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A Barrier That Could Have Been (environmentalist suit stopped New Orleans project)
LA Times ^ | 9/09/05 | Ralph Vartabedian, Peter Pae

Posted on 09/09/2005 9:15:45 AM PDT by Libloather

KATRINA'S AFTERMATH
A Barrier That Could Have Been
Congress OKd a project to protect New Orleans 40 years ago, but an environmentalist suit halted it. Some say it could have worked.

By Ralph Vartabedian and Peter Pae, Times Staff Writer
September 9, 2005
latimes.com

In the wake of Hurricane Betsy 40 years ago, Congress approved a massive hurricane barrier to protect New Orleans from storm surges that could inundate the city.

But the project, signed into law by President Johnson, was derailed in 1977 by an environmental lawsuit. Now the question is: Could that barrier have protected New Orleans from the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina?

"If we had built the barriers, New Orleans would not be flooded," said Joseph Towers, the retired chief counsel for the Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans district.

Tower's view is endorsed by a former key senator, along with academic experts, who say a hurricane barrier is the only way to control the powerful storm surges that enter Lake Pontchartrain and threaten the city. Other experts are less sure, saying the barrier would have been no match for Katrina.

The project was stopped in its tracks when an environmental lawsuit won a federal injunction on the grounds that the Army's environmental impact statement was flawed. By the mid-1980s, the Corps of Engineers abandoned the project.

The project faced formidable opposition not only from environmentalists but from regional government officials outside of New Orleans who argued that the barriers would choke commerce and harm marine life in ecologically sensitive Lake Pontchartrain.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: barrier; corpsofengineers; environmentalist; greens; hurricane; katrina; katrinafacts; lawsuit; levees; nagin; new; neworleans; orleans; project; stopped; suit
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To: Carry_Okie

That grim smile is on my face, under the environmental method of land control.


21 posted on 09/09/2005 9:40:41 AM PDT by Just mythoughts
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To: marblehead17

ping


22 posted on 09/09/2005 9:41:34 AM PDT by marblehead17 (I love it when a plan comes together.)
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To: Grampa Dave

Not really just the lawyers after they get their cut.everyone else will get $10 off their water bill or some such nonsence


23 posted on 09/09/2005 9:42:57 AM PDT by bdfromlv (Leavenworth hard time)
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To: Libloather
Before we spend Billions of dollars rebuilding NOLA in an untenable location, wouldn't it make more sense to consider rebuilding it where it would have a chance against the next cat 5 that blows into town ?
24 posted on 09/09/2005 9:54:05 AM PDT by oldbrowser (no one is right because no one is wrong)
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To: Grampa Dave; SierraWasp
EO-12986 exempts the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (shhhh!) (IUCN) from all liability. The IUCN is an umbrella organization to which various other environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) belong. It is effectively the EPA of the UN.

The job of these NGOs is to restrict acccess to resources to those who own the tax-exempt, "charitable" foundations that support them. They system operates on a foundation of treaty laws organized by the IUCN and with staff drawn from the NGOs. They use that treaty law and the courts to maintain shortages and thus guarantee a price support system.

I call that enviro-racketeering, tax fraud, manipulation, etc. The problem with busting them is that the NGOs effectively launder the money.

25 posted on 09/09/2005 9:54:05 AM PDT by Carry_Okie (The environment is too complex and too important to manage by central planning.)
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To: Carry_Okie; Grampa Dave
Well my question then goes back to this litigation that has the same earmarks of the suits against the US Forest Service to make them stop harvesting timber, except that this was against the Army Corps to make them stop making NOLA a safer place!!!

What is it that compells these judges to issue these stop work orders that discourage Federal Agencies from doing their jobs??? It's not Clinton's EO's!!!

Please continue shedding light on the EO's, but there are two fronts on this battlefield and judicial tyranny is the other one!!!

26 posted on 09/09/2005 10:04:31 AM PDT by SierraWasp (The only thing that can save CA is making eastern CA the 51st state called Sierra Republic!!!)
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To: SierraWasp
What is it that compells these judges to issue these stop work orders that discourage Federal Agencies from doing their jobs??? It's not Clinton's EO's!!!

The EO merely protects the NGO from lawsuits so that they can bring these actions more fearlessly.

Please continue shedding light on the EO's, but there are two fronts on this battlefield and judicial tyranny is the other one!!!

Obviously, but that isn't what I was asked to explain, but if you go back and re-read the post, I think you'll see it in there.

27 posted on 09/09/2005 10:14:42 AM PDT by Carry_Okie (The environment is too complex and too important to manage by central planning.)
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To: GianniV


I think Greenpeace will have to change their name to BrownPiece


28 posted on 09/09/2005 10:16:00 AM PDT by UglyinLA
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To: Libloather

Yeah, but look at all the cool wetlands. Nothing quite like a wild and scenic river...(sarcasm off)


29 posted on 09/09/2005 10:18:21 AM PDT by .cnI redruM ("No wonder [Bob Denver's] dead. Bush left him on that island." -NRO)
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To: frogjerk

bttt


30 posted on 09/09/2005 10:22:26 AM PDT by BenLurkin (O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
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To: Libloather

THANK YOU!!!

I was just in the process of looking for this!

Regards,


31 posted on 09/09/2005 10:26:03 AM PDT by AMERIKA
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To: sofaman

"Two years ago the fires that destroyed hundreds of homes in San Diego were fueled by dead underbrush that could not be cleared because the envirofascists had brought lawsuit after lawsuit to prohibit it's removal."

Let's not forget when the enviros wouldn't let them cut fire trails in the great North West and all the fires that ensued...



32 posted on 09/09/2005 10:29:17 AM PDT by AMERIKA
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To: oldbrowser
Yes you are correct. However politicans aren't logical nor reasonable creatures. They have knee jerk responses; pander to their largest campaign contributors and the MSM; do only what makes them look good to the general public.

I wish each one of the politican/morons would HAVE to count out (using paper squares, gravel, whatever) equal to the dollar amount that will be spent on rebuilding NO. And even then I don't think they would understand the cost.

33 posted on 09/09/2005 10:37:34 AM PDT by proudofthesouth (Boycotting movies since 1988)
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To: Libloather
Some say it could have worked.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Whether this flood control program would have worked or not is sheer speculation. I am a little dismayed that a 30 year old lawsuit is being used to point fingers here. A watertight dome over the entire city would have been useless if somebody failed to close the door. The best laid plans of mice and men can be undone at Nature's whim. Ignore that at your peril.

From where I sit, preparation was lacking, and as such, the primary reason for the chaos and excessive loss of life that ensued. Perhaps nothing could have stopped the flooding.

34 posted on 09/09/2005 10:49:25 AM PDT by Mr. Quarterpanel (I am not an actor, but I play one on TV)
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To: proudofthesouth
; do only what makes them look good to the general public.

They are falling all over themselves to see who can be more generous with taxpayer money.

Is that constitutional ?

35 posted on 09/09/2005 10:57:04 AM PDT by oldbrowser (no one is right because no one is wrong)
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To: Libloather

"signed into law by President Johnson,"

I was just wondering, LBJ was president from 1963 to 1969, Nixon from 1969 to 1974, Gerald Ford from 1974 to 1977, Jimmy Carter was president from 1977 to 1981.

What happened between 1969 and 1977, perhaps it was caught up in the court system!?


36 posted on 09/09/2005 11:00:09 AM PDT by AMERIKA
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To: oldbrowser
Since when do our elitist politician's pay attention to the constitution?

Its gotten to the point where I'm sick of the whole lot of them. This fighting over "It was Bush's fault"; "No it was FEMA's fault"; "No it was Corp of Engineer's fault"; "No it was the Demrats fault" has just been my final straw with the politicians in our great country. They too busy pointing fingers and handing out our hard earned money than to be reasonable, logical, and intelligent.

37 posted on 09/09/2005 11:16:40 AM PDT by proudofthesouth (Boycotting movies since 1988)
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To: frogjerk
I have heard, but I do not know if it is accurate or true, but If they had used asbestos in the Twin Towers as a fire retardent, the buildings MAY not have collapsed. Of course they were not able to use asbestos because of environmental concerns...

Not true. It was the blasting off of the fireproofing material on the structural elements that led to the collapse, and asbestos would have been blown off just as readily, if not more so. Here's one take on the matter from a professional:

http://cryptome.org/wtc-junksci.htm

The column, "Asbestos Could Have Saved WTC Lives," by Steven Milloy, was forwarded to me. I appreciate being able to read it. I would like to correct an assumption Mr. Milloy made that asbestos insulation would have prevented the collapse. (I'm a licensed architect practising in NYC.)

The structural insulation used in WTC was just as good fireproofing as the wet asbestos system so that was not the cause of the collapse. What caused it was the blasting away of fireproofing from structural steel of the core and floor structure by impact of the aircraft and explosion of its fuel as well as extremely high heat of the flaming fuel well above the capability of the fireproofing and as the effect of the high heat on the steelwork.

Asbestos would have been not better in resisting this level of heat. Indeed, sprayed-on asbestos might well have been blasted away more readily than other material due to its lightweight, loose-fiber constituency.

All methods of fireproofing systems are rated by the number of hours of fire-resistance they provide, 1-hr, 2-hr, 3-hr and so on. This is true no matter what material is used, asbestos or any other of a variety of fireproofing materials. The rating is set by laboratory testing of samples of materials by accredited testing laboratories, and the results are published in fire-resistance handbooks used by design professionals, building officials and insurance underwriters to comply with building codes.

Asbestos was a wonderful material but turned out to have the fatal flaw of being carcinogenic. Other materials have been found that match asbestos for its excellent qualities but do not have its fatal flaw. "

38 posted on 09/09/2005 11:23:30 AM PDT by Heyworth
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To: Carry_Okie

Prego! It's in there!!! (grin) I wasn't asking just for myself...


39 posted on 09/09/2005 11:37:24 AM PDT by SierraWasp (The only thing that can save CA is making eastern CA the 51st state called Sierra Republic!!!)
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To: Grampa Dave; SierraWasp; frankjr
Wow, the truth is even beginning to leak out in the L.A. Times. Hey Dims, the end is near!

Their time is coming, first the forest fires, now this, their ticking time bombs of destruction are starting to explode and the PUBLIC will KNOW.

40 posted on 09/09/2005 12:15:06 PM PDT by BOBTHENAILER (One by one, in small groups or in whole armies, we don't care how we do it, but we're gonna getcha)
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