Army Corps of Engineers blamed for Katrina flooding; opens door to $500B in lawsuits

[bananas]

"it opens the door to lawsuits from 80,000 others who were affected, with a potential price tag of $500 billion."

I just heard about this on the radio today, there was an LBN thread yesterday I missed.

http://www.fsrn.org/audio/headlines-thursday-november-19-2009/5780

Headlines for Thursday, November 19, 2009

* Headlines

Thu, 11/19/2009 - 14:59

*
* Length: 5:41 minutes (5.2 MB)
* Format: MP3 Mono 44kHz 128Kbps (CBR)

Army Corps of Engineers blamed for Katrina flooding

A federal judge in New Orleans ruled last night that an infamous shipping channel played a key role in the flooding that devastated the area after Hurricane Katrina. The court says the US Army Corps of Engineers is liable for damages. Melinda Tuhus reports.

U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood Duval ruled that the Corps of Engineers is liable -- not for construction of the 76-mile Mississippi River Gulf Outlet channel, known as Mr. GO -- but for its poor maintenance. The channel was a direct cause of the devastating flooding that hit the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish to the east.

The ruling marks the first time the federal government has been held liable for any of the Katrina flooding. It awards six plaintiffs a total of about three-quarters of a million dollars, but it opens the door to lawsuits from 80,000 others who were affected, with a potential price tag of $500 billion.

Steve Gonzales, a lifelong resident of St. Bernard Parish, is already part of a class action lawsuit. He said the ruling is good news, but only a partial victory because Mr. Go has been closed to shipping but not sealed off completely.

“As long as it's open, that storm surge can still come up that canal.”

The Obama administration is expected to appeal the ruling. Melinda Tuhus, FSRN.

[imdjh]

1. I wouldn't hold my breath.

[chibajoe]

2. Anybody who has looked at all the data would agree

that the Corps of Engineers failed in their obligation to properly construct the levies.

[AtheistCrusader]

3. Actually

I've got a copy of Popular Mechanics from literally, one month before Hurricane Katrina. There's an interview in it with the Core of Engineers, which was working on plans and funding to upgrade the entire system from theoretically protecting from a Cat3 hurricane, to a Cat5.

I'm going to have that thing fucking bronzed. Coulda, woulda, shoulda. But keep in mind, that sort of project takes YEARS just to get the funding approved, so the COE itself isn't necessarily to blame. At least not 100%. They don't hold the purse strings.