Bad News for Louisiana

... maybe good news for Mississippi. The Army Corps of Engineers states that it will cost a further $6 billion dollars to raise the protection of the levee system in the New Orleans area.

The east bank of Orleans Parish is already financed for levees that would meet certification by 2010, according to government estimates. But more than $3 billion in improvements are needed to bring Algiers, eastern New Orleans, the Lower 9th Ward, east and west Jefferson Parish, St. Charles Parish, Belle Chasse and Lower Algiers to the appropriate protection levels. Another $3 billion would be needed for Plaquemines Parish. Times-Picayune

The question is rather or not to fund the levees. The New Orleans region is sinking due to a combination of raising sea levels, subsidence, and lack of sediments to replenish the marshes and bayous that surround New Orleans. The map below shows the level of erosion expected in the future. I found it via this post by Confederate Yankee.


LSU
The red areas indicate the shoreline that is expected to be lost. New Orleans appears to be inudated.








There are oil refineries, pipelines, and other businesses related to the gas and oil industry on the Louisiana coast that shows up in red on the above map. Must of those areas too are expected to be lost in the future.

This is why it maybe good for Mississippi. Chevron announced that Pascagoula Mississippi has a 90% chance of a refinery being located there. Plans are also in the works for a liquefied gas and an oil pipeline.

Pascagoula is already the site of major shipbuilding companies. It is also better protected than Louisiana's coastline while still providing fast and easy access to the Gulf of Mexico. It's close proximity to Mobile also is advantageous.

Perhaps oil and gas executives are studying that map provided by LSU and see the writing on the wall.