Jeff unhappy about pump gates

Corps decides to not build them
By Richard Rainey

A contentious Jefferson Parish Council greeted the Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday as corps officials explained their decision to not install temporary sluice gates to protect drainage pumping stations against storm surges.

"I don't understand the continued indecision, miscalculation on the part of the corps," Councilman Louis Congemi said.

The corps canceled its plan to build temporary gates at eight pump stations after rejecting all bids for the work in May. In response, the council demanded that the corps not spend the money it had set aside for the project anywhere but in Jefferson Parish. Brett Herr, the corps' branch chief in charge of armoring the stations along Lake Pontchartrain, said the corps budgeted no more than $5 million in federal money for the gates.

more from the Times-Picayune