AP: Judge OKs Katrina flood suit vs. Corps [View All]

[Eugene]

Posted on Fri, Feb. 02, 2007

Judge OKs Katrina flood suit vs. Corps
CAIN BURDEAU
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS - Residents whose homes were flooded during Hurricane Katrina can sue the Army
Corps of Engineers over claims the agency ignored warnings about defects in a nearby
navigation channel, a federal judge ruled Friday.

The ruling, one of the first significant decisions in a set of cases over what caused the flooding,
may force the Corps to hand over documents about the management of the channel.

-snip-

At issue is a 76-mile shipping channel built in the early 1960s as a shortcut to New Orleans. For
years, environmentalists and others have criticized the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet because it
has eroded enormous tracts of wetlands and increased the threat of flooding.

During Katrina, storm surge traveled up the channel and overwhelmed levees protecting St. Bernard
Parish and eastern New Orleans, according to scientists. The Corps of Engineers has acknowledged
that the channel contributed to the region's flooding and the agency wants to guard against future
flooding by building flood gates.

Full article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/16609298.htm