Silence of the Eco-lambs

in People Issues by Admin — July 1, 2010 at 7:00 am | 6 comments

by Len Bahr, PhD*

Since founding LaCoastPost.com I’ve invested considerable thought and time promoting seemingly reasonable proposals to offset the permanent flooding of south Louisiana – and criticizing what I see as misguided concepts. Unfortunately the ongoing B.Pocalypse has stimulated far more bad ideas than good ones.

Since May 11, when I first heard the proposal to use emergency sand dunes, sand berms, sand booms, sand barriers (choose your phrase du jour) to deflect crude oil from coastal wetlands, this concept has become a virtual meme. It has also become the primary target of my criticism. Pardon the alliteration but these DDDs (Dutch Designed Dunes) strike me as a particularly preposterous proposal.

We’ve already witnessed the results of the century-old folly of isolating the Mississippi River from the delta. Now, in the throes of an unprecedented offshore oil release and the onset of hurricane season, our political leaders seriously discuss using sand berms to keep the oil-polluted ocean at bay. Here’s the caption for a hypothetical cartoon showing Governor Jindal surrounded by his staff, “Hey, why don’t we just wall off the Gulf of Mexico?”

When I realized that the oil barrier concept was being taken seriously I began posting specific objections from various technical critics who oppose this ‘sand relocation plan’ for the lower Mississippi River delta. My fellow critics have been derided as kooks and dismissed as ‘David’ by the ‘Goliath’ tag team of  Bobby (Jindal) and Billy (Nungesser).

These two gentlemen not only have the authority of elected office, they also have a prime time promoter in the form of CNN’s ubiquitous Anderson Cooper. I don’t doubt that Mr. Cooper sincerely cares about the Louisiana coast but since the B.Pocalypse he’s been sounding like Geraldo Rivera, with a breathless emotional style of journalism that doesn’t probe behind simplistic arguments.

Speaking of walling off the Gulf of Mexico, many reporters have told me that they’re being stonewalled by the Governor’s Office; it’s extremely difficult to obtain reliable information on what has been proposed, permitted and already under construction. To make the picture even muddier, the emergency sand berm meme is now being conflated with pre-BP Blowout plans for bolstering barrier shorelines, such as a credible plan that was developed for Plaquemines Parish under the guidance of Joe Suhayda, a credentialed oceanographer and former LSU professor of civil engineering.

The sand berm meme is also being confused with local parish plans, such as throwing up Hesco baskets along existing shorelines and closing off tidal passes with rock filled sunken barges. I clearly remember that Dr. Suhayda used hydrologic modeling to predict over a decade ago that attempting to close down the tidal passes in the Barataria basin is a fool’s errand that will accelerate coastal erosion. State and parish efforts sound just like BP’s ill-conceived attempts to close off the oil gushing from the Mocando well, which may have actually increased the flow of oil.

Popularity of the sand berm meme

I understand the popularity of and local support for the idea of implementing a defensive bulwark against the crude oil that’s been washing ashore in huge volumes. There’s no denying the intuitive appeal to a desperate public for an oil barrier, which sounds superficially plausible to folks who don’t understand delta dynamics. Bobby Jindal and Billy Nungesser have even sweetened the pot by suggesting that temporary sand barriers could provide lagniappe in the form of added protection against hurricanes such as Alex, which made landfall today south of Corpus Christi.**

Silent NGOs

What I cannot understand is why the three most prominent national non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in Louisiana coastal protection and restoration have been virtually silent on the sand berm issue, even as it has gained notoriety and newsworthiness. I’m referring to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the National Audubon Society (NAS). I’m referring to this curious phenomenon as the ‘Silence of the Eco-lambs.’

Long before April 20 these three NGO’s were working tirelessly behind the scenes to promote what is being called the lower Mississippi River Initiative, a proposal to redirect the flow of the river to restore the delta. Since the B.Pocalypse this concept has taken on new importance as a way to flush out invading oil.

Contrary to our characterization as naysayers and endless studiers, the scientific community unequivocably supports the implementation of a new management paradigm for the lower river, including a large scale diversion at Myrtle Grove. On the other hand, the redirection of river flow, on which the ultimate success or failure of delta restoration hinges, is opposed by President Nungesser.

Therefore, if NGO silence on sand berms is premised on assuaging local opposition to the river initiative, that strategy has already failed. I don’t know where the Governor’s Office stands on the Mississippi River initiative. I’ve heard that the governor’s staff has met with NGO reps but so far I’ve heard nothing about the outcome of the discussions.

I’m happy to report that silence among the environmental community is not universal, however; and it’s heartening to note that some members of the green groups have recently expressed concerns about the sand berm meme. For example, the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper (LMRK) and Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) have published part one of a joint series of articles on sand berm concerns. The graphic below is from this report.

It would be nice to see LMRK and LEAN joined by the national groups that have remained inexplicably silent while the Jindal administration ignores and/or impugns the coastal scientists for which his state is internationally recognized.

The silence of the eco-lambs is not shared by all those who work for these groups. At the recent 2010 awards banquet of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) I was approached by a staffer from one of these groups who apologized profusely for the NGO silence on the sand berm issue.

*Founding editor (leonardbahr@gmail.com)

**This sand berm concept got off to a very shaky start on July 1, when sand dredged from natural chenier ridges in Cameron Parish to fill Hesco baskets along Holly Beach were destroyed by Hurricane Alex.