‘Fix the problem:’ Fishermen say dredging spill leaked into Big Lake; Venture Global disagrees

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Commercial fishermen packed the Cameron Parish Port’s board meeting Tuesday, looking for answers on why Venture Global hasn’t officially recognized what they say they have been seeing for weeks

Three weeks ago, a dredging incident in Cameron Parish left hundreds of acres of marsh filled with mud that weren’t supposed to be.

Venture Global was dredging to prepare Calcasieu Pass for its new CP2 facility and accidentally spilled hundreds of acres of mud into the bayou. The company has maintained that no sediment has made its way into Big Lake, but fishermen disagree.

“I know 100% without a doubt in this lake here there’s spoil,” Police Juror Mark Daigle said at the meeting.

Venture Global has said previously that there was no spoil leak in Big Lake, and today, they echoed that again. However, fishermen say they are wrong.

Colin Landry is a young commercial fisherman. He says the mud has the potential to ruin the winter season.

“Disappointment, really. It feels like we’re getting left. You know, they’re not thinking about the commercial fishermen, the heritage that we grew up around here doing. This is a commercial fishing parish. I mean, it’s ‘Sportsman’s Paradise.’ It was anyway. They’re slowly taking that away a little bit at a time,” Landry said.

At the meeting, we heard that Venture Global hired an outside firm, Delta Coastal Consultants to study the impacts of the leak, including whether the sediment made it to Big Lake.

Venture Global said, “Independent organizations to date show this sediment accumulation did not travel into the lake.”

Kenny King, Environmental Services Lead Professional for Delta Coastal Consultants told KPLC in a statement:

“Delta Coastal Consultants is doing an assessment of the lake that’s preliminary in nature right now until all of the data is collected, processed, and finalized. Initial indicators right now is that everything is looking good. The lake looks good.”

Fishermen and advocacy organizations have sent KPLC dozens of photos and videos that they say show silt directly in the lake.

This is right on top of the oyster reefs at the bottom of Big Lake just outside of “No-Name-Weir.”

“It’s devastating our little oysters. Anything under two inches is practically dead,” commercial fisherman Tad Theriot said.

Venture Global and the Cameron Port are over this project, and are working with state agencies on how to fix it. They say they are planning to dredge out the portion of the channel in the bayou below Big Lake to clear it out.

Fishermen say that without Venture Global recognizing silt in the lake, a solution is a hard sell.

At the meeting, Police Juror Mark Daigle and Sonny McGee also added that the fisherman, port, and Venture Global should be in constant communication about what is really happening.

“Keep a record of your losses,” Daigle said at the meeting.