[StBernard] Allies of MR-GO plotting a makeover

[Westley Annis]

Stephanie Grace
 
If Katrina was the supervillain who brought the New Orleans area to its
knees, "Mr. Go" could be considered her evil sidekick, her trusty servant,
her enabler . . . pick your analogy. 
 
But while Katrina has been forced into retirement by the World
Meteorological Society, which has decreed that no future hurricane will bear
the dreaded name, the other half of this diabolical duo still threatens the
halting rebuilding effort East of the city's Industrial Canal. 
 
And while enemies far and wide are pushing for its demise, allies of the
Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet are busy plotting a heck of a public relations
makeover. 
 
If only the hated channel can be put back into business as a deep water
shipping lane, they say, an economic windfall would be just around the bend.
You know, the same type of windfall that the fans of the shortcut to the
Gulf of Mexico have been promising for four decades now, but that has
somehow never materialized. 
 
Rather than usher in the boomtimes, as just about everyone now knows, the
project attracted only middling commerce, while it helped devastate the
wetlands that once buffered urban areas from Gulf storms' wrath and served
as an expressway for hurricanes that threaten the city and its suburbs.
Katrina wouldn't have done so much damage had the channel never been built. 
 
That's just one of many reasons that the area's public officials have grown
far more skeptical toward economic development projects that threaten the
environment since Katrina. When it comes to dredging the Gulf outlet,
opposition is as fierce as it is solid. 
 
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, Mayor Ray Nagin and the St. Bernard Parish government
all want it closed to deep-draft vessels. Congress has ordered the Army
Corps of Engineers to draft a plan to shut the outlet down. Attorney General
Charles Foti has filed suit to force its closure. The Port of New Orleans,
long a champion of the channel, no longer backs a return to deep draft. 
 
"As a practical matter the issue has been decided," Sen. David Vitter, a
vocal critic of the project, has said. 
 
Yet not everyone has thrown in the towel. Against all odds, a group of
business and shipping interests is trying to change some minds. 
 
They claim that the channel can be reconfigured to block storm surge and
stop depleting wetlands. And they insist that, with both global trade and
offshore oil production on the rise, the channel is finally poised to earn
its keep. 
 
"We've got an opportunity, for once, to be competitive," said David Kearney,
whose company operates warehouses along the Industrial Canal, which can be
accessed via the Gulf Outlet. Kearney called the drive to close the waterway
arbitrary, and "knee jerk." 
 
I'm betting the residents of St. Bernard Parish, Eastern New Orleans and the
Ninth Ward who lost their homes, their communities, and in some cases their
loved ones might disagree, and be a tad skeptical of assurances that things
will work out just fine this time. 
 
It would be one thing if just business opportunities were at stake. What
happened last year exacted such as steep psychological cost that no untried
engineering is going to sell, particularly to prop up an unproven economic
engine. 
Try as his defenders might, Mr. Go is one bad guy whose image is way beyond
rehabilitation. 
. . . . . . . 
Stephanie Grace is a staff writer. She may be reached at (504) 826-3383 or
at sgrace at timespicayune.com.