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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A nearly $2 billion plan to divert water and sediment from the Mississippi River to rebuild land in southeastern Louisiana has passed a major milestone with the publication of an environmental impact study.
The Army Corps of Engineers report issued late Thursday spells out the potential benefits of the plan. It is projected to build thousands of acres of freshwater marshes on the western side of the Mississippi River that will help knock down storm surge in the New Orleans area to the north.
But it will also have damaging effects on the state’s important shrimping and oyster industries as well as dolphins and some coastal communities.
