Watery debris fuels new fight for state, FEMA

BATON ROUGE -- With sunken cars and boats, splintered structures and other debris littering Louisiana waters nearly two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, state and federal officials have positioned themselves for a quarrel about how the wreckage will be removed.

FEMA doesn't dispute it should pay for the cleanup. Rather, Baton Rouge and Washington, D.C., bureaucrats are reprising the now-familiar routine of feuding about how to interpret and apply the strict laws and regulations that govern disaster response.

A Louisiana Recovery Authority committee on Thursday adopted a written request that FEMA coordinate the cleanup -- potentially at a cost of several hundred million dollars -- rather than have state and local government bodies contract out the job, then seek reimbursement through FEMA's Public Assistance program. The request also seeks to recover any money the state or local agencies have already spent on marine debris cleanup.
more from the Times Picayune