Corps asks landowners to provide levee dirt
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Wanted: 25 million cubic yards of dirt.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is seeking landowners who will allow the federal agency to dig a massive hole on their property for the dirt needed to build up 140 miles of levees along the Atchafalaya Basin.
The amount needed for the operation is enough to fill the average dump truck well over a million times, prompting the corps to go beyond normal channels for obtaining material and put out a public call for help.
“It’s because the amount is so large,” said Thomas Parker, an environmental resource specialist with the corps.
Landowners will be paid a fee, which is negotiated per acre, and the corps is seeking sites of 5 acres or more.
When the excavation work is done, the landowner will be left with a hole about 20 feet to 25 feet deep that typically fills with groundwater, said Steve Roberts, also in the corps’ environmental section.
“The landowner is left with a lake,” he said.
The dirt is needed for maintenance work to address the sinking and settling of levees over the years.
“It’s a move to get the levees up to standard,” Parker said.
Interested landowners should call Parker at (504) 862-2526.
He said the corps is seeking land close to where levee work will be done.
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