Appendix G5a – Public Comments - Coastal Protection and ...

Re: Public Commenthttps://webmail.la.gov/owa/?ae=Item&t=IPM.Note&id=RgAAAAD2mgksEZ9cT5vOZLy...Page 1 of 22/16/2012Re: Public CommentHelen & Ken [8246buras@att.net]Sent: Monday, January 16, 2012 6:56 PMTo:Cc:Master PlanPJ Hahn [pjhahn@plaqueminesparish.com]I think that ALL of the citizens of lower Plaquemines parish south of Empire, La. have a right to knowthat they are being written off by the plan. River diversions are not the answer for that area, diversionsmay eventually fill in the lowest areas and then cease to build land above sea level. The mainnavigation canals used by the numerous user groups will have to be dredged as they fill in. Pipeliningdredged sediment from the river bottom is the ONLY FEASIBLE way to save that part of the coast. It ishard for me to understand why y’all don’t understand that. Look at the area south of Ostrica that hashad no levee for many years. The bays and canals are impassible and the oyster kill in that area is intrillions of dollars.If you put a diversion on the west side of the river near Empire the area has to be segregated withlevees and two highway bridges will have to be built. How much river sediment can be pipelined usingthe money it will cost to build a diversion. This should be a simple calculation for your group.I could go on and on but one voice is not enough for the thousands of people whose lives will bedevastated if large river diversions come to fruition.Sorry we disagree but I know enough to stand on my experience in the coastal ecosystem of this area.Y’all have to put the people in the equation.KenFrom: Master PlanSent: Monday, January 16, 2012 3:12 PMTo: 'Helen & Ken' ; Master PlanSubject: RE: Public CommentHi Ken,I am sorry that you feel we haven’t been informative to the public. It has been one of our major principlesand I hope you can at least see that we are doing more than has ever been done before. We have not onlyconducted 10 community meetings around the coast before the plan was completed, but have also beenpresenting to various citizens groups on a weekly basis. We have presented and discussed the plan in nearly120 meetings during the development. We also incorporated information from over 800 communitysurveys. We understand that many of Louisiana’s coastal constituents may not have access to the internet,so we will be sending hard copies of the plan to local libraries when they are printed early next week. Wealso have advertised our upcoming public meetings in newspapers and have asked community leaders andlocal libraries to put flyers out. I have attached a copy of the flyer and would encourage you to pass along tothose you think we have not reached yet.Look forward to seeing you at the public meetings next week,NatalieFrom: Helen & Ken [mailto:8246buras@att.net]Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2012 3:41 PMTo: Master Plan