[StBernard] Hurricane Katrina Lawsuit Results in Damages Against Army Corps

[Westley Annis]

Hurricane Katrina Lawsuit Results in Damages Against Army Corps
 Published: November 23rd, 2009 . No Comments

 
A federal judge ruled last week in favor of residents from New Orlean's
Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard Parish over the Army Corps of Engineers'
maintenance of the city's levees, potentially exposing the government to
liability in a number of Hurricane Katrina lawsuits. 
U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. awarded $719,698 to a group of
plaintiffs from the St. Bernard parish in New Orleans who sued the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers for failing to properly maintain levees with burst during
the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe of 2005. While the ruling was in favor of
only four residents and one business, potentially thousands of Katrina
victims could sue the government on the same grounds, which could lead to
hundreds of billions of dollars in liability exposure for the federal
government.

The plaintiffs in the property damage lawsuit argued that the Corps was
negligent in the design, construction and maintenance of the Mississippi
River Gulf Outlet, known as the MRGO (Mister Go) canal. Residents said that
dredging by the Corps allowed the storm surge generated by the hurricane to
sweep into the parish virtually unimpeded. 

Duval found that the Army Corps negligently maintained the canal, but
rejected arguments that the design itself was faulty. Duval verbally
skewered the Corps in his opinion on the case.

"It is the Court's opinion that the negligence of the Corps, in this
instance by failing to maintain the MRGO properly, was not policy, but
insouciance, myopia and shortsightedness," Duval wrote in his November 18
opinion. "The Corps had an opportunity to take a myriad of actions to
alleviate this deterioration or rehabilitate this deterioration and failed
to do so. Clearly the expression 'talk is cheap' applies here."

The ruling may have far reaching consequences, as tens of thousands of homes
or businesses in the Lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard's Parish were destroyed.
One Army report estimated that the government's total liability in the cases
could exceed $500 billion.

The ruling has brought a number of bipartisan statements calling for the
government to settle with Katrina victims and take action to prevent similar
Army Corps of Engineer failings in the future. Senators Mary Landrieu, a
Democrat, and David Vitter, a Republican said they were glad to see relief
ordered for hurricane victims. Vitter said the decision could serve as a
warning against similar problems in the future.

In addition Democratic Senator Russ Feingold and Republican Senator John
McCain issued a joint statement calling for sweeping reforms for the Corps
in the wake of the ruling. "American taxpayers cannot wait for another
natural disaster like Katrina before we act to improve the safety and
security of Corps projects," the statement said.