June 11, 2007
A report just released by the American Society of Civil Engineers says the primary cause of the New Orleans disaster was flawed design of its flood protection structures.
It was bad design – pure and simple.
But here’s the catch: The 84-page report sponsored by the US Army Corps of Engineers never mentions that the Army Corps itself is, by federal law, the agency responsible for design of the flood protection.
The role of the Army Corps as designer and architect for New Orleans’ flood protection is law by Congressional mandate since 1965, and you can read it yourself on Page 2 of the Corps’ testimony before the Government Accountability Office.
More than ever, this shows we need an unbiased analysis of the federal flood protection failures on August 29, 2005. We need an independent, congressionally ordered study with experts who don’t work for the Corps and aren’t paid by the Corps.
Click here to demand the 8/29 Commission.
Senator Mary Landrieu D-La and Senator David Vitter R-La are working together to pass the 8/29 Commission legislation this summer (in conferencing for the Water Resources Development Act). And the state of Louisiana is united behind this effort as shown by the Louisiana Legislature’s unanimous passage of a concurrent resolution requesting Congress to authorize the 8/29 Commission.
Sandy Rosenthal
Executive Director, Levees.Org
www.levees.org
MOVE BEYOND SOUND-BITES AND ARMCHAIR THEORIES TO MAKE THE NATION SAFER FROM DISASTER
In the name of being fair, I thought people who read this blog might want to know what else the ASCE had to say in their report. Here is the link to their news release.
http://www.asce.org/pressroom/news/display_press.cfm?uid=3390
It talks about fact and fiction, the commonly held misperceptions related to Hurricane Katrina. I hope this information helps your readers form a more educated/informed opinion.