Scientists Rebut Big Easy ("Mr. Go") Channel Report - AP

[Eugene]

Scientists Rebut Big Easy Channel Report

By CAIN BURDEAU
The Associated Press
Thursday, December 21, 2006; 6:33 PM

NEW ORLEANS -- A group of scientists accused the Army Corps of Engineers
on Thursday of endangering the city's future by failing to take steps to
immediately close a shipping channel blamed for widespread flooding during
Hurricane Katrina.

The rebuke was aimed at a preliminary report the Corps sent Congress on
Dec. 15, urging it to close the 76-mile Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet,
known as Mr. Go, but stopping short of saying when.

Locals have dubbed the channel a "hurricane highway" because it has been
blamed for funneling storm surge into the city. The report denied that the
channel contributed to flooding in the city's Lower Ninth Ward and suburban
St. Bernard Parish.

But in a letter to congressional members, the scientists called the channel
"a ticking time bomb."

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/21/AR2006122101195.html