CORPS: CLOSE CHANNEL BLAMED FOR FLOODING
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers said Saturday it wants to build a $50 million earthen dam to plug a ship channel blamed for much of the flooding from Hurricane Katrina.
The announcement at a meeting in Chalmette, a refinery town just outside New Orleans, won the battered agency some of the first praise it's received since the hurricane. Area leaders and residents have clamored for years for the closing of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, known as Mr. Go.
"It's about time," said Carlton Dufrechou, the executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, a group advocating the restoration of the lake system surrounding New Orleans.
"This thing has been a cancer in the coast of southeast Louisiana for decades," Dufrechou said. "The bottom-line is that as long as the MRGO is open, the coast is shot."
Update: February 3, 2007
A SMALL STEP ON MR-GO
The Times-Picayune - EDITORIAL:
The Army Corps of Engineers has finally agreed to use money that was added to its maintenance budget last year as Congress intended: to design ways to close the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet.
The shipping channel has rightly been described as a cancer, one that has destroyed 27,000 acres of wetlands in St. Bernard Parish, leaving it and parts of New Orleans more vulnerable to storm surge. There's also compelling data from LSU scientists that show the MR-GO played a role in increasing the height and velocity of Katrina's storm surge.
Update: December 18, 2006
CORPS ISSUES CALL TO CLOSE MR-GO CITING ECONOMIC REASONS.
The Times-Picayune - Saturday, December 16, 2006
"The controversial Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, blamed by scientists and civic groups for helping funnel Hurricane Katrina's storm surge into St. Bernard, the 9th Ward and eastern New Orleans, should be closed with an armored earthen dam, the Army Corps of Engineers recommended Friday in a preliminary report to Congress.... "Clearly they have a basis to state that there's not good economic justification for deep-draft," said John Lopez, director of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation's coastal sustainability program. "The shallow draft, we don't have the same kind of historical information to do so, but it's compelling, also."
CORPS: CLOSE MRGO BEST OPTION
The Advocate - Saturday, December 16, 2006
The best option for dealing with the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet appears to be closing the controversial ship channel, according to a preliminary report to Congress released Friday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers....“If this had come out five years ago, it would be groundbreaking,” said Mark Davis, director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. “It doesn’t deal, from our point of view, sufficiently with integrating restoration and protection.”
Update: September 26, 2006
THE BATTLE CONTINUES.
The Times-Picayune - Shipping interests pushing for MR-GO.
More than 40 years after completion of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, backers of the embattled waterway say an economic windfall that has been promised since before its construction is almost at hand -- if only the channel is restored as a shipping lane.
Update: July 19, 2006
CORPS REFORM PASSES!
“The National Wildlife Federation applauds Army Corps reform legislation passed today by the U.S. Senate. This represents a sea change in how we as a country handle water resources – for the betterment of communities, the economy and the environment.
“The Senate has sent a strong message to the people of Louisiana that we are responding to the lessons of Hurricane Katrina.
“This bill represents a new era for the Corps.
The bill’s reforms mean more responsible use of taxpayer money by the Corps and encourage a focus on sound projects. The reforms aim to protect vital natural resources, and address the major shortcomings brought to light by Hurricane Katrina.
Update: July 14, 2006
PROPOSAL TO LANDFILL WETLANDS.
A recent article that ran in New Orleans City Business Report states that the A.C.O.E. proposes to turn 200 acres of remaining wetlands into a landfill.
NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan for the closure of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet includes a proposed landfill on the banks of the MRGO.“This proposal defies common sense,” said Cynthia Sarthou, executive director of the Gulf Restoration Network. “The Corps is supposed to be creating a plan to restore the wetlands MRGO destroyed. Why on Earth would we want to put a dump on 200 acres of wetlands that should be protecting our communities?”
Update: June 10, 2006
MRGO WILL FINALLY GO!!!
A key component of the Supplemental Appropriations Bill agreed on by House and Senate conferees will, at the least, deauthorize the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet as a deep draft channel. "This is a day that the people of south Louisiana have been waiting years for" said Mark Davis, executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana. The bill directs the Army Corps of Engineers to develop, in conjunction with its ongoing Comprehensive Coastal Protection and Restoration planning, a plan that would close the MRGO to deep draft navigation and address wetland losses and storm risks linked to the MRGO.
"We really owe Senator Landrieu and Senator Vitter our thanks on this. Senator Landrieu Senator did some heavy lifting in the Appropriations Committee and the conference with the House to get this done and Senator Vitter's efforts to persuade his colleagues made a real difference", Davis said. "With this action, the MRGO as we have known it becomes part of our history and allows us to plan for a much brighter future. The first step to planning for that future is to break the shackles to the mistakes of the past like the MRGO. The combination of this action with the other assistance provided in the Appropriations Bill gives the people of New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish and south Louisiana real cause for hope."
The MRGOMustGo.org coalition, made up of national, regional, state, and neighborhood groups coordinating to protect people and wetlands by securing closure of the MRGO, is pleased by this critical first step. "The MRGO has been a cancer eating away at SE Louisiana for 50 years," said Carlton Dufrechou with the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation. "Now, we can truly begin to restore our coast and the first lines of defense to sustain this region."
"Time is of the essence," stated Cynthia Sarthou, Executive Director of the Gulf Restoration Network. "It's clear we'll need to keep our fingers crossed this hurricane season, but we're pushing to see a legitimate closure plan developed and significant portions implemented by next year's season."
"MRGO never made sense in the first place, and now it's time to stop it before it kills again," Rebecca Wodder, president of American Rivers said. "Senators Landrieu, Jeffords, Vitter, and Inhofe have done an outstanding job of educating their colleagues about the dangers of the MRGO and pushing the full Congress to support closure of this monstrosity."
Close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet – The Hurricane Highway
Eight months ago, Hurricane Katrina devastated the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents. But the storm did not act alone. The destruction was intensified by a number of failed projects developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including New Orleans levees and the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO). For years, local advocates and hurricane experts had pleaded with the Corps to close the MRGO, a little used and destructive navigation channel, arguing that the MRGO would amplify and concentrate storm surges into the city. This was exactly what happened during Hurricane Katrina, and it will happen again if the MRGO remains open.
You can help us by sending your own letter to Congress, asking them to close the MRGO, go here.
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