Landrieu: Morganza to the Gulf Delay Disappointing for Local Residents
WASHINGTON — Major General John Peabody, Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Valley Division has informed U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., that the Corps will be unable to keep its commitment to producing a signed Chief's Report for the Morganza to the Gulf Hurricane Protection Project by the end of 2012. Sen. Landrieu expressed her frustration with the delay of this critical project and urged the Corps to complete the report as soon as possible.
"The residents of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes are deeply disappointed in this news, and on their behalf I want to strongly state that 20 years is far and away enough time to study and analyze the importance of this project. The time for study is over and the time for action is now. I'm going to do everything I can to urge the Corps to complete the Chief's Report as soon as possible," Sen. Landrieu said.
"Morganza to the Gulf is more than hurricane protection for 200,000 residents of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, it is protection for America. The energy and seafood we provide along our working coast fuels and feeds this entire nation. As tax-paying, hard-working Americans, we are frustrated that the federal government once again is delaying a report that would help us get the hurricane protection our region desperately needs and deserves," Morganza Action Coalition President Sharon Bergeron said.
The Morganza to the Gulf Hurricane Protection Project is a series of levees, locks and other systems through Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes that will, when complete, serve to protect about 200,000 people against storm surges such as those caused by Hurricane Katrina.
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