Site of 17th Street Canal breach before work crews arrived. Photo/Matt Ewalt

As reported in the New Orleans Times-Picayune…

Levees.org filed a FOIA request with the Army Corps of Engineers to find out how good a job the post-Katrina Levee Authorities are doing, now that they’re in charge of levees.

After all, that’s what most of the fuss was about after Katrina. The reformers said “the local levee board didn’t properly maintain the levees.”

We were so surprised by the response to our FOIA that we offered the data to the Times-Picayune as an exclusive story.

It turns out that the Levee Authorities got a grade of “minimally acceptable” every year for the past decade.

For over forty years prior to Katrina, the Orleans Levee Board (OLB) received a grade of ‘outstanding’ for its maintenance, but now the Authorities are getting C’s and D’s.

It appears the Army Corps is shielding itself from responsibility for future problems.

But what’s most scary is this: if the Levee Authorities continue to get grades of “minimally acceptable”, that could threaten the area’s insurance eligibility.

This is a developing story, and we encourage supporters to check back for updates.

For the full story by Mark Schleifstein in the Times-Picayune, click here.