New Orleans Levee Repair Price Tag Triples

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, March 31, 2006 (ENS) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a nasty surprise for New Orleans two months before hurricane season opens. The reconstruction of the area's protective levees, damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, was previously estimated at $3.5 billion. Now it will cost $9.5 billion if insurance-certified levees are built to protect the entire New Orleans region.

The announcement was made by Donald Powell, the Bush administration's Gulf Coast recovery and rebuilding chief in a teleconference briefing with reporters on Thursday.

Chairman Don Powell, Gulf Coast long term recovery director (left) and U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen, federal coordinating officer, discuss the 9th Ward Levee break. New Orleans, November 30, 2005. (Photo by Marvin Nauman courtesy FEMA)

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, called the funding shortfall "shocking."

"This monumental miscalculation is an outrage," the governor said. "We were all operating in good faith. The President believed, as we did, that the $3.5 billion would get us where we needed to be to get the job done."

"It's very shocking to learn that we need $6 billion more," she said.

"This means that, just two months before hurricane season, the Corps of Engineers informs us they cannot ensure even the minimum safety of Southeastern Louisiana. This is totally unacceptable," Blanco said.

Congress approved $2 billion for levee repairs in December and the Bush administration has asked for $1.5 billion more. The Senate will consider that request next week.

Powell admitted that the tripled cost of levee repair means, "We are faced with some new and tough policy decisions."

Louisiana Governor Kathleeen Blanco (Photo courtesy Office of the Governor)

"I am counting on Congress to understand that this is absolutely essential to our survival," she said.

The Louisiana congressional delegation is demanding that the Bush administration quickly request the money from Congress.

Powell told reporters that the administration will decide in the next two weeks whether to request the additional money, but surprised members of the Louisiana delegation demanded that the request be made by Tuesday.

U.S. Senator David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, said, "Don Powell laid out for us an additional $6 billion of essential levee work in the metro New Orleans area that must be done. This is enormously frustrating to me."

"I've been telling them since last November that they’ve sought way too little money for essential levee work, and this finally confirms that," Vitter said. "Only it comes after months of stonewalling, with the new hurricane season right around the corner."

Senator David Vitter Tours the 9th Ward New Orleans Industrial Canal Breach with Tenessee Senator Lamar Alexander. (Photo courtesy Office of Senator Vitter)

Frustrated, Governor Blanco said, "As members of Congress work to provide the funds to complete this project, I hope they will also investigate how such a massive miscalculation occurred."

Blanco said the skyrocketing cost to restore and strengthen the levees means that the flood-elevation maps the state has been waiting for from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) now will be delayed. The maps are required before decisions can be made on which areas will be safe for rebuilding in the devastated region.

Property behind the strengthened levees might need minor changes in elevation requirements, but areas without improved levees would have to build on much higher ground to be safe from flooding and storm surge.

"This could delay and jeopardize our recovery even more, and it keeps thousands of families and businesses on hold and in limbo," Blanco said. "Our citizens and businesses must have the confidence to return home and reinvest in their communities. That confidence is built on a foundation of strong levees."

Plaquemines Parish is underwater immediately after Hurricane Katrina and left with widespread devastation today. Agusut 29, 2006 (Photo courtesy Louisiana State Senator Walter Boasso)

"I have presented a comprehensive and well-thought out plan to help people rebuild their homes and communities and Congress is on the way to fully funding that plan. But for this plan to work, our people must have the confidence to come home. And that requires strong levees. We can't have one without the other," she said.

In a progress report issued Thursday, U.S. Army Corps Director of Civil Works Maj. Gen. Don Riley, said with two months remaining before the official start of the 2006 hurricane season, the Corps is "well on its way to accomplishing the initial goal of repairing and strengthening those segments of the hurricane protection system that were damaged" by the hurricanes last August and September.

"The effort to effectively restore the hurricane protection system that was so badly damaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year is one of the largest and most ambitious civil works projects ever undertaken in the United States," said Riley.

"The Corps’ ability to meet the 1 June goal – which many thought to be impossible – is not only a reflection of the abilities, commitment and dedication of the outstanding men and women of the Corps, but also of the support by our many contractor partners, external review teams, and elected leaders," Riley said.

A track loader spreads a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved mixture of soil on a levee to bring it up to specifications. Port Sulphur, Louisiana, March 13, 2006. (Photo by Marvin Nauman courtesy FEMA)

• Orleans East Bank 27 percent
• Inner-harbor Navigation Channel 64 percent
• New Orleans East 72 percent
• St. Bernard 74 percent
• Plaquemines 74 percent

These massive structures, once installed, will isolate the outfall canals and their levee walls from potential Lake Pontchartrain storm surge during the upcoming hurricane season. The gates will only be closed when the canals are potentially threatened by Lake Pontchartrain surge.

The first portions of the 17th Street Canal closure gate were placed on barges this week to begin their movement to the installation site.

The effort to inspect the entire the levee and floodwall system has been ongoing since September 2005. Riley said the Corps continues to conduct both surface and subsurface inspections of the remaining 181 miles of the New Orleans-area levee system that was not visibly damaged by the hurricanes.