I’ve been following, with some amusement, the controversy over the nominations system for members of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Safety Authority-East.
Throughout my eight-year tenure on SLFPA-E, the members of the board had been one of the best of one of the best – individuals who had been extremely certified to make choices about coastal flooding, working materials, right-of-way acquisition, subsidence and storm surge modeling. All served pro-bono.
What I found whereas serving on the SLFPA-E was that the U.S. Military Corps of Engineers (Corps) dominated all issues. Our enter on design, upkeep and modeling was not critically thought-about by the Corps.
Listed here are a couple of examples:
Board members roundly criticized the design of the “T” wall—so-called as a result of its cross-section appears to be like like an inverted T—as a result of there was no mechanism to switch soils beneath the ‘T” wall that will fall away due to subsidence. (New Orleanians noticed the consequences of this drawback when sinking land left homes elevated on their pilings like stilts.) Corps staffers assured us that this could be addressed within the closing design of the 23-mile nice wall of St. Bernard. It was not!
The Corps determined to put in the sheet-piles beneath the “T” wall with out protecting coating. Your entire board, to a person, objected to the usage of untreated metal in a marine atmosphere, which is opposite to engineering practices. The board was ignored.
I can cite numerous different examples of the Corps doing issues its Corps method, and the opinion of the SLFPA-E be damned. Ask me about outfall canals, the open barge gates, storm-surge fashions, a promised peer-review of the system, and the board’s primitive property record-keeping. We pleaded and objected, however our considerations – although they got here from extremely certified, rigorously screened professionals – had been brushed apart.
I surmise, from printed articles and op-eds, that many imagine the current system gives professional professionals to serve on SLFPA-E. That is undoubtedly true.
However my amusement arises from the truth that the experience of SLFPA-E members is irrelevant.
A reporter from The Advocate contacted me in regards to the governor’s new method to appointments earlier than writing an article in The Advocate, however this opinion, expressed by me and others, was absent from the newspaper’s report. My good pal John Barry wrote an op-ed by which he believed such experience can influence levee designs and upkeep. I disagree.
Earlier than Katrina, the Orleans Levee Board couldn’t, and certain was not given the chance to, touch upon how the “I” wall levees had been anchored by sheet piles shortened to 17 toes as an alternative of the deliberate 40 toes. Our enter isn’t any totally different at present: the current SLFPA-E board operates a levee system designed by the Corps, following strict process dictated by the Corps, with no say within the matter.
Any group of fairly sincere and clever folks can adjust to the duty of sustaining the flood system. Choosing expertise that, within the non-public sector, instructions lots of of {dollars} an hour as consultants after which accepting their service pro-bono is a waste of expertise.
Whether or not the governor selects the members, a panel picks candidates, or we select the primary 9 folks popping out of church on Sunday, these members can’t have an effect on the design or operational procedures of the flood discount.
The Corps manuals should be adopted, repairs and renovations might be designed by the Corps. And when required, changes to working procedures might be dictated by the Corps.
Stephen Estopinal, a retired Skilled Engineer (P.E.) and Skilled Land Surveyor (P.L.S.), served on the SLFPA-E for eight years (2008-2016), performing as president for one yr, from June 2014 to June 2015.
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