Corps gets the go-ahead on canals' pump stations

BATON ROUGE -- The political bottleneck over plans to build permanent pump stations at three New Orleans outfall canals began to clear Wednesday, when a state panel unanimously agreed to let Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration sign a partnership agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers.

The resolution approved by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority allows Garret Graves, the governor's chief adviser on coastal affairs, to sign an agreement that will let the corps begin contracting for work on the 17th Street, London Avenue and Orleans Avenue canals.

But it postpones a decision on how the project should be configured -- the key sticking point between the corps and Louisiana officials.

"To some degree it postpones the battle for another day," Graves said, adding that a contract could be done as early as next month. "But the important thing is we're moving forward."

The corps prefers a plan, called Option 1, that involves building one new station on each canal to replace the temporary ones built after Hurricane Katrina. The new pumps would only be used when the floodgates are closed during tropical weather, and would operate in tandem with existing New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board pumps. The existing pumps would be used during routine rain events to handle drainage.

State and local officials, who say plan is too risky, prefer a costlier alternative, Option 2, that involves building stand-alone stations at the mouth of each canal that could be used to handle both storm surge from Lake Pontchartrain and interior drainage.

A third option, called Option 2A, would also divert some water from the 17th Street Canal to the Mississippi River.

While a committee of technical experts hired to review the various options called Option 2 the best "technical solution," the corps has said it only has money available to build Option 1. State and local officials have resisted, saying it would leave New Orleans too vulnerable to catastrophic flooding from another major storm....