[StBernard] St. Bernard official is levee chief

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard official is levee chief
Storm veteran takes over regional district 
Monday, November 05, 2007
By Paul Rioux
St. Bernard bureau 
Having drained the last drop of Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters from St.
Bernard Parish using pumps repaired with scavenged parts and a couple of
coat hangers, Bob Turner and his two dozen employees began gearing up for
Hurricane Rita. 

 
They scrambled to repair cuts made in the parish's levees to allow Katrina's
flooding to recede and built makeshift barriers out of plywood to keep water
from flowing through railroad culverts into Arabi from the Lower 9th Ward. 

Turner, then the executive director of the Lake Borgne Basin Levee District,
proudly points out that Rita's advancing floodwaters were stopped at Old
Hickory Avenue, named in honor of Andrew Jackson who defeated the British at
the nearby Chalmette Battlefield during the Battle of New Orleans and
carried the nickname "Old Hickory." 

But just as Jackson achieved his victory after diplomats had signed a peace
treaty, Turner's triumph came after virtually every structure in St. Bernard
had flooded during Katrina. Turner said he didn't want additional flooding
to delay residents from returning to salvage what was left of their homes,
but he admits it was largely a moral victory. 

"We were in a psychological battle against the water," he said. "Our
attitude was, 'You son of a gun, you got us once, but you ain't getting us
again.' " 

Turner maintained that mindset during the past two years as he helped
rebuild the parish's flood-control system. And now he's prepared to take the
fight to a bigger battlefield. 

Turner recently was appointed director of the new regional authority
overseeing levees and other flood-control projects in the New Orleans area
east of the Mississippi River. 

The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East manages the East
Jefferson, Orleans and Lake Borgne levee districts. It also will oversee two
as-yet unformed districts in St. Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes, as well as
flood protection projects on the east banks of St. Charles and St. John the
Baptist parishes. 

Turner said his top priority is to work with the Army Corps of Engineers and
other federal and state officials to ensure that a multibillion-dollar
project to improve the region's hurricane protection system to guard against
a 100-year flood is completed by 2011 as planned. 

"The farther we get from Katrina, the harder it will be to keep the money
flowing and the projects going," he said. 

Turner said he will also seek financing to cover the local costs for the
100-year flood project, which are expected to exceed $1 billion. 

These are daunting responsibilities for an agency with a shoestring budget
of $500,000 and just three employees, but Turner's colleagues at the Lake
Borgne levee district said they believe he is up to the task. 


Hands-on problem-solver 

They described him as a problem-solver who never shies away from a challenge
or misses an opportunity to get his hands dirty. 

"Whenever something goes wrong, Bob rolls up his sleeves and dives right in
to help," said Pete Bauer, a pump station foreman. "He doesn't just sit back
and start barking orders." 

Turner's hands-on leadership style was never more evident than when he and
several employees spent more than six hours taking turns tugging on a manual
crank to open the massive Bayou Dupre floodgate to let Katrina's floodwaters
drain out of the parish. 

Under Turner's leadership, levee district employees used air hoses to
replace broken fuel lines, a sock to fix a damaged fuel filter and a
well-placed coat hanger or two to get the drainage pumps running after
Katrina. 

"One thing I've always believed is that when you run into a problem, you've
got to keep working until you find a solution or exhaust every option
trying," he said. 

It's the kind of determination that Turner, who was raised by his
grandparents in Chalmette, displayed in his seven-year quest to earn a
degree in civil engineering from Louisiana Tech University, where he would
attend classes for a year and then take a year off to work offshore and save
money to resume his education. 


Jack-of-all-trades 

After graduating in 1978, Turner worked for private engineering firms for 15
years before becoming public works director for St. Bernard Parish, where he
was a jack-of-all-trades, overseeing road repairs, trash collection and
mosquito control, as well as the water and sewer treatment plants. 

"At one point, they tried to give me animal control and public transit, but
cooler heads prevailed," he said. 

In 2001, Turner was named executive director of the Lake Borgne Basin Levee
District, which operates St. Bernard's drainage pumps and maintains the
major canals and the interior levee along the 40 Arpent Canal. 

Turner has been widely praised in St. Bernard for his efforts to protect a
parish surrounded by water and under a nearly constant threat of flooding
from heavy rains or storm surges. 

"He's done a terrific job keeping us dry," said Joey DiFatta, chairman of
the St. Bernard Parish Council. "No one could have stopped Katrina, but Bob
was there right away to get the water out as quickly as possible. And he's
been there ever since to get the levees rebuilt. We hate to lose him." 


New authority 

Created by a state constitutional amendment approved by more than 80 percent
of voters last year, the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority,
which has eastern and western divisions, replaced the much-criticized system
of fragmented levee boards in the New Orleans area. 

Turner said he supports a regional approach to flood control, but he was
irritated by those who pitched the new authority as an antidote to cronyism
and corruption on the local levee boards. 

"It just grated on me every time I heard it because I knew it didn't apply
to us in St. Bernard," he said. "There's no money to dole out because we're
a poor district and we have to stretch every penny to get things done." 

In just the latest example of his legendary frugality, Turner, who is
continuing to oversee the Lake Borgne district until a replacement is hired,
arranged on Thursday for a contractor to make emergency repairs to a
Chalmette drainage canal damaged by heavy rains, but he decided to have the
levee district supply the limestone and sand. 

After calling around to find the best deal, Turner estimated he will save
$10,000 to $15,000 on delivery costs, the contractor's markup and sales
taxes, which the levee district doesn't have to pay as a government entity. 

"I'm always looking ways for ways to save money, but part of it is just the
challenge of maximizing the output while minimizing the input," he said.
"That's what engineers do." 

The east authority board has allocated $150,000 for the director's position,
but it has not yet set a salary for Turner, who was hired two weeks ago. 

Board President Tim Doody said he was impressed with Turner's flood control
knowledge and experience, as well as his managerial and leadership skills. 

While he also admires Turner's hands-on style, Doody said Turner will need
to delegate more responsibilities in his new job. 

"When I called around to ask people about Bob, they kept saying, 'He's the
one I would choose, but you've got to get the wrenches out of his hands,' "
he said. "I've told Bob that he's got to operate at a higher level. His time
is now much more valuable." 

Turner, who described his job with the Lake Borgne district as a "perfect
match for my personality and work ethic," said he's prepared to place a
greater emphasis on administrative duties. 

"I know I'm going to be spending more time in meetings and behind a desk,
but I still want to find ways to get out in the field," he said, standing on
a catwalk between two Chalmette pumping stations offering a picturesque view
of the vast marsh separating St. Bernard from Lake Borgne on the horizon.
"Hopefully I won't get to the point that I have to wear a suit every day." 

. . . . . . . 

Paul Rioux can be reached at prioux at timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3321.