8/29 Commission

Please read this brief history of the New Orleans levee disaster, visit Levees.org and contact your representatives to let them know that you support the 8/29 Commission (in the Water Resources Development Act).

In 1965, Congress gave the US Army Corps of Engineers authority for the design and construction of the flood protection in metro New Orleans. This was called the Pontchartrain Hurricane Protection Project. The local interests' role was maintenance once the projects were complete. When authorized, this mandate was projected to take 13 years to complete.

When Katrina struck in 2005, the project was between 60-90% complete, and the projected date of completion was estimated to be 2015. That is 50 years after it first gained authorization. To put that in perspective, President Roosevelt's construction of the Panama Canal, one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, took 10 years.

After Hurricane Katrina and Rita, a federally led investigation task force was established to examine the technical failures of the Greater New Orleans flood protection system. That investigation by the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET) was managed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since the Corps of Engineers was the sole agency responsible for the design and construction of metro New Orleans' levee system, such an investigation has an apparent conflict of interests. The Corps investigated itself.

If you look at the IPET report, you can see that every chapter is chaired or co-chaired by a US Army Corps of Engineers employee. And the Corps paid all consultants who contributed to the report.

If you investigate yourself, what do you think you're going to find? Additionally, since the release of the IPET report on June 1, 2006, two independent levee investigation teams (National Science Foundation/U Cal Berkeley and Team Louisiana ) have criticized the IPET report as incomplete in the realm of how decisions were made.

And there is a pattern to the issues in dispute. In virtually all cases, the Corps-sponsored IPET report reaches conclusions that tend to shift responsibility away from Army Corps engineering practices. The is no significant discussion of poor construction. Additionally, the report remains incomplete in areas that would address potentially dysfunctional organizational processes, communications failures and decision making at and by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Levees.Org has reason to doubt the reliability of the flood protection system currently being redesigned and constructed that protects the lives and property of 1.5 million Americans. To date, Congress has appropriated a total of $5.8 billion to the Corps of Engineers to repair and strengthen metro New Orleans' flood protection system. The results from the possibly inaccurate and incomplete report will probably be used to change policies and create the plans to repair and strengthen the flood protection system.

An independent analysis of flood protection failures is needed to assure that all possible opportunities for improvement are considered. Taxpayers need a full return on the investment dollars that Congress authorizes and the citizens of south Louisiana need the best protection possible.

How Would This Commission be Structured?
This Commission would be mainly a fresh look by "unbiased objective eyes" at data already collected. The 9-11 Commission's model of bipartisan co-chairmanship provides a good model in assuring objectivity. Those who serve on this Commission would be required to meet certain standards of objectivity and expertise in the fields of engineering and flood control.

How much time and how much money are needed?
The Commission would require simply reexamining data from studies already completed so there is no need to go back to pulling out sheet pilings from the canal walls or taking soil samples from the levees. This means that the study will not take much time nor be very expensive.

Conclusion:
An independent commission to examine and make recommendations regarding Louisiana's flood protection is vital to reestablishing public trust. This Commission would examine decades of possibly flawed governmental policy at the federal, state and local level. This is not about placing blame, but about moving forward in the best way because taxpayers need a full return on the investment dollars that Congress authorizes and the citizens of south Louisiana need the best protection possible.

Submitted by:
Sandy Rosenthal, Executive Director, Levees.Org
Vince Pasquantonio, Legislative Director, Levees.Org