Landrieu on Faulty NOLA Water Pumps: No Fraud Found, But Work Remains Before Communities Safe

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Landrieu on Faulty NOLA Water Pumps: No Fraud Found, But Work Remains Before Communities Safe

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) today briefed United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., on a report she requested on faulty pumps that the Army Corps of Engineers installed in New Orleans drainage canals last year. The GAO, which will deliver its final report next week, found that the Corps was hasty in installing the pumps in advance of the 2006 hurricane season. This action was taken despite warnings of factory-tested problems with the pumps and the lack of a comprehensive test plan for the pumps.

The GAO also told Sen. Landrieu that they did not find any existence of fraud or impropriety in how the Corps chose MWI, a politically connected company, to be the pumps installation contractor.

"The biggest mistake the Corps made was that it was not honest with the public about the quality of the pumping system in the New Orleans region for last year's hurricane season," Sen. Landrieu said. "It lacked any kind of comprehensive test plan for pumps the city relies upon for draining flood water out of the city and basically made its specifications and test procedures up as it went along.

"The Corps had no assurance that the pumps would operate, and more troubling, they did not make public the compromises made. Thankfully, the 2006 hurricane season did not put these pumps to the test.

"The good news, the GAO told me, is that the Corps appears on track to reach its pumping capacity in the next week, in advance of the 2007 hurricane season that begins June 1. Also, the pump testing has shown that the repaired pumps have had a minimal failure rate. They will not be at the capacity we need, but this is an encouraging step forward."

By June 1, the GAO told Sen. Landrieu, the Corps plans to have completed reinstallation of 40 pump systems that have each been tested for 45 minutes to two hours. By mid-August, the Corps will expand temporary pumping capacity at the 17th Street and London Avenue canals with an additional 19 pumps.

The agency also informed Sen. Landrieu that due to weaknesses in some canal walls, the city's pumping system will pump about 69 percent of maximum capacity.

"The pumping system in our city is a work in progress," said Sen. Landrieu, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Disaster Recovery subcommittee. "While we are at a much better place than we were last year, I still do not have full confidence that we can keep flood waters out of our community. My committee will continue working with the Corps to ensure the pumping system is capable of handling a Category 5 storm. And we will continue to keep the Corps honest, holding its leaders accountable for their decisions, and making sure the public is fully informed regarding the safety of their communities."

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