By CAIN BURDEAU,
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers' failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding in Hurricane Katrina.
U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval sided with five residents and one business who argued the Army Corps' shoddy oversight of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet led to the flooding of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward and neighboring St. Bernard Parish. He said, however, the corps couldn't be held liable for the flooding of eastern New Orleans, where one of the plaintiffs lived.
Duval awarded the plaintiffs $720,000, or about $170,000 each, but the decision could eventually make the government vulnerable to a much larger payout. The ruling should give more than 100,000 other individuals, businesses and government entities a better shot at claiming billions of dollars in damages.
Joe Bruno, one of the lead plaintiffs lawyer, said the ruling underscored the Army Corps' long history of failure to properly protect the New Orleans region.
"It's high time we look at the way these guys do business and do a full re-evaluation of the way it does business," Bruno said.
The corps referred calls seeking comment to the Justice Department. The corps had argued that it is immune from liability because the channel is part of New Orleans' flood control system, but the judge allowed the case to go forward.
Many in New Orleans have argued that Katrina, which struck the region Aug. 29, 2005, was a manmade disaster caused by the Army Corps' failure to maintain the levee system protecting the city.
The Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet is a shipping channel dug in the 1960s as a short-cut between the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans.
National News
Judge: Corps' negligence caused Katrina flooding
- National News
-
-
Wagging tails replace sad eyes in Westminster ads
Pet lovers won't have to look away anymore when those heart-wrenching TV ads appear during the Westminster dog show — the ones with the pitiful little faces peering out from behind those rusted bars of a cage and wondering "how I ended up in here."
-
Stocks fall at the open as Greek deal is held up
U.S. stocks opened lower Friday after Greece's bailout deal was put on hold, a day after it seemed that the country had satisfied its creditors.
-
AP sources: Obama revamping birth control policy
Retreating in the face of a political uproar, President Barack Obama on Friday will announce that religious employers will not have to cover birth control for their employees after all, The Associated Press has learned. The administration instead will demand that insurance companies will be the ones directly responsible for providing free contraception.
-
Family plucked from Pacific after boat capsizes
Three family members attempting their first voyage across the Pacific in a sailboat were left adrift in rough seas hundreds of miles from land when their mast broke in high winds.
-
FBI file: Steve Jobs was considered for government post
FBI background interviews of some people who knew Apple founder Steve Jobs reveal a man so driven by power that he sometimes lost sight of honesty.
-
Florida mogul, facing trial, adopts his girlfriend
The story already had people's attention: A multimillionaire polo magnate was accused of causing a drunken-driving wreck that killed a young man. But now, with his criminal trial approaching, a strange twist has raised even more eyebrows: He has adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend.
-
Emergency exercise preceded Ind. fair disaster
High winds. Lightning. Hail. A severe thunderstorm warning. A huge crowd waits for country duo Sugarland to take the stage.
That exact scenario ahead of last summer's deadly stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair was eerily foreshadowed just a month earlier during an emergency exercise that involved the fair's director and numerous city and state officials.
-
Tribe suing beer companies for alcohol problems
An American Indian tribe sued some of the world's largest beer makers Thursday, claiming they knowingly contributed to devastating alcohol-related problems on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
-
LA school in sex abuse scandal reopens
Children returned Thursday to an elementary school where the entire staff was replaced after the arrests of two former teachers on charges of committing lewd acts with students in class.
-
Official: States get No Child Left Behind waiver
President Barack Obama on Thursday will free 10 states from the strict and sweeping requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, giving leeway to states that promise to improve how they prepare and evaluate students, The Associated Press has learned.
- More National News Headlines
-
Wagging tails replace sad eyes in Westminster ads
Obama: Birth Control Policy Meets All Needs
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
Expert: Removing LA School's Staff 'Appropriate'
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines
British Man Wanted in '93 Heist Nabbed in Mo.
School Officials Excited About 'No Child' Waiver
Pentagon Rules Shift on Women in Combat
Obama Gives Education Waivers to 10 States
Giffords Aide to Run for Her Seat
Obama: Mortgage Deal Turns Page on Reckless Era
LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens
Company Fined Over Fatal Stage Collapse
Raw Video: Annual Empire State Building Run-Up
Man Killed in Courthouse Shootout
Video of Ga. Man Who Killed Girl Released
Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service
