[StBernard] Vitter rips Corps for dragging its feet on closing MRGO

[Westley Annis]

WASHINGTON - Sen. David Vitter, R-Metairie, today pushed New Orleans
District Engineer Col. Richard Wagenaar to change the status of the
Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. 
"I fought to provide $75 million for the closure and restoration of the
MR-GO in the Defense Appropriations Act of 2006," Vitter said. "The bill
provides the funding and the full authority to implement this work and it
should be done immediately. 
  
"Recently the Corps released a scoping document outlining the use of this
$75 million . and they propose to do nothing more than Band-Aid the
destruction caused by MRGO. In the meantime, Louisianans living in regions
around the channel continue to be sitting ducks for storm surge and
flooding. I expect the Corps to make better use of the federal funding and
authority I provided them. 
  
"The closure of MRGO is a forgone conclusion - countless studies done before
and after hurricane Katrina have indicted as much. Now after multiple
studies supporting the closure of MRGO, I ask Col. Wagenaar to take
advantage of this opportunity. He should withdraw his scoping document
advocating these Band-Aid solutions and refocus on the long-term goals in
regards to closing MRGO, which includes stopping the saltwater intrusion
that has slowly destroyed the MRGO ecosystem over the last decade and
restoring the barriers protecting St. Bernard and Orleans parishes from
storm surge. 
  
"I was able to provide the Corps with a significant down payment and the
full authority to begin closure immediately. The anchor of any closure plan
is to install a closure structure. This should be our first step," said
Vitter..