowmanPerspectives #PortsAndHarbors

Among the many benefits of the Trans Mountain expansion project is a massive investment in the ability to respond to marine spills. Learn how the ability to respond to coastal spills has doubled:

Saildrone has been selected by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to map Florida’s coastal waters in the Gulf of Mexico as part of the Florida Seafloor Mapping Initiative (FSMI). More: https://lnkd.in/eEKc4CdM #oceanmapping #coastal

Doing our part at Aggregate Industries in shoring up the coastal regions