Matt over at Fix the Pumps has a long piece concerning the failure of a pump test (MWI) that resulted in the test building badly damaged by fire and one worker dying due to his burns.
Matt tells it better than I can…
March 26, 2007
Pump Poop III: The Fire
March 20, 2007
More Pump Poop
This is probably what they’ll do next for our pump situation:
Thanks to the Toledo Blade.
March 16, 2007
More on MWI’s Past Dealings
I love Facing South, from the Institute For Southern Studies. Here’s their piece on Moving Waters Industries (MWI) and some deeper info concerning their past pump deals.
March 14, 2007
Corps Install Faulty Drain Pumps in 2006
This story has been all over the Blogosphere today. I picked it up late last night, but was too tired to address the report.
Tonight, Matt at “Fix the Pumps” hands us a link to the Memo of the testing of these pumps by MWI, the pumps’ manufacturers (Bush-community friends, BTW.).
I spent almost ten years as a Nuclear Engineer with the Navy. I know how to read reports on equipment specs and testing. These memos show a horror story of the desire for money over providing a product that many people must depend on for their safety and the safety of their property. I am completely appalled at the lack of oversight and integrity in the construction of these pumps that were to protect us from flooding in New Orleans. I am also furious that the Corpse installed pumps that they knew were faulty, and then telling the city and the State that things would be okay pre-’06 Hurricane season!
It’s past time to hire the Dutch.
March 10, 2007
Levees.Org Has Videos
Levees.org has come up with some good short videos that outline what is needed to protect the Metro area from Tropical storms and flooding. They also cover MRGO and levee failures in the city.
Give ‘em a look-see!
March 9, 2007
I Want Don Powell’s Head on a Pike in My Yard…
WWL had this piece yesterday, and I was just way too fucking angry to respond then, but I’m a little calmer now (NOT!)
“President Bush’s top man in charge of the Gulf Coast recovery said that 18 months after Katrina, conditions in New Orleans are ‘better than he thought’ they would be.”Â
WTF exactly does Powell mean by this? Better? Dammit! Folks have no homes, no jobs, no healthcare, no Psych care… Freakin’ nothing after 18 months of living in Post-Federal Flood New Orleans. That cesspool called NYC got immediate relief after some Saudis decided to crash planes into the WTC. We here in New Orleans are still trying to rebuild our lives a year and a half later whilst wading through red tape and misery.
And then this walking penis states that, “Things are better than he thought they would be.”? Shit white boy… we have recovered much faster than this from natural disasters, but I just guess that it being a Federally mandated catastrophe makes stuff different. Wake up and smell the mold asshole: WE ARE NOT FREAKIN” OK! (Only a policy wonk could see things this way.)
Donnie boy? I want you to walk through Gentilly with me, through the Lower Ninth, Mid-City, Lakeview and NW Carrolton and then look me in the eye and explain how things are doing better than your guv’mit expected. I want you to face me and tell me what you jerks “expected” to happen. Then I’ll behead your sorry ass and place your pained expression on a pike in my front yard.
The excesses and material nature of your National Culture are slowly killing us down here in the swamps. You pay lip-service to helping us rebuild after a Federally created disaster to our lives. I want your damn lips to kiss my panty-clad ass, and then make things right.
March 6, 2007
Last Chance- Part Three
Here’s the link for the last of the T-P’s special report on Coastal Restoration and the dire need we have down here in the swamps.
March 4, 2007
The Other Shoe Drops…
Good morning!
Well, the T-P has started a special to the paper, Part 1 of 3, entitled “Last Chance”. It’s about the slow growth by Nature of the SE Louisiana coast, and the rapid destruction of the River’s work by the hand of industry and shipping. For those who don’t understand the factors at play in this drama, it’s a very good short course in what our part of the U.S. is dealing with at this time. For those more steeped in this field, it’s a gut-wrencher: our base fears illustrated right in front of us, and the possible loss of all that we hold dear and cherish.
The interactive graphic tells the story in a very cogent way. If some grand projects are not started in 10 years, we very well may lose the battle to save this part of the American landscape. If we lose this one, America is going to become a different world, and one it doesn’t want to confront.
There are those of us who have been trying to get this point across for almost 30 years. Our voices have pretty much fallen upon deaf ears. The visual evidence has been viewed by blinded eyes. Minds have been closed to a possible fate that could badly damage the country. All that is needed is the heart to understand the scenario and to go to work on solving the problem. It ain’t rocket science.
The truth is out there kids. All you need to do is open your minds, ears, eyes and hearts. That’s all I can ask of you.
SAVE SE Louisiana!
February 26, 2007
Class Action Lawsuit for Flood Damages
OK, this is a quickie: On Friday 2/23 a Federal judge moved the filing date for this suit from 8/29/07 to 2/28/07. The necessary forms and instructions are at the Levee Litigation Group. We are going through Lambert and Nelson for this as they are one of the local firms in the group.
The forms, in triplicate, must be delivered no later than Midnight of the 28th if you are sending it in. The Corps will accept all forms delivered by hand until 4 PM on 3/01 at their dropbox:
U.S. Corps of Engineers, New Orleans
District, 7400 Leake Avenue, Middle Building, Room 348, New Orleans,
LA 70118
February 14, 2007
NYT Op-Ed- Unmatched Destruction
Just a nice little breakdown on some of the clean-up costs for some disasters and a plea to the Bushite to give the Gulf Coast waivers for the matching funds crap.
“Yet somehow the Bush administration has not found it necessary to forgive the local match for Gulf Coast states after the double-whammy of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, except for costs associated with debris removal and some emergency services — despite the fact that the two storms wreaked roughly $6,700 worth of damage per capita in Louisiana. This inaction is particularly surprising, given that such a large proportion of the damage can be attributed to the failure of the federal levees that were supposed to protect the New Orleans area.”
(Curtsey to Tim’s Nameless Blog.)