Terrebonne Levee Director Accuses SOWL of Flooding New Orleans

Terrebonne Levee Director Accuses SOWL of Flooding New Orleans

New York Times owned Houma Courier on May 18, 2008 slanders SOWL by permitting Windell Curole, recently appointed interim regional levee director for Lafourche and Terrebonne to falsely accuse and slander SOWL as an environmental group that has litigated in lawsuits that caused New Orleans to flood. Paper refuses to print SOWL phone interviews. (See article: Was a Permit Necessary to Build Local Levee?)

Windell Curole states:

"From just a little research, it’s interesting that this is the same group that sued the corps and helped force some of the compromises that hampered the system in New Orleans," Curole said. "What they’re trying to do in Terrebonne is what they did in New Orleans."

Joseph Towers’, former Corps of Engineers Chief Counsel asserted that environmentalists were to blame for Katrina’s damage as well but Center for Progressive Reforms' Thomas McGarity said that is 'pure fiction'.

So with press of a computer button, and with very little research, anyone can discover what SOWL did in New Orleans.

SOWL stopped 28,000 New Orleans East acres of wetlands from being developed into the Orlandia Subdivision by Texas oil baron Lyndon Johnson allies...

SOWL stopped 60,000 homes from being constructed into New Orleans East wetlands that would have been flooded on August 29, 2005 compliments U.S. Army Corps of Engineers..

SOWL saved during Corps' Katrina engineering disaster over 100,000 human lives by stopping Corps Hurricane Barrier project.

Because of SOWL, New Orleans is now buffeted by 28,000 acres of wetlands in New Orleans East, and is now site of biggest urban park in the world called the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge Center.

SOWL with the St. Tammany Parish Police Jury, as co-plaintiffs enjoined the Corps' from building a billion dollar pork barrel dam across the Chef Menteur-Rigolets at Fort Pike under guise of Hurricane Protction.

The Government Accountability Office(GAO) (Official PDF) post Katrina concluded that if the "barriers" had been constructed, the flooding in New Orleans "would have been worse". Basically, Katrina would have topped the Barriers, and the waters would have breached the secondary levees surrounding the proposed Orlandia Subdivision. The waters would also have been trapped inside Slidell, unable to flow back into the Rigolets thanks to this ill conceived Barrier plan. This is exactly why St. Tammany Police Jury joined SOWL as a co-plaintiff.

Oh yea, one other small item, the "Barriers" would have affected the salinity and velocity flow thru the Rigolets, making Lake Pontchtrain a stagnant body of water. The Corps lied in their final EIS, stating the barriers would not affect the velocity and salinity flow in spite of their owm internal engineering report stating otherwise.

Corps' Lake Pontchartrain & Vicinity Hurricane Barrier Project

Morganza, Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Protection Project

The words sound like hurricane protection, but in reality Morganza like Corps' barrier plan, in its present alignment it will destroy over 166,000 acres of wetland hurricane barriers, and at same time promoting development into low lying areas, extremely susceptible to hurricane tidal surges.

Windell Curole is like New Orleans deceased Levee Board director Guy Le Mieux, who in the 1970's pushed for levees to promote development into low lying wetlands of New Orleans East under the guise of "Hurricane Protection"...

We now have history repeating with Guy Le Mieux reincarnated into the mouth and actions of Windell Curole.

The Morganza to Gulf of Mexico "Leaky Levee" proposal has been condemned by 16 leading coastal scientists and engineers.

Windell Curole's reponse is to slander SOWL, neglecting to confront 16 leading coastal scientists and engineers condemning his outlandish eleven billion dollar disastrous "Leaky Levee" project.

What's really sad is this Morganza pork barrel promoter- supporter Windell A. Curole is on the the Louisiana Coastal Protection Restoration Authority(CPRA).

And most recently, Jerome Zeringue, ex-director of Terrebonne Levee District, and SOWL's major defendant for proceeding with Morganza without obtaining Clean Water Act permits, has most recently transferred to a key position within CPRA.

Oh by way Shell Oil Compamy is major player within the bowels of CPRA by fronting America's Wetlands as a partner of CPRA.

Smell any rats yet good people of Louisiana?

Yes as SOWL stated in its Sept. 12, 2007 letter, Louisiana's Coastal Protection Restoration Authority is a sham and a fraud.

And so it goes with the Houma Courier, quoting directors of Houma Lafourche Terrebonne Levee Districts like Windell Curole slandering SOWL, denying SOWL a fair opportunity to respond.

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True Voice of the Wetlands

Terrebonne Levee Director Accuses SOWL of Flooding New Orleans

Corps' Lake Pontchartrain & Vicinity Hurricane Barrier Project

Morganza, Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Protection Project