More fresh river water sent into coastal marshes to flush oil spill
By (AP) BATON ROUGE, La.
Published: Mon, May 10, 2010 – 2:52 pm CST Baton Rouge, Louisiana – Louisiana and parish officials are getting almost all the fresh water they can into southeastern wetlands to try to keep out oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill. Chris Macaluso of the state Office of Coastal Protection and Restoration says the Davis Pond diversion project was opened Monday to full capacity 10,650 cubic feet per second. A second big diversion was already near capacity, and four small ones fully open. Monday’s action brings the total flow to 22,050 cubic feet per second. That’s enough water to fill the Empire State Building in 28 minutes. A spokesman says the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East members are looking at whether the Bohemia Spillway in Plaquemines Parish can be adjusted to send in additional fresh water.
