NEW ORLEANS — More than three years after Katrina stirred up the waters and washed out levees along a 75-mile, man-made shipping channel dubbed "hurricane highway,” a judge could soon decide whether the Army Corps of Engineers owes residents and businesses damages because of the massive flooding.
Arguments are scheduled to begin today in the trial, which will be heard and decided by a judge, not a jury.
And much is at stake: If the five residents and one business in this initial lawsuit are victorious, more than 120,000 other individuals, businesses and government entities could have a better shot at claiming billions of dollars in damages.
The residents argue the corps’ poor maintenance of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet led to the wipeout of St. Bernard Parish and the city’s Lower Ninth Ward when Katrina struck in August 2005.
The corps has argued that it is immune from liability because the channel is part of New Orleans’ flood control system, but the judge has allowed the case to move forward because residents claim the shipping channel was a navigation project.
The four-week trial will explore in detail the natural history, engineering and politics of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet.
The outlet was authorized in 1958 by Congress. The route went through largely pristine wilderness of marsh and swamp forest southeast of New Orleans.
Scientists have said its construction destroyed about 18,000 acres of marsh and 1,500 acres of cypress swamps.
Arguments are scheduled to begin today in the trial, which will be heard and decided by a judge, not a jury.
And much is at stake: If the five residents and one business in this initial lawsuit are victorious, more than 120,000 other individuals, businesses and government entities could have a better shot at claiming billions of dollars in damages.
The residents argue the corps’ poor maintenance of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet led to the wipeout of St. Bernard Parish and the city’s Lower Ninth Ward when Katrina struck in August 2005.
The corps has argued that it is immune from liability because the channel is part of New Orleans’ flood control system, but the judge has allowed the case to move forward because residents claim the shipping channel was a navigation project.
The four-week trial will explore in detail the natural history, engineering and politics of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet.
The outlet was authorized in 1958 by Congress. The route went through largely pristine wilderness of marsh and swamp forest southeast of New Orleans.
Scientists have said its construction destroyed about 18,000 acres of marsh and 1,500 acres of cypress swamps.
by the assocated press
