[StBernard] Army Corps to hand over pumping stations to St. Bernard

[Westley Annis]

Army Corps to hand over pumping stations to St. Bernard

06:30 PM CST on Sunday, February 8, 2009

Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News 

ST. BERNARD, La. - It is one of the cornerstones in protecting St. Bernard
Parish from potential flooding - and, on Monday, the Army Corps of Engineers
will formally hand over three pumping stations to the parish and the Lake
Borgne levee district. 


"It gives a greater sense of security that the water that get to these pump
stations can be pumped effectively and protect the property of St. Bernard,"
said parish president Craig Taffaro. 

The sense of security comes from the more than $40 million in improvements
that have been made to the pumping stations since Hurricane Katrina,
including an expansion of their pumping capacity and construction to
withstand up to category three storm. 

Anything stronger, though, brings up a potential problem: despite the
improvements, the pumping stations do not have safe houses for the station's
workers. 

"We can keep manpower here up until 110 miles per hour, and then we'll have
to pull them back for safety reasons," Taffaro said. "Safe housing in St.
Bernard Parish is still an issue that we're looking for appropriate funding.
Jefferson and Orleans had the opportunity to build some safe houses." 

That issue is just one of several that have local officials hoping for
additional funding for projects related to flood protection. 

"[We're] always looking for more - more and more funding," Taffaro said. "In
fact, Senator Landrieu put out a call for a list of projects." 

On Friday, Sen. Landrieu spoke about the inclusion of more funding for the
Corps, as part of the stimulus package currently making its way through
Congress. 

"Louisiana has some funding for Corps of Engineers projects that are so
important," Sen. Landrieu said. 

Yet, even if the funding doesn't come around this time, Taffaro said the
need is always there. 

"Hopefully, Congress will find a way to put some of that in whatever bill,
whether it's the stimulus package or another supplemental, but we continue
to look for additional funding to complete the projects," he said. 

The Army Corps of Engineers will host an official hand over ceremony on
Monday afternoon at pumping station No. 2 in Chalmette.