Save Our Wetlands - Archives: Louisiana's Political & Environmental Watch Network

Environmental & Political news, editorials, letters and legal documents since 1975

While the whole process of alcohol fuel is less damaging to the climate than fuel from gasoline or oil, what can be positive for the environment can turn negative. The Bush administrations choice of "Ethanol" could destroy everything from the Gulf of Mexico with its expanding 'dead zone', to the Amazon ramping up deforestation, while increasing food prices worldwide.
June 08, 2007 - Group Targets Louisiana Logging - Environmental activist and attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Waterkeeper Alliance joined the fight to halt cypress logging in Louisiana's coastal forests by buying a full-page advertisement in USA Today urging the public to boycott cypress mulch
Bill of Rights For Future Generations - WE, the people of the future, like the twenty thousand generations who came before us, have the right to breathe air that smells sweet, to drink water that runs pure and free, to swim in waters that teem with life, and to grow our food in rich, living earth.
May 23, 2007 - From Recycling to Hurricanes - There was no option for recycling anything that might, in fact, reduce the energy use that would begin to alleviate the global warming that generates bigger hurricanes that, without the marshes, the old city cannot survive.
May 15, 2007 - SOWL Responds to Nation Exploited Our Coast; Now It's the Nation's Job to Fix It - The nation as a whole gets nearly all the benefits of engineering the river. Louisiana and some of coastal Mississippi get 100 percent of the costs. Eastern New Orleans (including the lower Ninth Ward) and St. Bernard Parish -- nearly all of which, incidentally, is at or above sea level -- exemplify this allocation of costs and benefits.
May 20, 2007 - Carter says President Bush's administration is "the worst in history" - The criticism from Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented for the 39th president, also took aim at Bush's environmental policies and the administration's "quite disturbing" faith-based initiative funding.
Apr. 29, 2007 - U.S. Didn't Use Most Foreign Katrina Aid - Only a small fraction of the more than $800 million in Hurricane Katrina assistance offered by foreign governments was used by federal agencies, according to documents released Sunday by a private watchdog group.
Jan. 31, 2007 - In Love With the Lusty Wind - Randy Tinkerman is one of the pioneers of wind power, and he agreed to answer some of my questions about the status of windpower today. Randall M. "Randy" Tinkerman co-developed the world's first utility-scale windplant, in the Altamont Pass near San Francisco.
Jan. 31, 2007 - As Police Arrest Public Housing Activists in New Orleans, Federal Officials Try to Silence Leading Attorney for Low-Income Residents - Last summer, federal housing officials announced plans to demolish four large public housing developments even though tens of thousands of low-income New Orleans residents remain displaced. The move sparked one of the most intense struggles in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Mar. 30, 2007 - Letter To Louisiana Public Service Commissioners - Re: Entergy's Request to Build a New Nuclear Power Plant in Louisiana. This is pursuant to previous email of March 25, 2007 concerning opposition by Save Our Wetlands Inc.(SOWL) and Save Louisiana Wetlands Inc. on Entergy's outrageous, absurd, reckless, and dangerous proposal to build a new nuclear power plant in Louisiana, and charge consumers in advance of construction.
Mar. 29, 2007 - Report Says Interior Official Overrode Work of Scientists - A top-ranking official overseeing the Fish and Wildlife Service at the Interior Department rode roughshod over agency scientists, and decisions made on her watch may not survive court challenges, investigators within the Interior Department have found.
Mar. 29, 2007 - Shell Drops its Plans for LNG Terminal - Opponents Were Worried About Technology's Impact on Fisheries - The CCA, along with the Gulf Restoration Network, the Sierra Club and the Louisiana Charter Boat Association, had been fighting plans for so-called "open loop" LNG ports that would use billions of gallons of seawater to warm the supercooled gas that is brought to the United States on tankers.
A Summary Analysis of the Failure to Close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet(MRGO) - Before Hurricane Katrina the closure of the MRGO was not going to happen internally from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It would have to come from political pressure from U.S. Louisiana Senators like Mary Landrieu and Senator Breaux. We all knew the Corps was not going to do it
Mar. 26, 2007 - Report Queries Nuclear Role in Beating Global Warming - The surge in political popularity of nuclear power as a quick-fix, zero-carbon solution to global warming is misguided and potentially highly dangerous, a group of academics and scientists said on Monday.
Mar. 25, 2007 - Letter To Louisiana Public Service Commissioners - Re: Rate-setters Look At Rules For Possible Nuclear Plant. It is with deep regret and horror that I read in March 22, 2007 Times Picayune that Entergy is appearing before you, requesting special economic favors to build another nuclear power plant in Louisiana. I as executive attorney for Save Our Wetlands Inc.(SOWL) am extremely knowledgeable about the lies of the nuclear industry and the Federal government it funds.
Mar. 22, 2007 - Rate-setters Look At Rules For Possible Nuclear Plant - The proposed rules would turn the traditional regulatory process on its head by allowing a utility to earn money on a nuclear plant before it is in operation. The rules would also require the PSC to approve of the need for a nuclear plant before it is built and again at the beginning of each of three phases.
Mar. 22, 2007 - Are Genetically Modified Crops Killing Bees? - A mysterious decimation of bee populations has German beekeepers worried, while a similar phenomenon in the United States is gradually assuming catastrophic proportions. The consequences for agriculture and the economy could be enormous.
Mar. 21, 2007 - U.S. Navy Asserts "State Secrets" in Sonar Case - The U.S. Navy on Tuesday said it had asserted the "state secrets" privilege in a lawsuit by environmental groups, a move to keep the military from being forced to disclose classified information about the use of sonar believed to injure whales and other animals.
Mar. 21, 2007 - Corps Caused Disaster, Report Says; State Inquiry Finds Decades of Blunders - Decades of incompetence and neglect by the Army Corps of Engineers allowed Hurricane Katrina's storm surge to devastate New Orleans, according to a long-awaited report being released today, the state's only official investigation into the causes of the disaster.
Mar. 19, 2007 - Scientist Accuses White House of 'Nazi' Tactics - A government scientist, under sharp questioning by a federal panel for his outspoken views on global warming, stood by his view today that the Bush administration's information policies smacked of Nazi Germany.
Mar. 9, 2007 - U.S. Interrogation May Finally Be Put To Trial; Tape of Padilla Interrogation Is Missing - A videotape showing Pentagon officials' final interrogation of al-Qaida suspect Jose Padilla is missing, raising questions about whether federal prosecutors have lost other recordings and evidence in the case.
Mar. 15, 2007 - U.S. Open Ocean Fish-Farming Plan Flayed By Local Experts - The news that the Bush administration has launched a major effort to expand US fish-farming by allowing farms to operate in the open ocean has led local experts to criticise the novel plan as difficult and expensive, and to complain that escaped fish could migrate into local waters.
Mar. 10, 2007 - Video Clips: MRGO "Hurricane Highway" & The Wetlands - How their Destruction by the Corps of Engineers by building miles of shipping lanes for oil and gas exploration contributed to the New Orleans Flood.
Mar. 7, 2007 - Brazil's Ethanol Push Could Eat Away At Amazon - Just an hour's drive outside this traffic-choked metropolis where President Bush kicked off a Latin American tour yesterday, sugar cane fields stretch for hundreds of miles, providing ethanol. But a top UN environmental official is warns that an increase in ethanol production poses risks to Brazil's Amazon rain forest.
Jan. 8, 2007 - Nuclear Power Not Clean, Green or Safe - Caldicott points out there are truly green and clean alternative energy sources to nuclear power. She refers to the American plains as “the Saudi Arabia of wind,” where readily available rural land in just several Dakota countires “could produce twice the amount of electricity that the United States currently consumes.”
Mar. 2, 2007 - New Orleans May Sue Army Corps for $77 Billion Over Katrina - Submitting a claim for a staggering $77 billion, the city of New Orleans joined tens of thousands of would-be plaintiffs who rushed to beat a Thursday deadline to alert the Army Corps of Engineers that they may sue for losses resulting from the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina.
Feb. 28, 2007 - Cronkite In CBS 5 Interview: Iraq War A 'Disaster' - "We should have gotten out a long time ago. This is a mistake, this entire war there, it's a disaster. And the earlier we get out the better," Cronkite said. "It's a terrible disaster. Look at the loss of lives of our young Americans there and those who have been maimed for life, for what purpose? No purpose we can define."
Feb. 5, 2007 - From Afghanistan to Iraq: Connecting the Dots With Oil - President George Bush launched an overt act of military aggression to do so, at a cost of more than 3,000 American lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives, and half a trillion dollars. In the process he has exacerbated the threats from international terrorism, ravaged the Iraqi culture, ruined their economy and their public services, sent thousands of Iraqis fleeing their country as refugees, created a maelstrom of sectarian violence, dangerously destabilized the Middle East, demolished the global prestige of the United States, and defamed the American people.
Feb. 27, 2007 - The Right to Return to New Orleans 18 Months After Katrina - "Half of the homes in New Orleans still do not have electricity. Louisiana received $10 billion to fix up housing. Over 109,000 homeowners applied for federal funds to fix up their homes. Eighteen months later, fewer than 700 families have received this federal assistance. Visitors to New Orleans can still stay in fine hotels and dine at great restaurants. But less than a 5 minute drive away lie miles of devastated neighborhoods that shock visitors. Locals call it 'the Grand Canyon effect' - you know about it, you have seen it on TV, but when you see it in person it can take your breath away.
Bush Administration Wants to Sell Off America - "Our hunters, anglers, campers and other recreational users benefit from — and depend on — access to public lands," Bingaman said. "In my view, selling public lands to pay down the deficit would be a shortsighted, ill-advised and irresponsible shift in federal land-management policy."
WAR IS A RACKET! - Says Two-Time Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient: Major General Smedley D. Butler, USMC [Retired]. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.
Feb. 20, 2007 - Study Ties Television to Premature Puberty, Autism - Watching television can harm children much more than previously thought as it raises the risk of bad eyesight, obesity, premature puberty and autism, a study found Monday

Feb. 19, 2007 - Depleted Uranium: Pernicious Killer Keeps on Killing - The more questions raised, the more the military-industrial complex has hauled out studies showing the safety of DU munitions. One CEO called DU the "skim milk" of uranium in an article penned for my local paper. An Air Force officer is even stalking the internet, trying to intimidate anyone who suggests DU is anything but benign.

Feb. 15, 2007 - Dying for a Home: Toxic Trailers Are Making Katrina Refugees Sick - Along the Gulf Coast, in the towns and fishing villages from New Orleans to Mobile, survivors of Hurricane Katrina are suffering from a constellation of similar health problems. They wake up wheezing, coughing and gasping for breath. Their eyes burn; their heads ache; they feel tired, lethargic. Nosebleeds are common, as are sinus infections and asthma attacks. Children and seniors are most severely afflicted, but no one is immune

Feb. 15, 2007 - How Feds' Top Environmental Prosecutor Built Home With Big-Oil Lobbyist - A House committee will investigate and request documents on a real estate deal involving the government's top environmental prosecutor and ConocoPhillips's top lobbyist, and also legal agreements between the government and the oil company. The inquiry by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was announced hours after The Associated Press reported that the prosecutor, Sue Ellen Wooldridge, bought a $1 million vacation home with ConocoPhillips Vice President Donald R. Duncan, nine months before agreeing to let the company delay a half-billion-dollar pollution cleanup.

Feb. 15, 2007 - Disaster Feared in Ship Fire Off Antarctica - Penguins in path should flagship of Japan's whaling fleet start leaking oil. Officials warned of a potential environmental disaster in Antarctica after fire erupted Thursday on a Japanese whaling ship, as the search continued for a missing crewmen from the crippled ship.

Feb. 14, 2007 - Plan to Ease Gulf Wetlands Rules Scaled Back - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled a plan last fall to cut red tape in an effort to speed construction following Hurricane Katrina, but the proposal triggered a storm of protest from the environmental community.

Feb. 8, 2007 - How the U.S. Sent $12 Billion in Cash to Iraq. And Watched it Vanish - The US flew nearly $12bn in shrink-wrapped $100 bills into Iraq, then distributed the cash with no proper control over who was receiving it and how it was being spent. The staggering scale of the biggest transfer of cash in the history of the Federal Reserve has been graphically laid bare by a US congressional committee.

Feb. 2, 2007 - Judge Says Katrina Victims Can Sue Army Engineers - A federal judge in New Orleans on Friday ruled that residents of areas heavily flooded when Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters were funneled down a New Orleans navigation channel can sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Jan. 24, 2007 - Navy Exempt in Sonar Ban - The Navy has been given a two-year exemption from provisions of the Marine Mammal Protection Act that will allow it to use mid-frequency sonar and a new sensor that uses small explosive charges during major training exercises and on established ranges and operating areas.

Dec. 29, 2006 - Gerald Ford - Warren Commission Kennedy Assassination Coverup - "I had a long talk this morning [Dec. 12, 1963] with Congressman Gerald R. "Jerry" Ford . . . He asked that I come up and see him . . . Ford indicated that he would keep me thoroughly advised as to the activities of the Commission. He stated this would have to be on a confidential basis, however, he thought it should be done."

Dec. 9, 2006 - Congress Approves Offshore Drilling Bill - Hours before adjourning for the year, the U.S. Congress on Saturday sent President George W. Bush legislation that would open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural gas drilling and redistribute billions of dollars in royalties to four Gulf states.

Dec. 8, 2006 - New Orleans to Raze Public Housing - Public housing officials decided Thursday to proceed with the demolition of more than 4,500 government apartments here, brushing aside an outcry from residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina who said the move was intended to reduce the ability of poor black people to repopulate the city.

Dec. 8, 2006 - Bark Beetles Ravaging Western U.S. Forests - Scientists say a warming climate is behind the beetle epidemic which has killed vast swaths of spruces, pines and firs in some of the most picturesque regions of the Rocky Mountains.

Nov. 15, 2006 - Cypress Falling Faster Than Thought - State forestry officials have dramatically underestimated the extent of cypress logging in Louisiana, with new figures released this week revealing a 15-fold increase from previous harvesting estimates for a tree emblematic of the state's imperiled coastal wetlands.

Oct. 19, 2006 - Army Corps Proposes Easing Gulf Wetlands Rule - The Corps’ proposal would allow property owners and developers to skirt the conventional "regional general permit" process for any projects that fill up to 5 acres of “low-quality” wetlands in the six southernmost Mississippi counties. Especially galling to environmentalists: The new process would also eliminate the requirement for public notice of such projects.

Sept. 20, 2006 - Hugo Chavez Speech at United Nations - The hegemonic pretensions of the American empire are placing at risk the very survival of the human species. We continue to warn you about this danger and we appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our heads.

Sept. 26, 2006 - One Year Later And So Far Behind: Remember Katrina! Drive Out the Bush Regime! - It is an outrage that residents in various housing projects are not allowed a Right to Return. Their homes, still standing and fixable, are surrounded by fences and barbed wire. It is outrageous that residents, staying in FEMA issued trailers, are not allowed to talk to the press without a FEMA official with them.

July 20, 2006 - Editorial: Letter to the Orleans Levee Board - It's the same old development scheme in low lying areas, extremely susceptible to hurricane tidal surges at the expense of federally subsidized tax payer's flood insurance...at the expense of Lake Pontchartrain waterbottoms...at the expense of water quality.

July 20, 2006 - Levee Board Eyes South Shore Deal - "The devil is in the details," Foley said, noting that before the board discusses a lease, it first must examine a range of complex issues, ranging from the development team's financial wherewithal to the project's merit.

July 20, 2006 - Earth Faces 'Catastrophic Loss of Species' - Scientists estimate that 12 per cent of all birds, 23 per cent of mammals, a quarter of conifers, a third of amphibians and more than half of all palm trees are threatened with imminent extinction. Climate change alone could lead to the further extinction of between 15 and 37 per cent of all species by the end of the century.

July 30, 2006 - Playing Politics On The Coast Harms Us All - Let's please stop all these shenanigans. Sen. Trent Lott, this is much more than just oysters. It's about our common coast and the lives, property and businesses of everyone in the region. It's about the future of both Louisiana and Mississippi.

Editorial: U.S. Corporate Controlled Puppets Approve More Oil & Gas Drilling - Well hell let's just open up more areas of the Gulf of Mexico to the good old boys, why not just destroy the Louisiana coast, let's do Florida, Alaska, and California while we're at it.

Aug. 1, 2006 - Senate Approves More Offshore Drilling - Some critics of the legislation noted that it will be years before any oil or gas will be taken from the 8.3 million acres and that the legislation falls short of addressing many of the country's energy problems.

Death in the Gulf of Mexico - Just south of Whiskey Pass, where the last of Louisiana´s barrier islands gives way to open sea, Gene Foret cuts the throttle and eases his boat across an unseen boundary. All around him the water looks as blue as ever, but beneath the boat an ocean of life quietly fades to black. Foret is entering the "dead zone."

July 8, 2006 - Editorial: Louisiana Politicians Want to Use Coastal Restoration Funding for Golf Course - It is Save Our Wetlands (SOWL) position that using taxpayer monies for this private, pork barrel, wetland destroying, golf course project is in direct contrast to wetland restoration and, will promote future development in this low lying area that is extremely susceptible to hurricane tidal surges.

Another Nail in Coal’s Coffin: Cheap Solar Power - If present trends continue, this could very well be the case…in as little as 10 years. Prices for solar electric power have fallen 90% in the last decade and further steep drops in price are highly likely. By 2016 solar electric power could be cost-competitive with coal and natural gas fired power plants.

Oct. 20, 2005 - SOWL Responds to Hate Emails; RE: Save Our Wetlands Enjoining U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from Building Hurricane Barrier at Rigolets & Chef Menteur Pass - After Hurricane Katrina ravaged and flooded the city of New Orleans and surrounding parishes, there was a barrage of emails sent to Save Our Wetlands filled with anger and hate. These emails sent to SOWL seem to be reactions from two misguided and inaccurate articles.

Tulane Environmental Law Journal: Can We Save New Orleans? - On Sunday, November 20, 2005, the television program “60 Minutes” aired a piece on New Orleans in which a geology professor from St. Louis predicted the unthinkable: that at current rates of subsidence and land loss, the city had about 80 years to live.

Dec. 12, 2005 - Katrina's Early Landfall: Exclusionary Politics Behind the Restoration of New Orleans - Hurricane Katrina may represent an unprecedented episode of displacement and destruction within the United States, but it has not washed away forms of exclusionary politics that existed long before it made landfall on the Gulf Coast

Sept. 02, 2005 - New Orleans: The Strategy for World Government - The agent of the Illuminati bankers, the Council on Foreign Relations, is demanding "an economic union" of Canada, Mexico and the United States by 2010. This is but a stage in the Illuminati's long-term plan to impose their dictatorship upon the world.
Jan. 2006 - Rebuild New Orleans Green
we will need your help in the months ahead when the media spotlight shifts to some other story of the moment. That’s when there will be a struggle over how to rebuild our devastated city.
Jul. 17, 2005 - ARTICLE: China-The Awakening Colossus Economic boom, environmental bust
China’s environmental crisis is evident everywhere. The country’s air quality is among the worst in the world: According to the World Bank, 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are on the mainland, and acid rain affects one-third of China’s agricultural land.
Jul. 16, 2005 - ARTICLE: Arctic ice loss could hurt wetlands efforts; Melting may bring rise in coastal water
The Arctic sea ice has decreased by 8 percent during the past 30 years and could decline at least 10 percent by 2100, according to the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment.
Jul. 15, 2005 - ARTICLE: Tryin’ To Wash Us Away
Shrinking ice caps and glaciers in Antarctica and elsewhere could hasten a rise in sea level over the next century and complicate the restoration of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, scientists say.
Jun. 28, 2005 - LETTER: To Senator Mary Landrieu’s RE: Deadly Oil Spill in Breton Sound Kills 400 Pelicans
Enclosed is the New Orleans Times Picayune, June 15, 2005 article reporting the above captioned. Your coastal aid bill promoting more oil coastal drilling is a reason these 1,400 brown pelicans are dying.
Jun. 15, 2005 - ARTICLE: Cleanup Launched After Deadly Oil Spill
Officials from several federal and state agencies scrambled on Tuesday to deal with a small but deadly oil spill in Breton Sound that is blamed for killing at least 400 brown pelicans and oiling a 1,000 more at a rookery on West Breton Island.
Jun. 5, 2005 - LETTERS: Three Open Letters to the U.S. Senate, RE: Senator Mary Landrieu’s Coastal Aid Bill
SOWL is opposed to the Senator Landrieu-Billy Tauzin bill and support the Permanent Protection for America Resources 2000 Act. The Landrieu bill encourages increased drilling activities by tying the state’s shares to production without enough safeguards to ensure the money is spent wisely. Oil company canals are a major reason for the loss of Louisiana wetlands. No drilling should be encouraged.
May 15, 2005 - ARTICLE: Local Environmental Groups Seek Federal Permit Ban for Liquefied Natural Gas Facility
The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a permit to a natural gas facility in the Gulf of Mexico despite its potentially severe impacts to critical Louisiana fisheries, including redfish, shrimp, crabs, and other species.
May 13, 2005 - ARTICLE: Environmentalist Protest LNG Facilities, Tell Shell: No Fish For Fuel
The group is targeting Shell Corporation because it recently received a permit to operate an open-loop LNG terminal 38 miles off Louisiana’s Cameron Parish coast. The facility could destroy as much as the equivalent of 3.8 percent of Louisiana’s annual redfish catch.
Mar. 1, 2005 - ARTICLE: Greenhouse gas 'threatens marine life'
Since the Industrial Revolution, the amounts have greatly increased, now more rapidly. The scientists believe 400 billion tons of man-made CO2 - half that produced - have been taken up by the seas, and much more is going in as the world economy relentlessly expands.
Mar. 1, 2005 - ARTICLE: Bush’s Choice for Energy Secretary Was One of Texas’ Top Five Worst Polluters
It’s not just a few clouds of smoke emanating from an oil refinery or a power plant that got Bodman’s old company, Boston-based Cabot Corporation, those accolades. It was the 54,000 tons of toxic emissions that his company’s refineries released into the air in the Lone Star state in 1997 alone.
Feb. 29, 2005 - ARTICLES: A Collection of Recent News Articles on Global Warming
The study by British scientists, which is published today, found the planet's global temperature could climb by between 2C and 11C because of skyrocketing levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
Jan. 29, 2005 - NEWS: 2004 Signals More Global Warming, Extreme
The year 2004 is set to finish as the fourth-warmest since record-keeping began in 1861, fitting a pattern that has placed nine of the past 10 years among the warmest on record.
Oct. 2004 - The Lost Coast
When did this calamity happen? It hasn't—yet. But the doomsday scenario is not far-fetched. The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation.
Sept. 16, 2004 - Diet Cola Alert! Aspartame Scandal and Rumsfelds Roll - Contained in the lawsuit is the key role played by current Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld in helping to get aspartame pushed through the FDA. Back in the 1980s, Rumsfeld was the President and CEO of Searle who originally owned the patent on aspartame.

Jun. 18, 2004 - Lawsuit: SOWL (Glynn Brock) vs. St. Tammany Parish Council
SOWL Lawsuit filed June 18th 2004 in 22nd Judicial District Court Covington, LA against the St. Tammany Parish Council contesting there issuance of a rezoning permit to Tammany Holding Corporation for the Lakeshore Village Estate 2 billion dollar Planned Urban Development (PUD) project adjacent to the Eden Isles and Oak Harbor subdivisions on the North shore of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish, Slidell, LA smack dab in the middle of a hurricane tidal surge pathway. SOWL did not have the ability or resources to continue to appeal this lawsuit but these lawsiuts are listed here for historical purposes and SOWL contends that the issuance of these permits was in bad faith.
Jun. 17, 2004 - LETTER: To: Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Letter from Gulf Restoration Network, and other environmental groups. To Dr. Mike McDaniel Secretary Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Office of the Secretary detailing how the DEQ's public meeting on April 29, 2004 in Slidell, Louisiana on Tammany Holding Corps. plans to obtain water quality certification for their expansion of the Oak Harbor and Lakeshore Estates subdivisions is shoveling smoke. This letter is a good indication of how the new democratic Governor Kathleen Banco's administration is business bullshit as usual.
Jun. 12, 2004 - LETTER: SOWL’s Board of Director’s Resolution
authorizing 3 separate lawsuits against Col. Peter J. Rowan, Governor Kathleen Blanco and St. Tammany Parish Council for approving Tammany Holding Corp’s 2 billion dollar mega-city Planned Urban Development (PUD) on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish Slidell, LA adjacent to the Eden Isles and Oak Harbor subdivisions in illegally drained wetlands smack dab in the middle of hurricane tidal surge pathway. And SOWL’s letters to U.S. Congressional Committee’s on the hypocrisy of LA politicians requesting billions of dollars from U.S. Congress to restore LA wetlands and at the same time issuing any and all wetland destruction permits for shopping centers and housing developments.
Jun. 08, 2004 - ARTICLE: Wetlands Group Tries Courts Again
Times Picayune article concerning SOWL’s two lawsuits filed against Corps of Engineer’s and DEQ granting permission to Tammany Holding Corporation to construct Lake Shore Village Estates adjacent to Eden Isles and Oak Harbor Subdivisions on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA
Jun. 05, 2004 - ARTICLE: Council Backs Lake Tract Project
Times Picayune article concerning St. Tammany Parish Council granting zone changes to Tammany Holding Corporation to construct their 2 billion dollar mega-city titled Lake Shore Estate Village Planned Urban Development (PUD) on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain adjacent to the Eden Isles and Oak Harbor Subdivisions St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA.
Jun. 3, 2004 - LAWSUIT: SOWL vs. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
Save Our Wetlands suit filed June 3, 2004 against Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. Contesting their issuance of a Water Quality Certification to Tammany Holding Corporation for their proposal to construct a 2 billion dollar mega-city titled Lake Shore Estates Village Planned Urban Development (PUD) on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain adjacent to the Eden Isles and Oak Harbor Subdivisions in St Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA. SOWL did not have the ability or resources to continue to appeal this lawsuit but these lawsiuts are listed here for historical purposes and SOWL contends that the issuance of these permits was in bad faith.
Jun. 02, 2004 - Lawsuit: SOWL vs. United States Army Corps of Engineers Col. Peter J. Rowan
Save Our Wetlands lawsuit filed on June 2, 2004 in the U.S. District Court of New Orleans contesting the issuance of a permit to Tammany Holding Corporation by Colonel Peter J. Rowan in order to construct a 2 billion dollar mega-city over 650 acres of wetlands on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain adjacent to the Eden Isles and the Oak Harbor Subdivisions in St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA. Colonel Rowan concluded this 2 billion dollar project over illegally drained wetlands smack dab in the middle of a hurricane tidal pathway does not merit an environmental impact study under the National Environmental Policy Act. SOWL did not have the ability or resources to continue to appeal this lawsuit but these lawsiuts are listed here for historical purposes and SOWL contends that the issuance of these permits was in bad faith.
May 12, 2004 - Appeal to St. Tammany Parish Council May 12, 2004
SOWL’s appearance before the St. Tammany Parish Council in matters relating to the zoning change request made by Tammany Holding Corporation for their Lake Shore Village Estate on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA. Enclosed is SOWL’s May 12th, 2004 appeal made to the St. Tammany Parish Council asking them to reverse the Parish and Planning Zoning Commission approval of May 4th, 2004. Below are SOWL letters dated April 12, June 6, June 8, June 9 and June 12, 2004 written to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking Housing & Urban Affairs, the Senate and House Committee on Energy and National Resources and the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. These letters discuss the Lake Shore Village Estate Project and also surmise SOWL’s position on Louisiana coastal restoration. Please note that none of the Congressional Committee's nor the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's rsponded to any of SOWL's letters. As of now Florida has been devastated by hurricanes Frances, Charley, Ivan and soon to be Jeanne. While these communities have been devastated our government is spending billions of dollars for wars in the middle east to monopolize oil and gas resources that the american population uses in vast amounts and in turn increases the green house effect which heats up the global atmosphere and as we all know higher global temperatures fuels hurricanes.Louisiana and Florida politicians continue to bill and permit housing developments over wetlands which protect us from hurricane tidal surges. SOWL can only continue at this point to provide historians documentation of this environmental and economic destructive course. It's only a matter of time before New Orleans becomes the Crawfish Atlantis.
Apr. 12, 2004 - LETTER: U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Re: Concerning U.S. Senate Bill 2238, sponsored by Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky. Bill to amend National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 – to reduce losses of property for which flood insurance claims have been made. SOWL's position is that while Louisiana politicians scream to the U.S. Congress for billions of dollars to restore Louisian's eroding coastal zone, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and former Governor Mike Foster push and subsidize every wetland destruction permit for housing and shopping center malls. Also the St. Tammany Parish Council rubber-stamps all wetland destruction proposals causing a massive flood potential in St. Tammany Parish.
Jun. 6, 2004 - LETTER: Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Concerning the present proposal to build a 2 billion dollar mega city called the Lakeshore Village Estates Project by Tammany Holding Corp. over a vast tact of illegally drained wetlands located in an unprotected flood plain on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, St. Tammany Parish, Slidell, Louisiana – right smack-dab in the middle of a hurricane tidal surge pathway!
Jun. 8, 2004 - LETTER: Senate and House Committee on Energy and National Resources
Concerning the destruction of Louisiana Wetlands by Louisiana politicians Housing/Commercial development schemes, promoting such developments in low lying flood plains extremely susceptible to hurricane tidal surges.
Jun. 9, 2004 - LETTER: U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Members
Concerning the present proposal to build two billion dollar mega city titled the Lakeshore Village/Estates Project by Tammany Holding Corporation over a vast tract of illegally drained wetlands, located in an unprotected flood plain, extremely low lying and susceptible to hurricane tidal surges, situated on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, St. Tammany Parish, Slidell, LA – right smack-dab in the middle of a hurricane tidal surge pathway!
Jun. 12, 2004 - LETTER: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Enclosed are various documents and letters from Save Our Wetlands Inc. SOWL requests you place such on your official record concerning the federal – State Louisiana Costal Area Ecosystem Restoration Plan. SOWL feels these documents and letters best summarize SOWL’s position. SOWL requests they be placed in your official records for present and future coastal historians to study and ponder.
Jun. 2004 - SAVE OUR LAKE-Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation
The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation publicly released a report in July 2002 commissioned by the University of New Orleans - Coastal Research Laboratory (UNO-CRL), entitled Urbanization Effects on Habitat Change in St. Tammany Parish.
Mar. 21, 2004 - ARTICLE: Harbor Center: What Happened?
A permit that never came, a levee that never materialized, unexpected costs and a tax that fell short. One thing led to another...
Mar. 21, 2004 - ARTICLE: Harbor Center Board Still Hopeful that Needed Money can be Found
The East St. Tammany Events Center Commission (ESTECC) expected to fund the North Shore Harbor Center for $10 million back in 1998, but now it will cost over $17 million to construct the first phase of the development...
Mar. 21, 2004 - ARTICLE: Carbon Dioxide Levels at a New High
Carbon dioxide, the gas largely blamed for global warming, has reached record levels in the atmosphere...
Mar. 19, 2004 - ARTICLE: Global Extinction Theory Backed by Wildlife Poll
A steep decline in birds, butterflies and native plants in Britain supports the theory that humans are pushing the natural world into the Earth’s sixth big extinction event...
Mar. 12, 2004 - ARTICLE: Mississippi plan to dam Pearl River called ‘horrible’
“A reduction in freshwater flow and a drop in water quality could seriously affect our marine resources in the estuary,” said Patrick Banks, a fisheries biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Mar. 1, 2004 - ARTICLE: Nutrasweet™ Alert !
Children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable to the accumulative effects of methyl alcohol released from Nutrasweet™. Methyl alcohol is very toxic to the fetus causing malformation and even death.
Feb. 29, 2004 - ARTICLE: Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, the washout
Now that restoring the coastal wetlands has become a major cause in Louisiana, we are left to rue the ecological follies of yesteryear. Mr. Go has played a major role in bringing us to this pass.
Feb. 17, 2004 - ARTICLE: Frequent Antibiotic Use May Cause Breast Cancer
The study, by researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle, said women who used antibiotics of any kind for a total of 500 days or more over nearly two decades faces a 1.5 times greater risk of developing the disease than women who took none.
Feb. 5, 2004 - ARTICLE: Doctors Link Child Vaccines to Autism
Scientists have found what they believe could be a “smoking gun” linking vaccines to autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children...
Feb. 2004 - History of Eden Isles/Oak Harbor Subdivision/ & North Shore Estates Subdivisions Developement, Slidell Louisiana; History of the formation of Save Our Wetlands Inc.
1. History of Eden Isles/Oak Harbor subdivisions development of 5,200 acres of wetlands on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, St. Tammany Parish, Slidell, Louisiana. 2. History of the founding of Save Our Wetlands and her battles from 1974-1978 to enjoin a. The Eden Isles/Oak Harbor/North Shore Estate subdivisions on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, St. Tammany Parish, Slidell, Louisiana; consisting of 5,200 acres of wetlands and estuaries. b. In 1977-78 the Corps of Engineers’ Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Barrier Project. c. Save Our Wetlands battled to stop development of the 28,000 acre development in the wetlands of New Orleans East, called the Orlandia subdivision. By enjoining the Corps of Engineers’ Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Barrier Project. Also Save Our Wetlands succeeded in stopping the proposed Orlandia subdivision. Today this area is the Bayou Savauge National Wildlife Refuge.
Jan. 27, 2004 - Lakeshore Estates Draws Environmental Concerns
Brock, a handful of other Pirates Harbor residents and the group Save Our Wetlands are especially concerned about the digging of a deeper and much wider -- 230 to 250 feet wide -- East Diversion Canal to replace the one running from below Schneider Canal to Salt Bayou.
Jan. 2004 - History of the Opposition of the New Orleans Community Against the Waterford III Nuclear Power Plant
This is a history of members in the New Orleans community that were against the construction and operation of the Waterford Nuclear Power Plant in Taft, LA., between 1972 and 1984. This power plant is a mere twenty four miles up river from the city of New Orleans.
Jan. 2004 - Waterford Nuclear Power Plant New Orleans, LA Fact Sheet:
Radioactive substances decay by giving off particles or rays which travel at enormous speeds. When this radiation passes through living tissue, it rips eletrons away from the stable atoms of the cell, leaving unstable, positively charged ions. These ions quickly undergo violent chemical reactions with surrounding molecules as they return to a neutral state. The result is massive non-specific disorganization and injury to cells and tissues.
Jan. 2004 - The Nuclear Phoenix
Having a close working relationship with the nuclear industry well before taking office the Bush administration is pushing ahead with a full-scale revival of atomic power.
Jan. 16, 2004 - ARTICLE: Deodorants Linked to Breast Cancer Again
The notion that deodorants may cause breast cancer is gaining new attention after tests by a scientist, who tossed out her own antiperspirants on a gut feeling...
Jan. 2004 - Researcher Says Navy Killing Cetaceans
There is now unmistakable evidence showing the animals are bleeding to death from brain hemorrhages and trauma to the inner ear.
Jan. 20, 2004 - ARTICLE: 1991 Gulf War Facts, 2003 Gulf War Facts, Afghanistan Civilian Casualties
The US Government lied about an imminent invasion of Saudi Arabia by Iraq to justify the 1st Gulf War. General Norman Schwarzkopf tells about it in his book, "It takes a Hero." The Bush Administration claimed Satellite photos showed 260,000 troops 1,500 tanks were on the Saudi border. There were none. Powell testified to the UN that there was a "Poison Factory" in northern Iraq. Foreign Journalists were invited in two days later and found nothing, not even aspirin. Six children were crushed to death by a collapsing wall during an assault by U.S. forces on a compound filled with weapons in eastern Afghanistan, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday.
Jan. 2004 - Michael Moore's 7 Questions for George of Arabia
Question #1: Is it true that the bin Ladens have had business relations with you and your family off and on for the past 25 years?
Jan. 2004 - Ellen M. Mariani (911 Widow) Open Letter To The President Of The United States
You Mr. Bush should be held responsible and liable for any and all acts that were committed to aid in any "cover up" of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. As President you have a duty to protect the American people. On September 11th you did not instruct your staff to issue a nationwide emergency warning/alert to advise us of the attack on America. We had to receive the news of the attacks via the news networks.
Jan. 2004 - Remember 9/11
Governments and energy companies aren’t interested in finding alternative energy sources. So rather than spend on scientific research into sustainable energy, we spend nearly $1 trillion a year making things to kill lots and lots of colored people, steal their land and steal their mineral rights. Here’s a timeline to show why the world is mad at the USA. Then a timeline to let the reader decide what the war on terror is about – using genocide to keep the top dogs on top, or fighting terrorists.
Jan. 2004 - Depleted Uranium Litters Iraq
One estimate says the coalition forces in the most recent Iraq war left behind at least 75 tons of DU debris.
Jan. 2004 - Canadian Public Skeptical of War in Iraq, Poll Shows
The skepticism revealed in this poll is very similar to the results of a survey Ipsos-Reid took in the days before the Iraq war started in March, Mr. Wright said. While Canadians’ support for the invasion shot up when troops reached Baghdad in April, it has been falling since.
Jan. 2004 - United States of Amnesia - A Second Opinion
Why is war so damn popular with the United States of Amnesia? The families, receiving their boys’ flag-draped body bags back home, are having a hard time believing that the liberation of oil is really worth the price they are coming to understand all too clearly. Iraq is a country destroyed. The rest of us are just upset at the rising price of gasoline.
Jan. 2004 - Axworthy Book Depicts Bush as Bully
Axworthy says his own political dealings with Bush, while he was governor of Texas, gave him a “foretaste” of the president’s disdain for the international community.
Jan. 2004 - Government Deficit at $201 Billion and Rising
The latest figures, released Tuesday by the Treasury Department, underscored the government’s worsening fiscal situation.
Jan. 2004 - Utah Governor Picked by Bush to Head EPA
The nomination drew mixed reviews and appeared to signal that the President is distancing himself from efforts to placate environmental activists, reaching out instead to corporate interests and his conservative base.
Dec. 21, 2003 - ARTICLE: Sluggish wetland is salty, sinking
Repeated invasions by saltier water pushed west through Lake Pontchartrain into Lake Maurepas are killing trees at an alarming rate, he said.
Dec. 3, 2003 - Bush Fights Mercury Limits
The Bush administration is working to undo regulations that would force power plants to sharply reduce mercury emissions and other toxic pollutants, according to a government document and interviews with officials.
Nov. 21, 2003 - Bush Administration Still has Alaska in its Sites for Drilling
Environmentalists said the plan, based on a proposal made in January, would jeopardize Arctic tundra, lakes and ponds that provide sanctuary for wildlife and migratory birds but were set aside in the 1920s for potential energy development.
Nov. 15, 2003 - GOP Using Bills to Gut Environmental Rules
An amendment to the defense authorization bill, given final congressional approval this week, exempts the Navy from federal protections of whales, dolphins and other ocean mammals if they get in the way of important military operations and maneuvers.
Nov. 2003 - ARTICLE: Humane Holidays
Now that the Holidays have arrived, here’s a thought: “What do turkeys do the rest of the year?”...
Oct. 28, 2003 - ARTICLE: Nuclear Power Isn’t the Way to Go
It effectively highlights why Entergy should reconsider its position on developing nuclear energy, taking into account the huge threat to the pubic due to the risk of nuclear plant disasters and the lack of viable, truly safe disposal method for nuclear waste.
Sept. 2003 - Bush’s Environmental Record
The Bush administration’s energy plan, which to date remains stalled in Congress, calls for altering laws to boost oil and gas development, mining, and spur the creation of more nuclear power plants.
Sept. 7, 2003 - NEWS: Ominous Energy Bill in the Works
Anna Aurilo, legislative director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, expressed a similar view. "Their energy policy looks nothing like the future," she said. "It is all about the past big polluters, special interests, nuclear, oil, and coal."
Aug. 18, 2003 - Canada, the U.S. Not Enforcing Pollution Laws, Kennedy Says:
Kennedy also stressed that environmental protection must take precedent over a healthy economy and that corporate polluters should have to take responsibility for their actions instead of governments turning a blind eye in order to foster economic growth.
Aug. 2003 - Article: Troubled Waters: Local Environmental Issues throughout the Summer of 2003
In the 4.5 million square miles of U.S. territorial waters, the report said, more than 90 percent of all large marine fish, including tuna, marlins, and swordfish, have disappeared, while numerous other commercial species have gone extinct. The nation loses 20,000 square miles of coast each year, much of it from Louisiana, and about 10.9 million gallons of oil, enough to match the Exxon Valdez spill, washes into coastal waters from cities every eight months.
Aug. 2003 - Article: Bush-Whacking the Environment-Stop the Bush Administrations War Against Nature! Part 2
The new rules would cease to protect non-navigable waters and wetlands those not connected to another waterway on the surface. By the EPA own estimation, this change would remove about 20 percent of the nations wetlands from federal protection. Critics call that figure conservative
Aug. 2003 - Article: Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, Land Loss, and the Threat of Hurricanes
Presently, there are pending environmental and legislative issues related to Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO), which is the short cut from the Gulf of Mexico to the industrial canal. The outlet opened in the 1960 was originally 500 feet wide but now has expanded to one-half mile in some places, permitting salt water to intrude into interior marshes
Aug. 28, 2003 - NEWS: The White House is Bush-Whacking Our Health!
The new regulations will allow them to overhaul and expand by as much as 20 percent without installing any new anti-pollution technology, even if the upgrade increases emissions.
Aug. 24, 2003 - Advertisements in the New York Times from Dr. Matthias Rath
To all heads of state, to all voting members of the United Nations General Assembly!
Aug. 2003 - NEWS: Save Our Wetlands Inc.,(SOWL) Files Lawsuit Against ChevronTexaco Inc., etc.
Save Our Wetlands Inc. (SOWL) announces today she has filed suit to enjoin Chevron-Texaco, Orleans Parish School Board, Clear Channel Outdoor Advertisement Inc., and New Orleans Rapid Transit Authority from advertising and using Save Our Wetlands corporate name in conjunction with such a major polluter as Chevron-Texaco.
Jun. 23, 2003 - Digital Diary in Works at the Pentagon
The Pentagon is seeking bids on a contract to develop LifeLog, a multimedia, digital diary that would be a record of everywhere a person goes and everything the person sees, hears, reads, says and touches.
Jun. 6, 2003 - Big Brother Device Can Watch Every Vehicle in a City
Scientists and privacy experts – who already have seen the use of face-recognition technologies at a Super Bowl and monitoring cameras in London – are concerned about the potential impact of the emerging DARPA technologies if they are applied to civilians by commercial or government agencies outside the Pentagon.
May 22, 2003 - TO: Honorable Mike Foster
The idea is to do away with Mississippi and back levees below Chalmette and below Belle Chasse and thereafter do only the civil engineering needed to keep a navigation channel open through Plaquemines Parish to the Gulf. Let the river have her head and natural alluvial processes rebuild the Delta region.
May 21, 2003 - ARTICLE: GOP Rebuffs Effort to Kill Some Nukes
The vote was 51-43, largely along party lines, in favor of a GOP proposal to lift a decade-old ban on research or other activities to develop the new battlefield weapons.
May 2003 - ARTICLE: Energy Policy Killing Our Coast
What once was blacktop road near Shell Beach has eroded away into a nearby bayou between the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and Lake Borgne.
May 2003 - ARTICLE: Bush-Whacking the Environment-Stop the Bush Administrations War Against Nature! Part 1
The Bush Administration is helping big corporations to trample our environmental laws so they can put more pollution in our air water, cut down our national forests, damage our public lands, and make taxpayers-rather than polluters-foot the bill for cleaning up toxic waste.
Mar. 21, 2003 - Letter to Corps, New Orleans Environmental Groups Comment on EIS for the Permit Application, St. Charles Intl. Airport - These comments supplement any comments provided directly by the Citizen Groups. Each of the Citizen Groups has an interest in the protection and conservation of the natural resources of Louisiana, and each is deeply concerned by the significant threats this project poses to the natural environment and quality of life.
Apr. 22, 2003 - 109 Lies? Or 109 Truths You Should Know About! - George Walker Bush went AWOL his last 12 to 18 months of air national guard duty, The US Government spends more on the military than all other countries combined, The intercept fighters sent to NY/DC on 911 were flying at 25% of their top speed...
Apr. 2003 - Who is George W. Bush? - Another Toxic Gulf War Will Jeopardize American Soldiers, Iraqi Children Alike - Mr. Smith states he is a Gulf War Veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and like 45,000 of his comrades, he has developed symptoms-in his case asthma and recurring pneumonia-linked to an affliction known as Gulf War syndrome...
Apr. 2003 - Cultural Revolution is our Business - We call ourselves culture jammers. We are a loose global network of artists, activists, writers, environmentalists, ecological economists, media literacy teachers, green entrepreneurs, reborn Lefties, ecofeminists, downshifters, highschool shit disturbers, campus rabble rousers, dropouts, incorrigibles, poets and philisophers. We are idealists, anarchists, guerrila tacticians, hoaxters, pranksters, neo-Luddites, malcontents and punks. Our aim is to topple exisitng power structures and forge major adjustments to the way we will live in the 21st century.
Mar. 2003 - AN UNJUST WAR - Reflections on Iraq from former President Jimmy Carter - "Profound changes have been taking place in American foreign policy, reversing consistent bipartisan commitments that for more than two centuries have earned our nation greatness..."
Mar. 2003 - Alaskan Drilling Measure About More than Just Oil - "When Republicans took control of the Senate after midterm elections, the leadership developed a strategy it believed would finally push the ANWR legislation through after 23 years of failure..."
May 2002 - Firemen of New Orleans, Do You Know Your Pension Fund is Being Used to Destroy Wetlands? - "On March 8, 2001, the Jefferson Parish Council, to their credit, refused to become guarantors of the $12 million in bonds needed for this project to proceed, citing an indebtedness of $800,000 a year for 30 years. Then, out of nowhere comes the City of New Orleans Firemen's Pension Fund, guaranteeing the $12 million bonds in spite of two (2) pending SOWL lawsuits, and in spite of the Jefferson Parish Council members' refusal to do the same..."
Apr. 24, 2002 - Letter to La. State Attorney General R. Ieyoub, Cigarette Newspaper Advertisement - "These full page ads appear in practically every issue of Gambit by both Marlboro and the Camel cigarette industry. Please provide an opinion on whether such ads are legal under the settlement reached by the State of Louisiana in their multi-billion dollar lawsuit against the tobacco companies..."
Apr. 12, 2002 - 100-Year Weather Forecast Worsens for New Orleans - Much of the threat to New Orleans and south Louisiana stems from predictions that increased temperatures will cause the Gulf of Mexico to rise, which will result in the loss of 4,500 square miles of wetlands along the state’s shoreline, according to the report...
Mar. 19, 2002 - Sierra Club Defies Bush, Landrieu On Drilling - Environmental lobbyist Melinda Pierce makes clear the Sierra Club's position on oil drilling and energy conservation. "I think it is false to suggest we can drill our way to energy security, or national security for that matter, given that we sit on less than 3 percent of the known oil reserves. You can't drill your way to independence, but you sure can get yourself out of the hole a lot quicker with conservation..."
Mar. 15, 2002 - Landrieu Makes Environmentalists Blood Boil - "Senator Landrieu supports President Bush's push for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and goes so far as to say that environmentalists have gone "too far" in trying to block the drilling. SOWL demands Alternate Energy and Conservation NOW..."
Mar. 15, 2002 - Environmentalist 'Shocked' at Tirade - "Adam Kolton of the Alaskan Wilderness League said he was 'shocked and alarmed' by Landrieu's comments. He said they are reminiscent of those delivered by conservative Senate Republicans who routinely demonize environmentalists..."
Feb. 28, 2002 - Letter to Corps, New Orleans Environmental Groups Oppose Permit for St. Charles International Airpor - Section 404 of the Clean Water Act authorizes the United States Army Corps of Engineers ("Corps") to deny or issue permit for the discharge of dredge or fill material. In considering permit applications, the Corps is required to apply the regulations found in Title 33 and Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Feb. 8, 2002 - Letter to LDEQ, New Orleans Environmental Groups Oppose Water Quality Certification for St. Charles International Airport - "The applicant proposes to build a second international airport in the New Orleans area immediately adjacent to the current Louis Armstrong International Airport. The project would involve filling of more than 4,000 acres of wetlands and the relocation of Interstate 310, the Illinois Central railroad, and several oil and gas pipelines..."
Jan. 15, 2002 - Judgement: Save Our Wetlands vs. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Civil Action No. 01-3472 - Resolution of plaintiff's motion hinges on the Court's interpretation and application of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ( 42 U.S.C. § 4321) and the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1344) to the facts presented...
Jan. 15, 2002 - Wetlands Rules are Eased, the 'acre-for-acre' restoration dropped - The Fish and Wildlife Service said in an Oct. 15 memo that the ecological effects of the changes had not been assessed adequately. The agency said it “does not believe the corps has sufficient scientific basis to claim” that the new, expedited permits will “cause only minimal impact on the nation’s natural resources...”
Apr. 12, 2001 - Letter to Jefferson Parish Council, Golf Course Development on Wetlands in Westwego, LA - "SOWL is willing to provide free services to you to apply through the proper channels under Senator Breaux's Coastal Wetland Protection Preservation Act to obtain the necessary money to purchase and restore this area into a prime wetland habitat..."
Mar. 28, 2001 - Letter to Jefferson Parish Council, Golf Course Development on Wetlands in Westwego, LA - "SOWL would like to bring to your attention the fact that these wetlands can be restored to what they once were. This fact is stated in the attached report by Prof. R. Eugene Turner, Director of the Coastal Ecology Institute and Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University..."
Mar. 8, 2001 - Golf Course Proposal Hits Snag; RE: Westwego Golf Course - "A proposed PGA golf course on the West Bank took a hit Wednesday when surprised Jefferson Parish Council members postponed action on becoming guarantor of $12 million in bonds needed for the project..."
Feb. 24, 2001 - Barrier Islands Must Be Rebuilt, Times Picayune Editorial - "Where I used to hunt and walk in the marsh, today I'm trying to raise oysters. The barrier islands are no more, and too many oysters enemies are destroying our land..."
Feb. 2001 - Largest Urban Wildlife Refuge In U.S. Threatened By Motorsports Speedway - "The proposed motorsports speedway will destroy the serenity and character of the refuge and have adverse effects on the wetlands and the resident wildlife. Please join us in fighting to protect the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge from this threat..."
Sept. 12, 2000 - Letter to Professional Golfer's Association - RE: destruction of wetlands in Westwego, LA for construction of golf course. "Although the forested wetlands on the site have been altered hydrogically, they still provide good quality habitat for wildlife and resident and migratory avian species that inhabit the immediate and surrounding areas..."
Aug. 19, 2000 - Suit Filed to Stop West Jeff Golf Course, Environmentalists Say Wetlands at Risk - Hoping to halt the development of a $20 million golf course on 260 acres of West Bank wetlands, an environmental group has filed suit against Gov. Foster and Commissioner of Administration Mark Drennen, alleging the state's top executors are mishandling the public's trust and money...
May 17, 2000 - Notice of Intention to Sue Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Under Clean Water Act - RE: Bedico Creek Golf Community, St. Tammany Parish, LA. "It is well documented that golf courses are full of pesticides and herbicides. In this case, such chemicals will run off into Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding wetlands..."
May 17, 2000 - Second Notice of Intent to Sue U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - RE: Proper & Legal Water Quality Certifications for Bedico Creek Golf Community. "Your agencies have an obligation to take over the Louisiana DEQ, and/or to do the proper and legal water quality certifications..."
May 16, 2000 - Letter of Objection & Notice of Intent to Sue, RE: Power Plants proposed in Louisiana - SOWL demands the EPA take charge of LDEQ in this matter. LDEQ is in violation of the Louisiana Public Trust Doctrine by failing to protect the natural resources of Louisiana, and basically selling out the state to multi national corporate polluters...
May 7, 2000 - Golf Course on Track Despite Lawsuit, Critics - The plan to move the Compaq Gold Classic from English Turn to the proposed new course near Bayou Segnette is on hold, and may be delayed for several years, by a lawsuit filed by Environmentalists (Save Our Wetlands, Inc.)
Apr. 27, 2000 - TO: Speedway Task Force, N.O. Business and Industrial District (NOBID)
RE: Race Track in New Orleans East. "SOWL's position is this site is not appropriate for a sports car race track because of its close proximity to the Bayou Sauvage Refuge Center.
Apr. 12, 2000 - Beware of Senator Mary Landrieu's Contradictory Environmental Policies - Senator Landrieu's denial of energy conservation, fuel cell technology, solar and wind energies is forcing this country to the same old economic chaos of mid east OPEC dependency, and foreign wars and high gasoline prices.
Apr. 2, 2000 - FROM: Conservancy of the Phoenix - Enviro Alert - RE: Coalbed Methane Development - "Developers propose to drill COALBED METHANE WELLS on public lands. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is about to allow this development without appropriate consideration of the environmental effects. These are YOUR public lands under attack."
Jun. 24, 1999 - Letter to Senator Boxer & Congressman Miller: SOWL opposed to the Landrieu-Tauzin Bill - "The Landrieu-Tauzin bill encourages increased drilling activities by tying the state's shares to production without enough safeguards to ensure the money is spent wisely. Oil company canals are a major reason for the loss of Louisiana wetlands. No drilling should be encouraged."
Apr. 7, 1999 - TO: Senator Landrieu
"Enclosed is SOWL letter to you dated November 19, 1998 requesting you introduce a resolution in the United States Senate to investigate our disappearing wetlands in Louisiana and the affect on flooding as well as our insurance rates."
Mar. 31, 1999 - EPA Letter Concerning Corps Permit to Build Golf Coarse on Wetlands - "Although the forested wetlands found on the site have been altered hydrologically, they still provide good quality habitat for wildlife and resident/migratory avian species that inhabit the immediate and surrounding areas. It is well-documented that these types of forested wetlands have experienced a tremendous decline in Louisiana..."
Dec. 17, 1998 - Notice of Intention to Sue Corps & EPA, Issuing Permit for Construction of Golf Course in St. Tammany Parish, LA - "The Army's New Orleans Corps' decision to grant permits for mega projects in St. Tammany Parish without requiring a full F-IS under NEPA is causing massive destruction of wetlands that act as buffer zones for flooding..."
Nov. 19, 1998 - TO: Senator Mary Landrieu
On behalf of SOWL, I wish to request that you introduce a resolution in the United States Senate to investigate our disappearing wetlands in Louisiana and the effects on flooding as well as our flood insurance rates.
Nov. 19, 1998 - Letter to Congressman Robert Livingston:
As you are well aware, wetlands act as hurricane buffers and are rapidly disappearing especially on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish.
Nov. 19, 1998 - Letter to Mr. James Lee Witt Director of FEMA
Development by Wal-Mart, Sam’s Wholesale Club and Home Depot, mega commercial development over wetlands on North side of Slidell, Louisiana off I-12.
Nov. 19, 1998 - Letter to Mr. James Lee Witt Director of FEMA
Pursuant to SOWL’s letter to you dated November 17, 1998, concerning the above captioned, I have recently discovered a Corps report on flooding from Hurricane Camille in 1969.
Nov. 17, 1998 - Letter to Mr. James Lee Witt Director of FEMA
Unfortunately, this once vast coastal estuary was permitted to be drained illegally and possibly criminally, by various government agencies.
Sept. 23, 1998 - ARTICLE: Oak Harbor East Fight Continues with Lawsuit
Although written opposition from environmental groups and others were substantial during the permit process, neither the Army Corps of Engineers nor the state departments of Environmental Quality and Natural Resources held a public hearing.
Mar. 26, 1998 - TO: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
From Artuhr A. Lemann III & Associates, Inc. Attorneys At Law, Re: Permit Application, of the Tammany Holding Corporation to develop approximately one thousand acres of land on the east side of I-10 across from Eden Isles. This letter summarizes the past illegal and criminal activities done by land developers with the help of the Army Corps of Engineers in destroying 5,200 acres of a vast wetland estuary on the North Shore of Lake Ponchartrain in St. Tammany Parish the city of Slidell, LA. This area was originally called the Eden Isle subdivision.
Mar. 27, 1995 - Dear Mr. President and Mr. Vice-President:
Please stand up for what is right and good and is in the economic interest of the public. Please stand up for our economic treasures and fortunes found in protecting and preserving our natural resources for future generations.
Mar. 27, 1995 - House Republican’s efforts and determination to destroy the Clean Water and Endangered Species Act
Can you explain why SOWL’s 20 year plus track record did not at least merit an invitation by Tauzin’s “Sham and Scam” congressional hearings held in Belle Chase recently? There was no proper notice of such hearings except for an article in the Times-Picayune the weekend before the hearing.
Autumn of 1995 - ARTICLE: The Streetcar Conspiracy:
The dismantling of Electric Street Car Lines in North America by General Motors.
Apr. 20, 1991 - Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) Fact Sheet; AFFIDAVIT: The SFEIS contains projection for dispersal of toxic substances up to 12 miles from the test site and NASA has filed projections of dispersal of the toxic substances with the Mississippi Bureau of Pollution Control projecting dispersal up to 50 km. Toxic materials will be discharged and deposited in much greater concentrations and quantities than predicted by the computer model.
Mar. 2, 1990 - Policy Statement on Air Quality and Regional Transportation
In Los Angeles, the air quality Management District in that area has set a target of 40% of passenger and 70% of trucks to operate on clean fuels, including electricity by the year 2007. SOWL agrees with this policy and will take action to have cities and the State of Louisiana to take similar planning action.
Mar. 24, 1982 - Letter to Pope Paul VI:
I wish to report scandalous, indecent and immoral conduct by a member of the Jesuit order who is involving himself politically in support of a nuclear power plant 24 miles up the Mississippi River from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Mar. 13, 1978 - ARTICLE: Corps ‘Footsie’ Game Charged
"The New Orleans Corps has constantly been on the fringe of circumventing NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and FWPCA (Federal Water Pollution Control Act)."
Unknown Date in 1978 - SOWL MEMORANDUM OF LAW: submitted to the United States Court of Appeals in opposition to United States District Judge Blake West’s Order
dismissing SOWL’s suit filed in 1974 attempting to stop the destruction of 5,200 acres of wetlands on the north shores of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, La. The reasons behind the destruction of these wetlands was for the development of the Eden Isles subdivision and now in the present the Oak Harbor and Lake Shore Estates Villages subdivisions. This is an excellent summary for historians.
Dec. 30, 1977 - INJUNCTION: United States District Court Judge Charles Schwartz's judgment and reasons
for stopping the United States Corps of Engineers pork belly drainage scheme title the Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity Hurricane Barrier Project.
Jul. 17, 1978 - MEMORANDUM AND ORDER: United States Eastern District Court of Louisiana, Judge Blake West
His decision rubber-stamping, wiping his hands and blessing the illegal destruction of wetlands on the north shores of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA so that the Eden Isles subdivision could be built. This is Judge Blake West’s legacy.
May 23, 1977 - ARTICLE: Land Developers, Corps Ruin Lake?
Under a permit issued by the Corps of Engineers, the marsh is being dredged for an upper-income housing development called Eden Isles. One of 15 communities either planned or is being developed along the lakefront.
Uknown Date in 1977 - SOWL LAWSUIT: Filed in Louisiana Civil District Court of New Orleans against Guy Lemieux
President of the Orleans Levee Board to enjoin him from expanding the New Orleans Lakefront Airport over the public owned water bottoms of Lake Pontchartrain.
Unknown Date in 1976 - SOWL LAWSUIT: Filed in United States Federal District Court in New Orleans
Versus Col. Early Rush DISTRICT ENGINEER, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, NEW ORLEANS DIVISION, Guy Lemieux Director of the Orleans Levee Board, William Guste Louisiana State Attorney General et al - To stop the expansion of the Orleans Lakefront Airport over Lake Pontchartrain water bottoms. The final result of this lawsuit is that it stopped phases 2, 3 and 4 of the Orleans Levee Board's plan to expand their airport over Lake Pontchartrain.
Apr. 13, 1975 - ARTICLE: Drained Wetlands: How Infirm a Foundation?
“How can the developer get away with it? Why don’t the homeowners sue the developer? Why don’t they throw the city administrators out for allowing it? Are there no laws to prevent it?”...
Uknown Date in 1975 - SOWL MEMORANDUM OF LAW: Submitted to show illegal canals being dug
In both the western and eastern portions of what was then called the Eden Isles subdivision on the north shores of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA.
Uknown Date in 1975- SOWL LAWSUIT: To enjoin the illegal destruction of what was then titled the Eastern undeveloped area of the Eden Isle subdivision
This area consisting of approximately 2,600 acres of wetlands is now called the Oak harbor, Lake Shore Estates/Villages subdivisions, which is being developed by Tammany Holding Corp. on the north shores of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA.
Oct. 29, 1974- SOWL LAWSUIT: To expose and enjoin the illegal and criminal dyking and damming of navigatable bodies of waters consisting of approxitmately 5,200 acres
In a vast wetland estuary habitat located on the north shores of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish-Slidell, LA. This illegal, criminal, dyking and damning of this area was started to create the Eden Isle subdivision by land developers and now also in the present time involves the creation of more subdivisions in the same area. These new developments are the Oak Harbor and Lake Shore Estates/Village subdivisions.

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