January 21, 2014

By: Brian Rodrigue

John M. Barry is a prize-winning and New York Times best-selling author whose books have won multiple awards.  Barry is best known as the author of the bestselling book, Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America.

John Barry is a consultant for storm protection for all major storms anywhere in the world and is also the leader of the lawsuit against oil and gas companies filed in August by the local Flood Protection Authority.  

Since leaving the levee board last year, a website was established by John Barry called Restorelouisiananow.org .  The levee board saw themselves as a group tasked not to oversee levees, but as a group responsible for protecting people’s lives. 

When considering what is happening to the Louisiana coast, this task is becoming more and more difficult.  Louisiana has already lost nearly 2,000 square miles of coast.  That land lost is not stopping and the lost rate is actually increasing even though it has leveled off recently. 

The storm surge is increasing due to multiple causes.  The levees are a cause in coastal loses even though without the levees there would be no Baton Rouge, no New Orleans and no industry between those two cities.  The levees cannot be taken down; however, diversions could be built.  Another reason is due to the oil and gas industry. 

Many people agree that the land loss is caused by oil and gas operations.  Some areas have zero loss and other areas are as high as 90 percent land loss.  The oil and gas companies were allowed to exploit the Louisiana resources and in return they agreed to restore what they destroyed. 

Using Delecroix area as an example, one can see the minimal losses over time before the oil and gas industry arrived.  Thus, the coast can sustain itself if the oil and gas industry does not dig canals in the coastal areas.  The law reads that when an area is damaged, the vegetation must be restored and the land be put back in its original condition. 

Coastal restoration is absolutely necessary for maintaining storm surge protection.  The govenor’s office was asked to have industry to pay for the restoration and the answer was no.  The governor’s office opposes the lawsuit while every parish has supported the lawsuit. 

Mr. Barry’s latest book is related to the lawsuit because the first 100 pages are about constitutional law which is summarized in that everyone is equal before the law, even the oil and gas companies.