[StBernard] Corps of Engineers Discusses Levees at Council Meeting

[Westley Annis]

Corps of Engineers Discusses Levees at Council Meeting 

January 18 , 2006

By: Steve Cannizaro


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Corps of Engineers officials say St. Bernard levees are being repaired up to
standard.


Under questioning from St. Bernard Council members, officials of the Corps
of Engineers contended Tuesday that nearly $90 million in repairs to parish
levees are being done correctly and up to standard.

Council members, responding to a newspaper story that said forensic
engineers who have looked at work being done on area levees aren't impressed
because they are finding soils being used that may be too sandy, said it is
important that citizens have the right information because such stories
scare residents.

"People are freightened'' about whether levees will be repaired properly,
Council member Joseph DiFatta Jr. said, while Council member Judy
Hoffmeister said residents want to know if their homes will be protected in
the future.

Council member Mark Madary went further, saying it would be criminal to
re-make the same mistakes in repairing levees as were made in their initial
construction years ago.

But officials from the Corps of Engineers told Council members at a Council
meeting Tuesday that proper soils are being used and that while some sand
might be seen on levees that isn't what the levees are made of.

"We are making sure that what we rebuild is to standard,'' said Col. Louis
Setliff of the Corps, who is in charge of rebuilding the levees on the
Mississippi River - Gulf Outlet, which was seen as a major factor in the
flooding that surged over St. Bernard Parish, killing 127 residents. "We're
off to a good start'' in making repairs, Setliff said, adding,   "Let's get
everybody out there (on the levee system) and explain the science and
engineering'' of what is being done.

Kevin Wagner of the Corps said there are at least four contractors working
on the MR-GO and a total of 11 contracts have been signed totaling $88
million for levee protection in St. Bernard Parish, including the back levee
system. All work will be finished before June 1, the unofficial start of the
next hurricane season, Wagner said. "We'll do whatever it takes to do it
right,'' he said.

The MR-GO levee system will be about 17.5 feet high, said Bob Turner,
manager of the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District, the state agency that
handles levee maintenance and drainage pump operations in St. Bernard
Parish. He said Congress authorizes the height at which the Corps builds
levees. The 17.5 feet would be comparable to pre-Hurricane Katrina