Corps cans Donaldsonville-to-the-Gulf levee project

The Army Corps of Engineers has decided it is too expensive to build any of five alternative levee systems that would protect communities bordering the Barataria basin from hurricane storm surge, including Lafitte, Jean Lafitte and Crown Point in Jefferson Parish, and areas along U.S. 90 from Boutte to Raceland. According to a story in The Times-Picayune, the Donaldsonville-to-the-Gulf project became too expensive because of more stringent levee construction standards adopted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that increased the cost of the alternatives to between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion. A corps study concluded the average annual benefits, represented by avoided flooding, amounted to only $15 million to $22 million a year, while the cost of construction and long-term maintenance averaged between $67 million and $75 million a year. For the complete story, click here.