News -> INDReporter FRI, JUL 2 10:48AM by Mary Tutwiler

'All things coastal' commentator condemns sand berms

It’s always interesting to discover a new blog site dedicated to things Louisiana. My latest find is the website lacoastpost, which is the brainchild of Len Bahr, Ph.D., formerly an LSU coastal science professor, who served between March 1991 and October 2008 as a coastal science and policy advisor in the offices of Louisiana Govs. Buddy Roemer, Edwin Edwards, Mike Foster, Kathleen Blanco and Bobby Jindal.

Bahr is a highly respected scientist in the difficult field of coastal restoration. Now that he is no longer employed by state government, lacoastpost is his unfettered forum on all things coastal.

Bahr has been hammering on Governor Jindal’s sand berms since May 11, when he first heard the proposal for walling off the Gulf to keep the oil out of coastal marshes. It’s informative to read back through Bahr’s posts since that time. He offers strong arguments that the berms, like the levees along the lower Mississippi river, will contribute to coastal erosion.

On June 28, lacoastpost reported on a series of Hesco Baskets, continuous cloth baskets filled with sand, being placed for miles along Holly Beach. Earth moving equipment scooped up sand dunes covered with vegetation, which the state had been nurturing as storm surge protection since Hurricanes Rita and Ike. The “Great Wall of Holly Beach,” as lacoastpost called it, was evidently built by the Louisiana National Guard under the direction of the Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness. The baskets were overwhelmed by the storm surge from Hurricane Alex.

Bahr, and other commenters on the site find the Hesco line a ludicrous waste of time and money, considering the oil spill is nowhere near Cameron Parish. To read more from Bahr, go to the lacoastpost website.


Comments (4)add
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written by Just Wait , July 02, 2010 - 04:37 pm
Boy, the stupid burns. Hey, "it's not the heat, it's the stupidity!"
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written by ragin_cajun , July 02, 2010 - 04:37 pm
No, thanks. I just can't stand anymore evidence of government ineptitude, of tax payer's dollars being completely wasted by so-called experts.

Lemme guess--Len Bahr served as an "expert" for 17 years, and he now has some lobbying firm, still gets a retainer from the state, and also receives a $90K/year pension,.

The genius who decided to build the wall with the Hesco Baskets is making $250K per year, and he is an ex-student of Dr. Bahr when he was an adjunct professor somewhere.

The guy who owns the backhoes/bulldozers used to fill the Hesco's charged 4X the market rate for the machines, and he's the brother-in-law of some state legislator.

You just know something like that happened. I don't want to read anymore. I can't take it.
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written by Tresnow , July 02, 2010 - 07:08 pm
Louisiana good ol' boy engineering: "Mais, just put a big sand pile in front of the oil -- that'll fix it."
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written by Michael Robichaux , July 03, 2010 - 01:22 am
Dear Ragin Cajun:

Len Bahr is retired from the state and IS NOT currently employed by anyone. If you are interested in finding a hero who is truly "good for nothing," Len is your man. Take a few minutes and read his blogs. They are well written, well researched and extremely accurate. I don't know what political party Len belongs to or what his religion is, but I do know that he is honest and has holds the best interest of our state and our coastal environment near to his heart.

After you read his blogs, an apology would be in order.

Mike Robichaux
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