Lake Charles (french: Lac Charles) is a

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estu ...

lake located on the

Calcasieu River The Calcasieu River ( ; french: Rivière Calcasieu) is a river on the Gulf Coast in southwestern Louisiana. Approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 20, ...

in Southwest

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, United States, situated almost entirely within the Lake Charles city limits. The

Calcasieu Ship Channel The Calcasieu Ship Channel is a waterway that connects the city of Lake Charles, Louisiana, with the Gulf of Mexico. Its existence allows the Port of Lake Charles, which is more than 30 miles from the Gulf, to be the 11th largest seaport in the Un ...

flows along the western side for large ships to pass and is the western boundary of the city limits. The I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge crosses at the extreme northwestern edge of the lake and river and connects the city of Lake Charles and the city of Westlake.

Contamination

The lake and Calcasieu estuary has been embroiled in controversy since the 1994 ''Condea Vista''

ethylene dichloride The chemical compound 1,2-dichloroethane, commonly known as ethylene dichloride (EDC), is a chlorinated hydrocarbon. It is a colourless liquid with a chloroform-like odour. The most common use of 1,2-dichloroethane is in the production of vinyl ...

pipeline spill. The spill, according to the web site Axiom Amnesia was estimated between 19 and 47 million pounds and is considered ''"one of the largest in U.S. History"''. The affected part of the estuary includes (but is not limited to) the Calcasieu River from northern Moss Lake up to the salt water barrier, that is north of both the existing bridge and any realigned new bridge in Lake Charles. The affected area includes Bayou d'Inde, Bayou Verdine, dredged spoil islands, and Clooney and Coon Island Loop. The spill has brought about lawsuits from individuals plaintiffs (500 of them), with some settlements accepted amounting to $50 million, stories of corporate espionage, and a lawsuit between ConocoPhillips and Sasol North America, the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, the Environmental Protection Agency and the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

with federal trustee's being the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

(NOAA), the Department of the Interior (DOI), the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), and the

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is a state agency of Louisiana that maintains state wildlife and fishery areas. The agency is headquartered in the capital city of Baton Rouge. Mission The Louisiana Department of Wildlife ...

(LDWF) that amounts to almost $15 million.

Calcasieu River Bridge

The I-10 bridge has been part of a controversy since 2002 concerning bridge safety issues and replacement with a detailed report that provided planning for a new bridge and corridor improvements. As of 2015 there have been some corridor improvements but any new bridge is not in the near foreseeable future. An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was started in 2013, a draft was completed during the summer of 2015, and a final EIS and record of decision is due by the spring of 2016. Any future inside corridor construction, especially concerning any new bridge, will be delayed until after that date. The final draft decision will also provide a "no build" alternative.

References

External links

* {{authority control Charles Bodies of water of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana Lake Charles, Louisiana Estuaries of Louisiana