U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Anthony Bertucci calls in the status of the floodwall at London Avenue Canal’s upper breach near Robert E. Lee Boulevard. Bertucci is from New Orleans District’s Construction Division.

A few days ago, the east bank levee authority agreed to pay $9 million to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a final payment of its share of the cost of building the New Orleans portion of the pre-Katrina hurricane levee system.

Founder Sandy Rosenthal was asked to comment on the payment in light of the fact that levee breaches and floodwall failures led to around 80% of the city being flooded, widespread displacement and hundreds of deaths.

Here’s Rosenthal’s comment:

“On August 29, 2005, the system failed in over 50 locations, flooded a major metropolis, displaced hundreds of thousands and killed nearly 1400 people,” she said. “The failures were due to the Corps’ design and construction errors. We don’t think the Corps should get so much as a dime from the Flood Protection Authority-East.”

The full story by Mark Schleifstein can be seen here.