[StBernard] engineers

[Westley Annis]

Hey Michelle,
 
You summarized part of the problem very well.  This is exactly why the
system needs independent oversight so that the professional engineers who
can see what the Corps engineers can see but can not say as a government
employees can be brought to light.  When politically motivated
representatives are put in a situation of doing something the right way for
more money or doing something partly the right way for less money,
unfortunately, the latter wins out.
 
If Congress agrees to fund a project, it should be based on funding it to
the proper level for the proper work that is generated by competitive
professional ideas and cost analysis- that way the congress reps only have
to decide yes or no to a project with no latitude to put the corps or any
other engineer group in a bind to compromise the quality of a project.
 
Unfortunately, even in the midst of all of this, the same system continues.
Good people in a problematic process.  Similar to the Road Home- some hard
working people at the ground level, but can't make chicken salad out of
chicken _ _ _ _ .
 
Thanks for your post.  I know many of the people who worked for the Corps
and lost everything and continue to do what they can to raise awareness,
even having joined in the litigation that is ongoing.
 
God Bless,
Craig
 
 
-----Original Message-----
I think it is unfair to judge the Corps of Engineers that way.  The
engineers at the Corps are almost exclusively civilians.  A good number of
those engineers and Corps employees lived in St. Bernard (including me five
years ago).  I've worked with them.  I've worked with the military ones too.
They are not evil engineers willing to sacrifice you, your property, or your
dog's life.  They are good men and women, engineers, doing their best with
what they get.  For the most part, they are at the mercy of Congress.
Congress tells them they have to build levees, flood walls and hurricane
protection and tells them they only get 50 cents to do it, when it actually
costs $2 to do an adequate job.  What would have been a 25' levee becomes a
13' levee.  I worked at the Corps when they were receiving a lot of money to
beef up the New Orleans area's flood protection under the SELA projects,
only to have the budgets drastically cut.  Honestly, with the funds they
get, they do a pretty good job.
 
The MRGO was a congressionally mandated project---NOT one that the New
Orleans Corps of Engineers picked to do and/or lobbied for.  You can thank
some politically connected Port of Orleans officials for that.  I remember
one senior engineer complaining about having to spend the 10 million or so
on dredging MRGO, BUT it was a mandate.  What happened in New Orleans and
St. Bernard had nothing to do with a military war mindset.  It was a
combination of a fierce natural occurance and political
influence/corruption.  The hurricane was one of the biggest in history.
Pre-Katrina, everyone knew that New Orleans would eventually be hit, and
most likely decimated, by a hurricane of Katrina's magnitude, but in the
end, the corruption is Louisiana's biggest downfall.
 
Currently, the Corps, civilians and the few military leaders, are trying to
protect the whole New Orleans area, and I guarantee, they have been given 50
cents for a $2 job.  They are good men and women who have lost their homes
and property also.  They worked 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week for months
after Katrina to repair New Orleans while trying to rebuild their lives too.
They deserve a break from criticism that should be pointed elsewhere.
 
Michelle Stephenson, Structural Engineer