Imminent regional threat from Mideast war and/or collapse of the Texas Point wetland marsh in the 2026 hurricane season
By Business Journal Staff
For the second time in 11 years, the Jefferson County Commissioners Court passed a resolution May 12 urging the Department of Homeland Security’s active participation in Deepwater Horizon oil spill coastal restoration efforts, according to a county press release.
The resolution cites conflict in the Persian Gulf and the deterioration of marshes at the Texas Point National Wildlife Refuge as key concerns motivating the county’s request for increased DHS involvement in restoration efforts.
The U.S. Coast Guard represents DHS on the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council. The council is a standalone federal agency made up of the governors of the five Gulf states and six federal agencies. The federal agencies share one council seat, which also serves as the council chairmanship and carries veto authority, even if outvoted 5-1.
DHS and the U.S. Coast Guard can influence federal restoration priorities as one of six federal agencies that help allocate RESTORE Act funding from the Comprehensive Component, also known as “Bucket 2,” which uses BP civil settlement funds from federal Clean Water Act fines, according to the release.
“DHS can nominate projects and address council operations, including the timetable of the next round of Bucket 2 funding, and we need them to do both,” Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said. “We are reaching out to the new secretary because there is zero learning curve available to him about our issues that are national in scope, requiring stepped-up security and coastal marsh restoration.”
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 established the agency’s missions and designated ports, waterways and coastal security as DHS’ top mission.
A 2015 Jefferson County resolution and a 2016 letter to then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson led to active U.S. Coast Guard involvement on the council, including a site visit to Jefferson County coastal wetland restoration projects by Dana S. Tullis, assistant commandant for Coast Guard response policy.
To date, more than $230 million in Deepwater Horizon restoration funds, hurricane recovery funding, offshore oil and gas revenue-sharing dollars, industry donations and wetland grants have supported a dozen major Texas Chenier Plain coastal resiliency projects.
The letter from Branick to new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin congratulated Mullin on his Senate confirmation and on securing DHS congressional funding after a 75-day impasse that threatened salaries for active-duty U.S. Coast Guard personnel during an armed conflict centered on energy assets and ports.
“You can’t watch the news and not see refineries or tankers on fire in the Persian Gulf,” Branick said. “When you combine the threat of terrorism on U.S. ports and energy assets with the imminent loss of the Texas Point marshes, which also protect energy security assets, we need direct communication with DHS, and the county’s resolution seeks that with new Secretary Markwayne Mullin.”
Letter to Mullin
Branick’s letter to Mullin outlined the importance of Deepwater Horizon restoration along the upper Texas coast, known as the Texas Chenier Plain. The area shares the same soil type as southwest Louisiana, making both regions part of the same organically rich ecosystem that is vulnerable to erosion caused by excessive saltwater intrusion from the Gulf.
In the letter, Branick wrote:
“As you know, some areas within the Gulf of America’s Deepwater Horizon restoration region play vital roles in U.S. national defense, trade and energy security, which are central DHS concerns. Jefferson County is one such area, and we are reaching out to you now because the ongoing Mideast war has raised the stakes for your role overseeing the U.S. Coast Guard in the context of Deepwater Horizon coastal restoration.
“In short, given the strategic importance of the nation’s Energy Coast to national defense, oil and gas refining and distribution, and our region’s role in the U.S. blue-water maritime fleet, we urge your personal active participation in the current grant cycle to allocate funding via the RESTORE Act Comprehensive Component, also known as Bucket 2.
“For a local example with national and global importance, the Port of Beaumont in Jefferson County, Texas, is home port for the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command and home to the U.S. Army’s 842nd Transportation Battalion, which provides the core of the United States’ mechanized ground force projection to Europe.
“The Port of Beaumont’s shipped tonnage, when combined with the Port of Port Arthur, often places the county’s port tonnage in competition with New York and New Jersey ports for fourth or fifth place in the nation.
“Refineries along the Sabine-Neches Ship Channel produce 60% of the nation’s commercial jet fuel and most of the U.S. military’s jet fuel.
“In addition, the Big Hill Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Jefferson County and the neighboring West Hackberry Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, contain more than half of the nation’s strategic oil reserves.
“Prior to the outbreak of hostilities with Iran, LNG exports from Jefferson County and neighboring Chenier Plain communities in Lake Charles and Cameron Parish supplied Europe with 28% of its LNG imports. That number is now closer to 40% because of drone and missile strikes on Qatar’s LNG production and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Further, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway stretch from Galveston Bay through Jefferson and Orange counties into Louisiana has the highest commercial value of any comparable stretch in America’s 12,000 miles of inland waterways. The cargo transported there accounts for more than 50% of the entire Gulf Intracoastal Waterway from Florida to Mexico.”
Branick also referenced concerns over the delayed congressional funding of DHS and unpaid Coast Guard personnel during the impasse.
“We understand that you are new to DHS, but we write to make sure DHS uses its project funding allocation influence in the ongoing fourth grant-making round of the RESTORE Council called Funding Priorities List 4,” Branick wrote.
The letter also referenced previous county actions encouraging DHS participation in Gulf restoration planning.
“In August 2016, Jefferson County wrote a letter to then-Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson urging DHS to embrace the missions of the state and federal natural resource agencies serving on the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council,” Branick wrote.
He added that the 2015 county resolution, the 2016 letter to Johnson and the current 2026 resolution all cite DHS oversight of the U.S. Coast Guard and its missions related to Gulf restoration, including marine environmental protection, living marine resources, aids to navigation, ports and waterways security, and defense readiness.
Branick also emphasized that Deepwater Horizon restoration funding stems from federal Clean Water Act settlements with BP and its partners, meaning the funding is federal — not state — money intended to benefit all Gulf states.
“Bucket 2 funds are not state dollars,” Branick wrote. “They are federal dollars to be spent in the five Gulf states under a formula Congress established to prioritize the best ecosystem projects regardless of geographic proximity to the Macondo oil spill site off Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.”
The letter quoted RESTORE Act guidance directing council members to “select projects and programs based on the best available science” and prioritize projects that most significantly restore and protect Gulf Coast natural resources and wetlands.
“All coastal wetlands on the Energy Coast of Texas and Louisiana meet those priorities,” Branick wrote, “and are vital to protecting nationally significant defense, energy and trade assets.”
The letter concluded with an invitation for Mullin to visit the Texas Chenier Plain.
“In closing, the Jefferson County Commissioners Court would be honored to host your visit to the Texas Chenier Plain so that you may personally review Jefferson County’s national defense, energy security and maritime trade assets that DHS has the vital mission to protect through Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council participation on behalf of Gulf of America homeland security objectives,” Branick wrote.
