If we impeach George W. Bush for anything, please let it be his incompetence in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The trashing of New Orleans began on August 28, 2005, and continues to this day.
We got another example of how badly New Orleans has been treated today, in a report from the Associated Press and CBS News. That story details the release of a memo from Maria Garzino, a U. S. Army Corps of Engineers mechanical engineer. Ms. Garzino was assigned to oversee quality assurance at a test site in Florida belonging to the manufacturer of new pumps that were to be installed in NOLA.
For the full story on that company and its pumps, flip the paper.
The company contracted to supply 34 new pumps was Moving Water Industries Corp. of Florida. The contract, for 26.6 million, was awarded after competitive bidding, according to the USACE.
But they weren't without connections.
MWI is owned by J. David Eller and his sons. Eller was once a business partner of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in a venture called Bush-El that marketed MWI pumps. Eller has donated about $128,000 to politicians, the vast majority of it to the Republican Party, since 1996, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Now, about those pumps. According to a memo confirmed by the USACE, Ms Garzino warned that the pumps would break down "should they be tasked to run, under normal use, as would be required in the event of a hurricane."
But they didn't even need the challenge of a hurricane before problems surfaced.
The pumps failed less strenuous testing than the original contract called for, according to the memo. Originally, each of the 34 pumps was to be "load tested" — made to pump water — but that requirement for all the pumps was dropped, the memo said.
Of the eight pumps that were load tested, one was turned on for a few minutes and another was run at one-third of operating pressure, the memo said. Three of the other load-tested pumps "experienced catastrophic failure," Garzino wrote.
Not to worry, though.
Just in case, the Corps brought in numerous portable pumps last year and plans to do the same thing this year, officials said.
The stench in New Orleans no longer comes from mud and dead fish.
A personal note: We live on the Mississippi River...I can see it from where I'm sitting now. Our direct experience with the Rock Island District of the Corps of Engineers has never been anything but satisfying. They maintain our locks and dams. They keep a nine-foot river channel open at all times. They print charts of the river and all surrounding backwaters. We've had occasion to ask them for information, in person, by e-mail, on the phone and have always received their complete co-opeeration.
This diary might give the average reader the idea that the Corps doesn't give a damn. I don't think that's true. Our lock and dam system is crumbling and they've asked Washington for the money to fix it for years. Those funds have been denied time and again. They're doing the best they can, impeded by the elephantine bureaucracy in Washington. The people who live on the river are the ones who pay the price for bureaucrat's intransegience. But then, what do we matter? We just manufacture stuff and grow stuff and ship stuff. It's not as if we were really important.