SOUTHERN
LOUISIANA REGIONAL PORTSFIELDS PROJECT
The
Southern
Louisiana Regional Portfields Project is a NOAA-led federal
interagency partnership focused on the environmental and economic
revitalization of the lower Mississippi River port complex following
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Through portfields,
local, state and federal partners and port representatives share
information about: innovative approaches to traditional port issues;
relevant state and federal programs; and resources and funding
available for port revitalization.
Already, the
portfields model has been successfully implemented in the communities
of Bellingham,
WA; New
Bedford, MA; and Tampa,
FL. Examples
of projects at these ports include innovative approaches to
brownfields cleanup, navigational dredging, storm water management,
habitat restoration and streamlining the permitting process.
New
On May 23-24,
2006, representatives from six ports met in New Orleans, LA, with
support from the Regional Planning Commission of New Orleans and
the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, to apply the
portfields model at a regional level. The goals included:
- Transfer
best practices and lessons learned through a peer-to-peer exchange
between portfields pilot projects and the Southern Louisiana
Ports;
- Establish
face-to-face contacts with partner agencies to assist in future
projects; and
- Host informational
sessions on issues most important to Southern Louisiana ports.
Louisiana
Sea Grant’s role in the Southern Louisiana Regional Portfields
Project has been that of both state partner and liaison to the
Port of Greater Baton Rouge. Currently, the project specialist
is working with the Port of Greater Baton Rouge to develop 1-page
summaries (97KB PDF)
for three potential projects submitted under the portfields
banner.
Key
Resources
More
Portfields Resources
http://brownfields.noaa.gov/htmls/portfields/port_resources.html
