[StBernard] Corps may raise MR-GO floodwalls

[Westley Annis]

Corps may raise MR-GO floodwalls
4,000 feet of levees in N.O. are only 14 feet and are subsiding 
Thursday, April 12, 2007
By Bob Warren
St. Bernard bureau 
The Army Corps of Engineers is studying designs and costs to possibly raise
about 4,000 feet of floodwall along the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet from
Bayou Bienvenue to the Industrial Canal in New Orleans. 

 
Elected officials in St. Bernard Parish and New Orleans have urged the corps
in recent weeks to raise that stretch of levee along the MR-GO, which is
lower than the rebuilt MR-GO levee in St. Bernard Parish. 

Corps officials have said raising that stretch of levee is unnecessary
because of a corps proposal to build floodgates in the area. However, the
floodgates would not be completed until 2010, corps officials have said,
prompting an wave of criticism from St. Bernard Parish. 

With hurricane season approaching, local residents and officials fear a
storm could push water over the lower stretches of the MR-GO levee,
inundating the Lower 9th Ward, Arabi and Chalmette. 

Chris Gilmore, the corps' project manager for St. Bernard Parish, said corps
officials have agreed to study interim solutions that might include raising
several stretches of floodwall from Bayou Bienvenue to the Industrial Canal.


The work, if authorized, would not be completed by the June 1 start of
hurricane season, "but before the end of hurricane season for sure," Gilmore
said. 

Gilmore said he hopes to have a design in the next week "and go from there"
to determine costs and a work schedule. He said a decision has not been made
to do the work but that the preliminary study is a first step. 

Since Katrina, the corps has rebuilt the MR-GO levee in St. Bernard Parish
to a height of about 20 feet, with the expectation that it will settle to
its authorized height of 17.5 feet. 

But parish officials say the MR-GO levee in Orleans Parish was authorized to
stand at only 14 feet and has subsided to a height of less than that in many
places. 

Gilmore said the areas being studied for possible interim work range from 14
to 17 feet high. 

At a recent meeting in Chalmette during which the corps sought public
comment on flood-protection proposals, several residents said that without
bolstering the MR-GO levee through Orleans Parish, the Lower 9th Ward and
St. Bernard Parish continue to be at risk. 

St. Bernard Parish Council Chairman Joey DiFatta said Tuesday that the
parish has identified five areas along that stretch of levee that need to be
raised. He said he hopes to meet with corps officials later this week to
gauge the progress of the proposal to improve the levee sections in
question. 

DiFatta said local residents are tiring of corps studies. 

"These are things that can be fixed quick," he said. "The sooner we jump on
it, the better." 

. . . . . . . 

Bob Warren can be reached at bwarren at timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3363.