Coastal Louisiana wetlands

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COASTAL LOUISIANA

Ongoing oil and gas development also affects wetlands. Although production has leveled off, the majority of the oil and gas produced in the coastal waters of the United States will continue to come from offshore Louisiana. This continued development could create the need for additional canals and construction of ancillary facilities. To reduce the damage, Federal regulatory oversight by the Corps in cooperation with the State could specifically encourage:

Minimizing additional canal construction and making greater use of existing canals;

Drilling directionally to several targets from one well-head location (as is now done in the Alaskan tundra and offshore Louisiana);

Leaving breaks where needed in the canal spoil banks to maintain hydrologic patterns;

Backfilling or plugging canals;

Using hovercraft (air-cushioned vehicles that can traverse uneven terrain with very slight impact on the ground) as is done in Alaska.

A cooperative, State/Federal program could devise a strategy to apply in Coastal Louisiana innovations which were developed in Alaska to minimize wetlands losses and mitigate the effects of past activities.

The threat to wetlands from oil and gas activities might also be reduced by eliminating certain tax-expenditure subsidies for the oil and gas industry. In particular, oil depletion allowances granted to independent producers and the deductions for (rather than capitalization and depreciation of) intangible costs associated with drilling (such as canal dredging and access road construction) are difficult to justify on economic grounds. Absent such deductions, some wells that involve marginal returns might not go forward.

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