Judge faults Army Corps in Katrina floods

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A U.S. judge has ruled the federal government's failure to maintain adequately a navigation channel caused some of the flood damage from Hurricane Katrina.

U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. awarded four plaintiffs in New Orleans a total of $700,000 in damages Wednesday, in a ruling that could pave the way for claims for damages against the government totaling billions of dollars by as many as 100,000 residents, businesses and local governments, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported.

Duval said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' mismanagement of maintenance of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a shipping channel dug in the 1960s, caused flood damage in St. Bernard Parish and the Lower 9th Ward in 2005.

"The people of this city have been vindicated," said attorney Joseph Bruno, a leader of the team of plaintiffs' lawyers. "They didn't do anything wrong and it's time they be compensated."

"Judge Duval exposed 40 years of the Army Corps of Engineers' gross malfeasance with regard to the operation and maintenance of the (channel)," said Pierce O'Donnell, co-leader of the plaintiff's legal team.

A Justice Department spokesman was not available for comment late Wednesday, but the government is expected to appeal, The Times-Picayune said.

"Until such time as the litigation is completed, including the appellate process up to and through the U.S Supreme Court, no activity is expected to be taken on any of these claims," Corps spokesman Ken Holder said.

Bruno and O'Donnell said they plan to try to persuade President Barack Obama and members of Congress to take a fresh look at requests for compensation by New Orleans-area residents, the newspaper said.

"We're hoping the new administration and the new Congress will view this decision in a new light," O'Donnell said. "This decision should act as a catalyst to finally work out a settlement for all the people of New Orleans."