Gulf recovery panel gets an earful about corps
Posted on December 9th, 2009
Greenwire: A group of New Orleans residents yesterday vented their frustration with the Army Corps of Engineers during a working group meeting aimed at developing policy for coastal and wetlands restoration.
A panel of federal agency officials heard from coastal residents during the first of three days of meetings in Louisiana and Mississippi. One topic the Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf Coast Ecosystem Working Group is working to address is how to get other agencies to join in on resource projects that frequently are designed and built only by the corps.
At the meeting in the Lower 9th Ward, several representatives of community groups said the corps refused to consider their suggestions for levee and coastal restoration projects. In addition, they said restoration projects remain unfinished.
Group members also heard from Louisiana and Mississippi officials yesterday morning before laying out their goals.
“We’ve heard from many of the staffers of state and local representatives that there is a great awareness on the part of the people of this region of the importance of wetlands to their lives and livelihoods,” said Jane Lubchenco, group co-chairwoman and director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Meanwhile, Terrence “Rock” Salt, who oversees corps operations as principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army, urged patience while the corps adjusts its way of doing business.
“The corps is able to adjust to different directions when people give them those directions,” Salt said. “There’s some inertia, of course. It’s going to take a while for them to learn” (Mark Schleifstein, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Dec. 7). – JK