> Rotten at the Corps
> Congress should repair what Hurricane Katrina
> exposed
> 
> 
> 
> Not only did Hurricane Katrina lay waste to the
> Southern Gulf Coast, it also 
> revealed serious flaws in the way the U.S. Army
> Corps of Engineers does 
> business. In the past five years, Louisiana has
> received more money for 
> Corps projects than any other state, yet none of
> that $1.9 billion went to 
> shore up New Orleans' levee system to withstand a
> catastrophic storm. In 
> fact, the Corps' dredging of the Mississippi Delta
> actually funneled storm 
> surge directly to the legendary city.
> 
> When the U.S. Senate votes today to authorize this
> year's projects for the 
> Corps of Engineers, it has a chance to add a healthy
> measure of reform to a 
> process that is, by almost all measures, laden with
> political pork and too 
> often of questionable benefit.
> 
> Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, and Russell
> Feingold, a Wisconsin 
> Democrat, have proposed two reasonable changes to
> Corps funding. One would 
> require independent, peer review of any project
> costing more than $40 
> million or when a review is requested. Another would
> establish a 
> Cabinet-level committee to rate current and future
> projects and guide 
> Congress as it spends money.
> 
> At this point, the Corps has a $58 billion
> construction backlog. This year's 
> Water Resources Development Act will add another $12
> billion via 300 new 
> projects. The Corps usually has about $2 billion a
> year for construction, 
> meaning the list of approved projects would take 35
> years to complete, with 
> no future projects. Clearly, the process is broken.
> 
> The peer review proposal would involve experts in
> particular fields 
> assessing the planning, design and economic benefit
> of high-cost or 
> controversial projects. The provision has the
> backing, among other groups, 
> of the American Society of Civil Engineers, which
> has been highly critical 
> of the Corps in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
> Prioritization would rate 
> projects according to their actual public need.
> 
> For more than 200 years, the Army Corps of Engineers
> has served both 
> military and civilian masters, often very
> effectively. However, its current 
> approach is out of balance. With many recent
> projects questioned or failed, 
> independent review seems a modest reform. That and a
> stronger system for 
> setting priorities would add credibility to the
> important work the Corps 
> needs to be doing.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> © 2006 Beacon Journal and wire service sources. All
> Rights Reserved.
> http://www.ohio.com
> 
> 
> 
> Mark N. Beorkrem
> 
> Upper Basin Program Director
> Mississippi River Basin Alliance
> 
> National Corps Reform Network Steering Committee
> 
> Member, Sierra Club National Rivers Committee
> Member, Sierra Club Corps Reform Task Force
> Member, Sierra Club Mississippi River Basin
> Ecoregion Task Force
> 
> P.O. Box 370
> 204 N. Wyandotte St.
> Morrisonville, IL 62546
> 
> 314-882-8425 cell
> 217-526-4480 home office
> 217-526-4449 fax
> 
> email:  [log in to unmask]
> 
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