Army Corps Of Engineers Is Responsible

For years now, the Army Corps of Engineers has denied any responsibility for the flooding and damage caused in New Orleans during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina. It's going to be much harder for them to claim that now, because a federal judge has disagreed.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval has issued a decision, which says the flooding in the Lower 9th Ward and in St. Bernard Parish was not due to Hurricane Katrina but was directly due to the failure of the Army Corps of Engineers to properly maintain a navigation channel known as the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO). The judge cited the Army Corps' "insouciance, myopia and shortsightedness" in not maintaining the channel properly.

In harsh terms, Judge Duval said the Army Corps has known for over 40 years that failure to properly maintain MRGO could cause the failure of the levee protecting the affected areas, and found that they were negligent in failing to do what they knew to be necessary to protect New Orleans. The judge ordered a damage payment of $719,000 be paid to a small group that had filed suit against the Army Corps in 2006.

But that payment may be just the tip of the iceberg. Over 100,000 people have filed claims with the Army Corps of Engineers, and this judgement makes it far more likely they will eventually be paid damages also. It is possible that this judgement could cost the federal government billions of dollars.

The Army Corps is not talking and neither is the Justice Department. They just said they are "studying" the decision. They will probably appeal and drag this out for many more years, but I hope not. This has drug on too long, and these people have suffered for too long. It is time to make it right.

The United States government failed the people of New Orleans, causing much damage and loss of life. They can't take back what was done in the past, but they can stop failing them now and do the right thing -- regardless of cost.

Doing the right thing is never too expensive.