Office of Mineral Resources

Project on Lake Verret to start soon

Groundbreaking on Friday

A groundbreaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of a boat landing at Lake Verret near Napoleonville will be held on Friday, Sept. 5, 2003 at 9:30 a.m. The Attakapas Boat Landing project is jointly sponsored by the state Department of Natural Resources' Atchafalaya Basin Program (ABP), Assumption Parish, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

ABP Executive Director Sandra Thompson said the project will cost $1.3 million in state funds. Assumption parish government will operate and maintain the new facility. The Corps will conduct an ecosystem restoration study with an expenditure of up to $5 million to improve water quality in Lake Verret.

Thompson said the major improvements will include a new launch area, extended bulkhead, expanded and paved parking area, covered pavilion with restrooms, walkways, sewer treatment facilities, and external lighting. The Attakapas landing is the only public boat landing on the lake. It is located off Hwy. 401.

The project groundbreaking will include area legislators, Sen. Butch Gautreaux, and Reps. Emma Devillier, Carla Dartez and Roy Quezaire.

Editors: For more information, contact the DNR Atchafalaya Basin Program at 225-342-0560.