Louisiana was granted the final funds March 7 to build the unprecedented Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion project. Construction is expected to start this summer on the $2.92B project aimed at slowing land-loss in coastal Louisiana. The last set of funding will come from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, which is granting $660M from a 2013 settlement from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. The state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is negotiating with the builder Archer Western-Alberici Joint Venture to finalize its cost and construction timelines. Construction is expected to take five years to complete.
DOE WAYING LA DIESEL PLANT LOAN
Strategic Biofuels, the company behind a $2.8B renewable diesel plant in Caldwell Parish, has been invited by the U.S. Department of Energy to apply for a $1.6B loan to help finance the project. DOE has already completed an initial review of the Louisiana Green Fuels plant, located in Columbia, for its potential for a Title XVII Innovative Clean Energy Loan Guarantee. Strategic Biofuels will now work with the department to submit a formal application for a more scrutinized review before the agency makes a final decision to loan the money. The loan amount won’t be determined until federal reviews and negotiations are completed. (NOLAC.com 03/08/23)
LA BUCKET BRIDADE’S HARSH WORDS FOR GUV
The environmental advocacy group, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, had harsh words for Gov. John Bel Edwards' trade-focused trip to Asia this week. The group condemned the Japanese and Korean firms the governor is meeting with for ties to industries blamed for pollution in parts of Louisiana. Edwards was in Tokyo this week meeting with leaders of Shintech, a major polyvinyl chloride manufacturer with more than $10B invested in West Baton Rouge and Iberville Parish facilities since 2001, his office said. He will be heading to Seoul, South Korea, to meet with leaders from Lotte Chemical, which is based there. The visits are part of a week-long trip meant to highlight Louisiana's openness to business development and to encourage foreign firms to grow investments in the state. But the trip also illustrated the state's troubling and persistent ties to major petrochemical and industrial firms, argued the CEO of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, a grassroots group that advocates for people whose homes have been impacted by the petrochemical industry. (NOLA 03/08/23)
No comments:
Post a Comment