Federal judge: Army Corps is responsible for flood damage

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

It’s there for all to see. A federal judge has ruled that the US Army Corps of Engineers was negligent and derelict in their duty to provide flood protection for the citizens of New Orleans. This means – as Levees.Org has been chanting all along – that the primary responsibility for the disastrous flooding rests squarely on the corps and ultimately on Congress.

Under an 80-year old law, the victims cannot sue the corps. But it doesn’t absolve the corps of wrongdoing.

Judge Stanwood Duval showed great sympathy for the citizens in the heart of New Orleans who trusted the agency which was tasked via the Flood Control Act of 1965 with designing and building the flood protection. Duval lamented, “…it should not be unreasonable for those citizens to rely on their agents, whom they pay through their taxes, to perform the tasks assigned in a timely and competent way…”

And it should not be unreasonable for the New Orleans citizens to turn to Congress and say “You flooded us, now please help us.”

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Katrina Lawsuit Dropped!

Thursday, January 31st, 2008

Clearly Judge Stanwood Duval is frustrated in his January 30, 2008 decision regarding the plight of the victims of the federal levee breaks in metro New Orleans. This excerpt comes from his statement from the Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation.

“…While the United States government is immune for legal liability for the defalcations alleged herein, it is not free, nor should it be, from posterity’s judgment concerning its failure to accomplish what was its task. The citizens of each and every city in this great nation have come to depend on their government and its agencies to perform certain tasks which have been assigned to federal agencies by laws passed by Congress and overseen by the Executive Branch. It should not be unreasonable for those citizens to rely on their agents, whom they pay through their taxes, to perform the tasks assigned in a timely and competent way. However, because of § 702c, there is neither incentive, nor punishment to insure that our own government performs these tasks correctly….”

It’s true that federal law states that the US Army Corps of Engineers is immune should its flood protection structures fail. However, federal law also clearly states – in the Flood Control Act of 1965 – that the Corps is responsible for the design and construction of metro New Orleans flood protection. This means that responsibility for the levee failures on August 29, 2005 in New Orleans rests squarely on the US Army Corps of Engineers and on Congress.

Judge Duval in the final page of his statement says:

“…It is not within this Court’s power to address the wrongs committed. It is hopefully within the citizens of the United States’ power to address the failures of our laws and agencies. If not, it is certain that another tragedy such as this will occur again…”

It is my hope that the citizens of the United States call on Congress to pass the 8/29 Investigation Act, a truly complete and truly independent analysis of the flood protection failures.

Click here to write your Members of Congress.

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PersOp: Jan ’08 New Orleans visit updates

Sunday, January 27th, 2008

Some of you know that I was born and raised in New Orleans. I’ve lived in Northern CA since 1986, however my birth family and family history is in New Orleans. I visited for a couple of days, flying out of Oakland on New Years’ Day. The weather in N.O. was absolutely beautiful: sunny, yet cool enough for a heavy sweater or coat. No rain. My plan was to specifically spend time with my mother instead of visiting my usual haunts (City Park, Museum of Art, French Quarter, the Gumbo Shop — you get the picture).

On Saturday, 1/5/08, my “coon ass” brother (his words, not mine) was kind enough to take me for a ride to see Brad Pitt’s pink tent city for myself. Sure enough, the site is right at the site of one of the major levee breaks that devastated the Lower 9th Ward. It was impressive and inspiring to see all of the bright pink tents draped over scaffolding. A series of three trailers provided visuals of the 9 types of floor plan options. A new wall has been put up to hold back the water, and sadly there are still so many shells of houses still sitting – not just on this site, but throughout the City. Empty lots with stairs to nowhere – overgrown yard jungles taking over deserted homes. So many sad stories. So many emotions still at the surface…

Back to the Lower 9th pink tent city: donations are being accepted to help this project of 150 new homes on the site. There were several sites with scaffold stairs to allow for the full impact of the pink tent site location. (www.makeitrightnola.org)

I was glad to have followed my intuition because on the way to the airport to return to San Jose CA, I heard that 1/6/08 was the last day of the pink tents and scaffolding. You see, it’s now Mardi Gras season and the scaffolding is needed to prepare for the parades that follow the streets thoughout the City.

I’ll post photos and additional information shortly. Quite a sight – and as I said, very impressive. Brad is doing a fantastic job of making a real commitment to the city of New Orleans – you know the saying, “put your money where your mouth is.” He’s doing that… Many thanks to the efforts of Brad and Angie – lest we forget.

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