The chairman of the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Gordon “Gordy” Dove, found himself in the hot seat during a panel discussion on recovery, restoration and the path toward resilience post-Hurricane Katrina at UL Lafayette on Tuesday over the state’s decision to cancel the mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion Project.
“It’s a tragedy,” Sidney Coffee, who served as chair of the authority during Hurricane Katrina, said of the state’s decision to scrap the landmark project. Former U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and Chip Kline, another former authority chairman backed Coffee.
While acknowledging that it was well within the rights and responsibilities of Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration to review the cost-effectiveness of the $3 billion project, Graves didn’t mince words when it came to anyone questioning the scientific base of the project by considering it an “experiment.”…