By Eileen Fleming
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-972562.mp3
New Orleans, La. – The Democratic lawmaker told a business audience at the World Trace Center overlooking the high river that Republican leadership is resisting any additional funds for dredging. Richmond says a bipartisan effort is under way to get $95 million-dollars to keep the river fully open. He's asking business leaders to help with long-term plans.
"If we're dredging the Mississippi River right outside this door, we don't have a place to put it right here where we need it. We have to get it out to our wetlands. So, that comment was to them to design a vessel that can capture it and when it unloads it - to make sure we can unload it in one spot to quickly build up the wetlands. So the ultimate goal is to always use the sediment for beneficial use."
America's Wetland Foundation Chairman King Milling says using river sediment to build wetlands benefits the environment as well as the national economy. The Port of New Orleans says that without additional dredging, shipping channels could be severely clogged by mid-July.
For WWNO, I'm Eileen Fleming