Levee lawyer dealing with breech of a different kind

Over at the Ladder, you’ll find a new twist in the lawsuit of news anchor Norman Robinson and others against the Army Corp of Engineers – it seems the lead attorney L.A. lawyer Pierce O’Donnel is facing indictment over contributions to the Edwards campaign but not the current one. The charges date from contributions made in 2003.

In looking for background on the lawsuit itself, I found and figured out [at last!] how to link this memory refreshing video – take a look and then read more about the case.
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.643443&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]
more about “When the Levee Breaks“, posted with vodpod
If you, too, thought Louisiana courts had decided the case against the Corps could not move forward, you may also be surprised to learn there have been at least two big class action suits filed against the Corps. Here’s some background from a NYT story about one dismissed with this Order issued by the Federal Judge who is also hearing the Robinson case.

The plaintiffs in the class-action suit dismissed by the judge were many of the hundreds of thousands of people who filed claims here against the corps last year because of the levee breaches that flooded the city. They lined up in cars and on foot and jammed the streets around the agency’s district headquarters, acting out what has been a loudly spoken article of faith since the days in 2005 when water covered 80 percent of New Orleans and ruined the homes of thousands: the corps — not nature, not a record-breaking storm surge and not local politics or local negligence — was to blame.

The judge, Stanwood R. Duval Jr. of the Federal District Court here, a son of South Louisiana, heartily seconded that notion on Wednesday, suggesting that the corps was guilty of “gross incompetence.” But Judge Duval said he was powerless to rule favorably on the lawsuit because the Flood Control Act of 1928 granted legal immunity to the government in the event of failure of flood control projects like levees.

Robinson and others are part of a different case.

[The] ruling has no effect on Judge Duval’s decision in a separate lawsuit against the Corps for flooding that was exacerbated by the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MR-GO). In the case “Robinson v. United States ” which is also part of the consolidated Katrina litigation before Judge Duval, the judge held in a preliminary decision that there are presently no facts that establish the immunity of the Corps under the Flood Control Act 1928, because the MR-GO is a federal navigation project, and not a flood control project.

This case – with O’Donnel involved is active and a big one! Here’s the Complaint and a brief summary.

Submitting a claim for a staggering $77 billion, the city of New Orleans joined tens of thousands of would-be plaintiffs who rushed to beat a Thursday deadline to alert the Army Corps of Engineers that they may sue for losses resulting from the levee breaches after Hurricane Katrina.

Also joining the queue were Entergy New Orleans, the city’s bankrupt electrical utility, which is seeking $655 million, and the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board, which put in a claim of about $460 million, spokesmen for the agencies said.

While they are likely to be among the largest filed, the three claims became part of an avalanche of paperwork that poured into the corps’ Leake Avenue headquarters as Thursday’s 11:59 p.m. deadline approached, corps personnel said.

16 thoughts on “Levee lawyer dealing with breech of a different kind”

  1. Thanks nowdoucit.
    This is some great background on these cases. I didn’t know that those three Civic Entities had joined in this suit. That is big news indeed.
    The Pot Thickens.
    Get’em slabbed!

    I’m gonna hang this on Lundi post tomorrow since you have shown definite “Noble Mon” tendencies and sometimes Monday can get so weird as to actually fall on, well, Monday–as opposed to Wednesday, as usually for me, or even Saturday Nights late.

  5. OK. I cannot find this article yet. And am having trouble finding any article on these civic entities joining the suit. Where do I find this? Where did you find this?
    Just a little detail but kinda importent.
    I hung the pdf for further reading, but really need some confirmation on the City and Entergy.
    Working on it. Story stands for now.

  7. Don’t know what’s up with the page but it’s funny looking on my computer – but my puter is having a major Monday and I just got back on line.

    I’ll check my notes and get right back to you.

  10. found the article but it’s one that the link would copy (yesterday’s computer fit)

    N.O. asks whopping $77 billion in claim to corps
    Entergy, S&WB also seek millions on form
    Friday, March 02, 2007
    By Michelle Krupa

    What it’s saying is these companies joined with others filing claims against the corps and that NOLA ask for $77 million.

    There’s something on one of O’Donnell’s sites about signing up for claim against corp through him.

    If this computer will stay connected to the net, I’ll get back to you with more.

    You couldn’t ask for backup on something a little less complex by chance? !!! This is like the biggest deal ever! You’ll see when I get you the link to what I read earlier this am about filing those claims.

  13. UPDATE: See links in the comment from the Ladder (2 above)

    Can’t get you out of the spam filter, Brother Bruce, but I just found the link myself with a little help.

    Soon as I can figure out how to pull you out and why this page is going sideways, I’ll have it up.

    Thanks.

  14. coolbeans…as this kink would seem a new development between the Ladder and slabbed, I would recommend your hacker dept look into content filter censorware. It is software similar to that used by comcast and china. Seriously.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_filter
    http://www.business.com/directory/internet_and_online/security/blocking_and_filtering/censorware/
    http://www.nartv.org/2006/06/15/tom-skype-filtering-in-china/

    Don’t ever think these fakirs are fakin around…not that we can actually Do anything about it but try to go around.

  16. You better no be related to the Trahans in my family in La.
    (You don’t have to answer that:)

    I went ahead and posted Vart’s latest on this on’da Ladda:
    http://www.nartv.org/2008/07/04/the-blogosphere-part-1/
    http://www.nartv.org/2008/07/17/the-blogosphere-part-2/

    I don’t know why post it here again also, other than one of the main functions of the Ladder is to stitch information into as many places on the net as possible, get it off the ground and into da’sky where it is less vulnerable to flooding.
    The more places we can put things the harder it will be to find them all. That is one of the mysteries of your average New Orleans courtyard. Many of the old ones were designed to hide as well as show.

    I had no idea that Editillero Naomi Klein was so onto this narrative. Now we know we’re in big trouble’deep …but big heroleros are on the scene…slabbing the Infamy.

    Galette l’Infamie!

    Seems like my own system’s custom designed and probably explosive hacker coodydusters may have worked, for now. Do not recommend you try this with yer’own chillrins.
    I ain’t sayin it’s real. Jus’sayin…one masque laughs the other cries.

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