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Danny Broussard has been coaching at STM for 41 years and he has a won-loss record of 1,097-344.

Danny Broussard climbs to No. 7 on all-time winningest high school coaching list

Thu, 01/05/2023 - 10:38am

Who would have thought a 1977 Meaux High School graduate is on track to become America’s winningest high school basketball coach?
St. Thomas More basketball coach Danny Broussard continues to climb the National Federation High School all-time list of high school winningest basketball coaches in America.
As 2022 came to a close, Broussard won his 1,097 high school basketball game. That put him at No. 7, surpassing Coach Bill Krueger, who coached in Texas. Krueger had 1,096 wins.
“It shows that I have been in coaching for 40 years,” said Broussard about the 1,097 wins. “It is the players who made it happen.”
Coach Broussard coached against Coach Krueger early in his career. STM competed in a tournament in Texas years back. One game was against Coach Krueger, so there is a remote connection between the two.
When this season began, Coach Broussard found Coach Krueger’s phone number and called him to let him know there was a chance he was going to overtake him on the all-time list.
“I wanted to touch base with him (Coach Krueger),” said Broussard. “He told me he retired early (at the age of 63) because his parents were ill. But, he said he would have loved to continue coaching.”
Coach Krueger congratulated Broussard during that phone call.
This brings up the one-million-dollar question Broussard is asked every season. How many more years will he coach?
His answer? As long as he can.
“I am still having fun and enjoying it,” said Broussard. “I do not have a timeline.”
By the end of the next basketball season, if STM wins 27 games like it has been averaging, Broussard will climb to the No. 6 all-time winningest coach. He would overtake coach Ralph Tasker from New Mexico, who has 1,122 wins.
Peabody High School Coach Charles Smith, who is still active, is at No. 5 on the all-time list. Smith has 1,134 wins at the age of 73 years old.
Broussard coached against No. 1 Robert Hughes of Fort Worth, Texas with 1,333 wins (and lost) in the 1990s, but also defeated No. 6 Bill Krueger of League City, Texas, who is currently No. 6 with 1,096 wins.

OK, so let us do some math.

Over the last 41 years, Broussard has averaged 27 wins a year. He is 63 years old. If Broussard’s health remains intact, he could coach for another 10 years. St. Thomas More could win at least 20 games a year over the next 10 years, giving him an extra 200 wins to go along with his 1,097 wins today.
That would give him 1,297 wins and put him at No. 2 on the all-time list.
The high school coach with the most wins is Robert Hughes from Texas, with 1,333 wins. Broussard could overtake him two different ways.
STM would have to win 27 games over the next nine years, giving Broussard 1,340 wins or 24 wins over the next 10 years for a total of 1,337 wins.
But catching Coach Hughes is not a priority to Broussard.
“I am not going to stay in coaching to set records,” said Broussard.
In 40 years at STM, his teams have won six state titles and three runner-up trophies.

Unrestrained Driver and Passenger Killed, Three Others Injured in Vermilion Parish Crash

Thu, 01/05/2023 - 10:32am

Vermilion Parish – On January 5, 2023, shortly before 1:30 a.m., Louisiana State Police Troop I was notified of a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 167 near Lawrence Road in Vermilion Parish. The crash claimed the life of 36-year-old Jasper Morrison Foster of Maurice and 22-year-old Matthew Wayne Landry of Lafayette.
The initial investigation by State Police revealed Foster was driving a 2019 Ford F250 south on US 167 at a high rate of speed. For reasons still under investigation, the F250 rear-ended a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe, also traveling south on US 167. After impact, both vehicles exited the roadway and overturned. Landry was a passenger in the F250.
Foster and his passenger, Landry, were both unrestrained and ejected from the vehicle. They were pronounced dead at the scene by the Vermilion Parish Coroner’s Office. The three occupants of the Tahoe were all unrestrained as well. All three were transported to a local hospital with critical injuries.
Standard toxicology samples were obtained from both drivers for analysis. This crash remains under investigation.
Louisiana State Police would like to remind motorists to slow down, buckle up, and put the phone down. Take this time to make a New Year’s resolution to be safer behind the wheel. Crash forces do not care who you are or what you drive. The faster you drive, the greater the risk of serious injury or death and not wearing a seat belt greatly increases that risk. This crash is an example of possibly walking away compared to being carried away from a crash. Let us all resolve to make the roadway safer in 2023.

Troop I has investigated 2 fatal crashes resulting in 3 deaths in 2023.

Jim Bradshaw

Staying in touch with home

Thu, 01/05/2023 - 10:06am

Jim Bradshaw, LSN columnist

About once a month I get a note from someone who lives someplace else, often far away and for a long time, who reads my column in a community newspaper they still get to stay in touch with the town they will always call home. It appears that the roots that bind us to this place spread wide as well as go deep, and I think I’ve found a few clues why that is during the half-century-plus that I have been writing about south Louisiana. It has to do with our sense of place.
Over those years, I’ve driven down practically every south Louisiana road on the map (and some that aren’t), visited (or at least passed through) every named community, and met and been befriended by some of the most extraordinary “ordinary” people on the globe.
Sometimes I visited a place for a reason; there was a specific person or story to be found there. Just as often it was my natural instinct to meander that made me turn onto a road I’d never driven before, just to see where it went and what it passed along the way.
I’ve spent considerable time looking for places that aren’t here anymore, trying to find traces of communities that are now only names on old maps and that have been passed by or swallowed up as the world changed.
I found a good many of them by stopping at homes that looked like they’d been lived in a while to ask, “Have you ever heard of Such-and-Such?” As often as not I’d get a wonderful reminiscence about growing up in a community that is now only memory, many times accompanied by a search through an armoire or old desk for a picture of “daddy’s old store,” or something similar. There has always been a good cup of coffee to go with the conversation.
Over the decades I’ve worn out a seemingly indestructible Olivetti manual typewriter, two fancy IBM electrics, and several computer keyboards to save the memories those strangers shared with me. I figured once that over my working life at least a million of my words have been put into print in one form or another – some of it decent writing, some of it only a step above typing exercises, but almost all of it in a quest to tell a remarkable story.
South Louisiana is full of colorful people and ways and traditions found no place else. My Louisiana map put out by the state highway department marks off Acadiana by coloring it beige while the rest of the state is in a darker color. That’s a sure sign that the map was made by somebody from Shreveport. Anyone who’s been here for a night of eating and dancing and story-telling over cold beer or coffee noir comme le diable, forte comme la mort, doux comme l’amour, et chaud comme l’enfer — black as the devil, strong as death, sweet as love, and hot as hades — knows that the color for Acadiana is definitely not bland beige. The good times are too many for that.
Whether we are Cajun or Creole or Anglo or German or Whatever, we share a set of connections here — to shared celebrations (sometimes for no reason except that we like to have fun), to family, to each other, to the seasons, to the land and sea, to church and community, to a set of disappearing, simpler values that perhaps require simpler times to survive. I hope we can hold onto those things, or at least adapt them to this fast-changing world.
One of the ways we may be able to do that is to remind ourselves that they are important because they set us apart from people from other places and bind us together at home — that it is important that we keep alive experiences and places and circumstances that we can easily overlook because we think them commonplace, or because we are too busy or distracted to pay attention to them. Many of these things are in fact our glue.
Each New Year we look forward to what is to come. But this can also be a time to look back at who we are and where we have come from – and to resolve to make sure that we do not forget the things and places and customs and attitudes that make us want to stay in touch, even when we are far away.
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 705089.

Avery Claire Hebert takes a photo with the decorated Louisiana float that took part in the Rose Bowl Parade on Monday in California.

Avery Claire Hebert takes a photo of the undecorated Rose Bowl float from Louisiana. Hebert and other Louisiana queens helped decorate the float.

Hebert rides in Rose Bowl Parade

Thu, 01/05/2023 - 10:03am

Avery Claire Hebert has ridden or attended many parades over the last 21 years. But on Monday, Hebert road in a unique parade.
Hebert, a 2019 Vermilion Catholic graduate, is the Louisiana Queen LXXIX of the Sugar Cane Festival in Iberia Parish.
Last month she and 14 other Louisiana festival queens received a phone call from Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser inviting them to ride in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California.
She and the other queens helped decorate the float.
The parade route was five miles long, and Hebert and 14 other queens smiled and waved to the thousands of spectators.
There was no throwing candy or beads at the spectators for the Rose Bowl Parade.
“No one expected you to throw,” said Hebert on Tuesday. “I smiled a lot and waved to everyone.”
Hebert is a senior at LSU, has one more semester left, and will graduate in Ag Business. After that, she plans to attend Law School and, one day, plans to be a lawyer representing the agriculture industry.
Hebert is an expert in the sugar cane industry because of her family farm. However, agriculture is her true love, not the pageant life. She won the Louisiana Farm Bureau Queen title last year and entered the Sugar Cane Festival title because of her vast knowledge of the Sugar Cane industry.
Little did she expect she would be educating people in California about the sugar cane industry.
“People thought I was the queen of the Sugar Bowl when they saw my sash. It gave me a chance to talk about the sugar cane industry.”
The Heberts are expected to arrive back in Vermilion Parish on Wednesday. They drove 27 hours to California and another 27 hours to return.
The Hebert family was scheduled to fly to California at the end of December but their flights were canceled days before the parade.
So, her father, Blair, drove 25 of the 27 hours to get the family there. Her mother, Michelle, drove for two hours.
Also in the vehicle were Avery’s sister Amelia and brother Ethan.

Chas Milliman (right) took a Christmas photo with his siblings. Jed is on the left and Joni is in the middle.

Never over child’s death:

Thu, 01/05/2023 - 10:01am

28 years ago, EHS senior lost his life while jogging by school

Twenty-eight years ago, Erath High 17-year-old senior Chas Milliman collapsed while jogging in front of Erath Middle School on Dec. 30, 1994.
The Milliman family is still having a hard time today dealing with his death. Every Christmas is a tough time for his mom Loretta, Chas’s younger brother Jed and sister Joni Milliman Hebert.
There are still tears shed each time the Christmas tree is put up. For years after his death, Loretta did not put up a Christmas tree because it reminded her of Chas and how he loved to hang ornaments.
This past Christmas, Loretta decided not to hang the Christmas ornaments that her children had made when they were young.
“Christmas has never been the same,” said Loretta. “We talk about Chas every Christmas.”
Years after his death, the Milliman decided to celebrate the life of Chas instead of mourning his death. So, for Christmas, the Millimans do things together as a family to honor Chas’s life.
Loretta remembers the day she saw her son
lying on the ground like yesterday.
Loretta was baking cookies when Chas told her bye and gave her a two-finger wave as he walked out of the house. That was the last time she saw him alive.
Later that day, assistant football coaches Tommie Pillette and Tommy Byler knocked on her door to tell her that Chase had collapsed while jogging.
She arrived at school and saw CPR being done on her son. Unfortunately, he died on the scene. An autopsy was performed at LSU, the college he planned on attending after high school, where it was determined he had an enlarged heart.
The Milliman family learned from the autopsy that Chas’s heart was not healthy and that a new heart would have prevented a heart attack.
Today, Chas, who was 6-2, and 280 pounds at the time of his death, would be 45 years old and working in the sports profession, said his mom.
Loretta said, “He had plans to major in mass communications at LSU. He wanted to be the voice of the LSU Tigers one day. He loved talking to everyone. He had an internship set up at LSU.”
Loretta said Chas managed to get to LSU, but that is because that was where an autopsy was performed on him.
“He was a great kid, and I am still not over his death,” said Loretta.

Mary “Laura” Gaspard

Wed, 01/04/2023 - 9:35am

February 8, 1933 ~ January 3, 2023

ABBEVILLE — A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, January 6, 2023, at St. Mary Magdalen Church honoring the life of Mary “Laura” Hargrave Gaspard, 89, who passed away on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. She will be laid to rest at St. Mary Magdalen Cemetery with Father Louis Richard officiating the services.
Laura was born in Vermilion Parish and attended school in Abbeville. She is a graduate of Abbeville High School, class of 1951. Laura was the Secretary of her class and participated in both the basketball and softball teams. She attended Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now known as University of Louisiana at Lafayette). Laura graduated Summa Cum Lauda and was Historian of the Liberal Arts College. She was a recipient of the International Scholarship to University of Paris (Sorbonne) for French Studies.
Laura taught English and French under the Vermilion Parish School Board system and taught at Henry High School, Erath High School, Abbeville High School, and Vermilion Catholic High School. She was Co-creator with the Rotary Club of the “What I Want to Be and Why” essay. She was also Graduation Coordinator at Abbeville High School, as well as the head of the English Department for all Vermilion Parish schools. Laura was a member of the Retired Teachers Association. She loved teaching and even more so her students and had many fond memories of the students she taught throughout the years. To many of her students she was one of their favorites.
Laura was very involved with St. Mary Magdalen Church in Abbeville and was a member and Secretary of the Catholic Daughters. She also taught the Lay Carmelite classes to her fellow parishioners. Her faith was admirable and her dedication to Our Mother Mary was endearing. She traveled to Lourdes, France, to keep a promise to Our Mother Mary for blessings received.
In her retirement, Laura enjoyed spending her time with her family, traveling, and teaching her grandchildren and great grandchildren to sing a few songs in French. She also was editor for the publication “The Sword”.
Laura is survived by her two daughters, Anne Gaspard and Claire G. Broussard; grandchildren, Karen and husband, Alan Haney and their children, Alaina Hamlett and Evelyn, Jerrod Broussard and wife, Katelyn and their children, Russell, Trey, Charlotte, and Emilia, Kirsten and husband, Rixey Broussard and their son, Hayes, and Jude and husband, Lee LaBry.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Medius and Effie Hargrave; brother, Wilfred Lee Hargrave; husband, Vermilion Parish Clerk of Court - Russell Gaspard; infant son, Richard Neil; son, Russell “Rusty” Charles Gaspard; and son-in-law, Daniel Broussard.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church, 300 Pere Megret St., Abbeville, on Friday, January 6, 2023 from 9:30 AM until time of services. A rosary being prayed at 10:30 AM.
The family would like to thank Laura’s caregivers from Vermilion Healthcare Center and her nurse, Whitney from Hospice of Acadiana; and Veronica Bourque, Jackie Theall, Connie Scalisi, and Vanessa Hebert for their love and care of Laura and family.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Sisters of Mount Carmel or to Hospice of Acadiana, 2600 Johnston St., Lafayette, LA 70503.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.

Charles “Chuck” Mowry

Tue, 01/03/2023 - 4:28pm

ERATH — A Mass of Christian Burial for Mr. Charles “Chuck” Mowry, 75, will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at 1:00PM with Fr. Sensat officiating. Burial will follow at LeBlanc Cemetery.
Visitation will be held at David Funeral Home of Erath on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 from 9:00AM until time of services with a recitation of the rosary at 11:00AM.
A resident of Lafayette, Mr. Chuck passed away on Friday, December 30, 2022 at his residence. He was a war hero and served in the Third Force Reconnaissance Company, Third Reconnaissance Battalion, Third Marine Division in Connection with operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam from 25 April 1967 to 17 May 1968. He was a recipient of the Bronze Star and authorized to wear the Combat V. Once back home, he became a carpenter, inventor, and world traveler. He was a deep-sea diver for Global Divers and designed offshore boats and equipment over his 25 year career.
He is survived by his wife, Carol Mowry of Erath; his sons, Charles Mowry and his wife Cheryl of Erath, Patrick Mowry and his wife Ashley of Covington, Timothy Mowry of Lafayette, and David Mowry and his wife Michelle of Lafayette; his daughter, Michelle Young and her husband Darius Sayer of Pflugerville, TX; his grandchildren, Nicholas Mowry, Bryant Mowry, Noah Mowry, Catherine Mowry, Madeline Holdridge, Sean Mowry, and Alaina Mowry; his great grandchildren, James Mowry, Sophia Mowry, Bennett Mowry, and Elliot Holdridge; his sister, Donna Sybert of Meridian, ID, his brothers, Earl Carlton Mowry and his wife Sue of Hayward, CA, and Paul Mowry and his wife Cindy of Marathon, FL.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Earl Carlton Mowry and Marie Roth Mowry; his daughter, Michelle Ann-Marie Mowry; and his son, Michael Sean Mowry.
In lieu of flowers please donate to the Catholic Charities and Wounded Warrior Project.
You may sign the guest register book and express condolences online at www.davidfuneralhome.org
David Funeral Home of Erath 209 E. Putnam St. (337)937-0405 will handle the arrangements.

Venola Rose Broussard

Tue, 01/03/2023 - 4:27pm

August 30, 1938 ~ January 1, 2023

ABBEVILLE — A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12:00 PM on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at St. James Chapel in Esther honoring the life of Venola Rose Broussard, 84, who died Sunday, January 1, 2023. She will be laid to rest at Esther Community Cemetery with Reverend Emmanuel Fernandez officiating the services. Pallbearers will be Mark Broussard, Brady Broussard, Tyler Broussard, Jude Broussard, Kent Broussard and Chris White. Honorary pallbearers will be Dwaine Broussard, Seth White and Jordan Credeur.
Venola worked alongside her husband Mark, trapping nutria and working cattle for years. They also owned Broussard's Grocery for 12 years, now known as Palmetto Country Store in Mouton Cove. She was a retired VPSB bus driver, a member of the Cattle Women Association, and a faithful Catholic parishioner of St. James Chapel in Esther. She was a very good cook and you could not go to her house without hearing her famous words, "Eat, Eat!" She will be dearly missed!
She is survived by by her daughter, Denise B. White (Chris); five sons, Mark Broussard (Patricia), Brady Broussard, Dwaine Broussard (Mia), Jude Broussard (Darlene) and Kent Broussard (Raquel); twelve grandchildren, Kristi Roy (Justin), Katie Broussard (Laura), Seth White (Kristen), Whitney Credeur (Jordan), Valerie Trahan (Seth), Amy Broussard, Heidie Istre (Shea), Jake Broussard, Bethany Barras (Nick), Tyler Broussard (Bailey), Travis Broussard, Alexis Broussard; twenty-one great grandchildren; three sisters, Mavis Faulk, Waveel Sagrera (Austin), Rita Mason (Jerry); and one brother, P. J. Broussard (Judy).
She was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Mark E. Broussard; and her parents, Preston and Wilda Broussard.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at St. James Chapel in Esther - 21125 LA Hwy 333, Abbeville, on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 from 9:00 AM until time of services. A rosary will be prayed at 11:00 AM.
The family would like to thank Hospice of Acadiana and nurse, Seth Porche for the care and compassion given over the last couple of months. Thanks also to Liz Stelly, a family friend, for helping out and cooking for the family. Thanks to all the family and friends for all the love and support, and a special thanks to her granddaughter, Whitney Credeur for all the love and support given while taking care of Mawmaw. A special thank you to Earl Seaux, for providing such beautiful music and singing during the funeral mass. Your time and love have helped us honor her memory in a very special way.
A reception to follow at Frontline Park, Highway 82 in Mouton Cove.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Abbeville, (337) 893-4661.

Eula Mae T. Gaspard

Tue, 01/03/2023 - 4:25pm

May 20, 1931 ~ December 31, 2022

KAPLAN — Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan honoring the life of Eula Mae T. Gaspard, 91, who died Saturday, December 31, 2022 at Kaplan Healthcare Center. She will be laid to rest at Suire Cemetery with Reverend Matthew Barzare officiating the services.
She is survived by her two sons, Donald Gaspard and his wife, Belva of Kaplan and Ricky Gaspard of Kaplan; her three daughters, Judy LeMaire of Forked Island, Rose Lebeouf and her husband, Edwin and Lora Gaspard of Kaplan; her 15 grandchildren; her 20 great grandchildren; her six great-great grandchildren; her sister, Coudray Monceaux and her husband, Elmo of Kaplan; her two sisters-in-law, Millie Frith of Kaplan and Peggy Gaspard of Cow Island.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ravis "Cashew" Gaspard; her parents, Rene and Orelia Touchet; her brothers, Hypolite and Linus Touchet; her sisters, Lenia, Eve and Eunice Touchet; her great great grandchilden, Garrett Schnexnider and Mason James Hopkins; and her son-in-law Terry LeMaire.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Vincent Funeral Home - Kaplan, 300 N. Eleazar Ave., on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 from 9:00 AM until the time of the services at 2:00 PM with a rosary being prayed at 11:00 AM.
All funeral arrangements are being conducted by Vincent Funeral Home of Kaplan, (337) 643-7276. Condolences may be sent to the Gaspard family at www.vincentfuneralhome.net.

Chris Landry / The Abbeville Meridional
ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions Ventures Manager Joe Colletti points to information on a slide during a presentation to the Vermilion Parish Police Jury that he gave Wednesday concerning the planned Carbon Capture and Storage injection wells on 125,000 acres of property the company owns in Vermilion Parish.

Vermilion Parish looking to partner with ExxonMobil

Fri, 12/30/2022 - 11:43am

The Vermilion Parish Police Jury would like to see its coastal restoration efforts boosted by a partnership with ExxonMobil as part of the international oil and gas company’s plans to store captured carbon emissions underground in 125,000 acres of property that ExxonMobil owns in the parish, District 6 police juror Mark Poche said Wednesday after the police jury’s regular monthly meeting.
ExxonMobil representatives gave a presentation to the police jury explaining the carbon capture program that will bring captured CO2 emissions from CF Industries near Donaldsonville in Ascension Parish to the company’s property near Pecan Island, where it will be injected and stored more than 10,000 feet below the surface.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Natural Resources issue the permits for the carbon capture program, Poché said.
“It’s our objective to try to parlay the project to get something in a partnership with Exxon,” Poché said. “We’re fortunate that the partner is Exxon, who has the ability to do this size of a project in the parish. If we can, in our partnership with them, parlay some kind of seed money for coastal restoration, being that this whole project is happening in the coastal areas.”
Poché said the federal government no longer just gives out money for coastal restoration or other projects, it expects those seeking the grants, like Vermilion Parish, to put up money that will then be matched by a grant at a 1-to-3 or 1-to-4 ratio. Poche brought that suggestion up to ExxonMobil Ventures Manager Joe Colletti, who made the slideshow presentation to the police jury.
“Being it’s such a huge project in our parish, and obviously we’re going to have to be a partner with Exxon, I think it would be great for them to do a partnership with us and address our coastal restoration problems, being that this project is all along the coast,” Poché said.
Colletti said the presentation was part of the company’s community engagement policy and a way to promote open dialogue and two-way communications with the local government body. One of the company’s near-term focus areas is coastal preservation, he said, which includes $600,000 the company has donated to support coastal preservation organizations ($500,000 to Ducks Unlimited and $100,000 to the Louisiana CCA).
“We do want a great relationship and a partnership with you,” Poché told Colletti at the end of the presentation when Colletti asked if the police jury had any questions. “I was looking at Channel 10 this morning and I happened to see the one Chevron has with Cameron Parish, where they’re doing all these coastal restoration projects in Cameron. We’re interested in eventually hoping to have some form of partnership with y’all long-term on coastal restoration. I know y’all allocate money throughout the world for different good-neighbor type projects, and we as a jury know the magnitude of this project and what it can do for you in the future of Exxon and for our parish.”
Poche said it was nice that Exxon had contributed to the coastal restoration projects it had, but it would have been better to go through the parish’s coastal restoration team that has a comprehensive plan of what the parish needs as a whole in coastal restoration.
“Every time we do a project, we look at what does step one do to step four,” Poché said. “Everything we do is comprehensive and is thought out a lot before we choose one project. Long-term, we hope that we can form some type of partnership with y’all on that, to where we can identify a comprehensive, parish-wide coastal restoration project using some seed money from y’all. If we get a hundred thousand from y’all, we can get maybe $500,000 from the federal government.”
“That’s helpful context,” Colletti said. “There’s a couple of areas where I’ll tell you that we’ve been supported, and I’m going to ask for your help to understand all those needs and then bring it into that coordinated effort you’re asking about.”
There are three Carbon Capture & Storage facilities being created in Louisiana now, Poche said — the one in Vermilion Parish, one in Plaquemines Parish and one in Cameron Parish.
“It’s an innovative way the federal government is addressing the carbon capture issues that we have in the country,” he said. “It’s ahead of its time. It’s being done already in the northern part of the country, in Wyoming. They’re recognizing how much more we can do to capture carbon along the Mississippi River and the plants that are in the Lake Charles area.”
CCS captures carbon emissions from industrial plants, which are greenhouse gases that affect the climate. In this case, CO2 captured from the smokestacks at CF Industries will be brought to an existing EnLink Midstream pipeline that goes from Ascension Parish to Weeks Island along Vermilion Bay. At Weeks Island, the CO2 will be changed from a gas phase to a liquid phase A short pipeline will be constructed linking CF Industries to the EnLink pipeline, and another pipeline will be constructed from the pipeline’s end point to the property ExxonMobil has owned in Vermilion Parish since 1958.
Eleven plants along the Mississippi are currently committed to the CCS plan.
“Instead of going into the air, it’s going to be injected into a secure vault at 11,000 feet (below ground),” Poche said. “It’s no different than the salt caverns in Delcambre that they inject gas into every day. Same type of formation.”
Colletti explained the carbon capture program at length. Carbon capture is a proven technology that can help the state reach its climate goals.
ExxonMobil anticipates the project coming to fruition in 2025. The company is permitted for two Class 6 wells, which entails the most strict permit application processing program through the EPA in Dallas. The state and EPA are working to transition to the state’s DNR handling the approval process.
There will real-time monitoring of the CO2 the entire way from the CF Industries facility, through the pipeline and into the wells. There will be three monitoring wells, two above the injection zone and one inside the injection zone.
“You want to have real-time data about what the C02 is doing as it’s being injected, if it’s moving or migrating, if it’s doing something different than the models that we’re going to put in our permit applications,” Colletti said. “We will run 300 model simulations on what happens when you inject C02.”
The company will run a 1,000-year model to see what happens over that time. ExxonMobil will be looking to capture and store C02 from its Baton Rouge refinery at some point as well, Colletti said.
The CO2 wells will be sealed with thick, impermeable cap rocks overlying saline formations to hold the C02 in place.

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Danny Broussard climbs to No. 7 on all-time winningest high school coaching list

Unrestrained Driver and Passenger Killed, Three Others Injured in Vermilion Parish Crash

Staying in touch with home

Hebert rides in Rose Bowl Parade

Never over child’s death:

Mary “Laura” Gaspard

Charles “Chuck” Mowry

Venola Rose Broussard

Eula Mae T. Gaspard

Vermilion Parish looking to partner with ExxonMobil

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