Louisiana Supreme Court Building, New Orleans, Louisiana
Major General Don T. Riley
Director of Civil Works , U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
COMPLETE STATEMENT
OF
JOHN PAUL WOODLEY, JR.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
(CIVIL WORKS)
and
MAJOR GENERAL DON T. RILEY
DIRECTOR OF CIVIL WORKS
U. S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
BEFORE
THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ON
RECONSTRUCTION, RESTORATION AND DEBRIS REMOVAL IN
February 26, 2007
Introduction
Madam Chair and other Members of the Committee, I am John Paul Woodley, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works). Attending this hearing with me is Major General Don Riley, Director, Civil Works, for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss the hurricane response operations and the ongoing reconstruction and restoration efforts by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the
My testimony will focus on the Hurricane Protection System Restoration, Ecosystem Restoration, and the debris removal mission.
Hurricane Protection System Restoration Status
The Hurricane Protection System for the greater
Design and construction activities are focusing on building the system to the level of risk reduction envisioned when it was first authorized, while implementing further improvements where appropriate. The designs themselves are being accomplished through a combination of contracts with private industry and the Corps of Engineers. All designs are then vetted through the independent technical review process. Furthermore, we will continue to assess and improve designs throughout the construction process.
Generally, the Corps is working to reduce the risk of flood damage in the greater
The FY 2008 Budget, released earlier this month, recommends, as part of an FY 2007 Supplemental appropriations package, enactment of a statutory provision to authorize the Secretary of the Army to reallocate up to $1.3 billion of the emergency supplemental appropriations that were provided in FY 2006, but that remain unobligated. The proposed reallocation will enable the Corps to apply this funding to those measures that will best improve the near-term, overall level of risk reduction in the greater New Orleans metropolitan area. It will enable the Corps to complete higher priority work sooner, in concert with similar work in other areas.
The estimate of the cost of the work necessary to accomplish our work is expected to increase as a result of various engineering forensic investigations and assessments, a review of new storm surge data from the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force Risk and Consequence study currently underway, increased material costs, and other factors. Updated, actionable re-estimates will not be available until this summer.
While the Corps is moving forward with design and with refining cost-estimates for future work, we continue to make progress on ongoing work. The Corps has recently awarded contracts to furnish 11 additional pumps at the
Additionally, the Corps has completed upgrading the manually operated gates to mechanical operation. The mechanically operated gates provide storm surge protection at the outfall canals when a major storm is approaching. The temporary pumps in the outfall canals will provide interior drainage capability comparable to conditions that existed during major storms prior to Hurricane Katrina. We continue to prepare for the expected spring rains and the next hurricane season.
Restoration Efforts
We are engaged on several fronts with respect to ecosystem restoration in coastal
Since Hurricane Katrina, the Corps of Engineers has been involved in a number of simultaneous efforts located on or near the
Ecosystem Restoration
The fourth emergency supplemental appropriations act of 2006 provided $20.2 million to reduce the risk of storm damage to the greater New Orleans metropolitan area by restoring the surrounding wetlands through measures to begin to reverse wetland losses in areas affected by navigation, oil and gas, and other channels and through modification of the Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion structure or its operations.
The landbridge in
The Corps is evaluating options for improving the performance of the Caernarvon Freshwater Diversion Project. The alternatives under consideration include modifications of its operation and/or combinations of channel restoration, increased sediment delivery, and marsh creation.
Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act
The CWPPRA program was authorized in 1990. The CWPPRA program is available only for restoration work in the State of
CWPPRA provides targeted funds for planning and implementing cost-effective projects that create, protect, restore and enhance wetlands in coastal
Given the magnitude of
The Corps, in collaboration with the State of
However, we believe that the Congress should not authorize the LCA plan through a conventional authorization. To reduce taxpayer costs and make better use of the available funds for restoring coastal Louisiana wetlands, the Administration has urged the Congress instead to enact a broad authorization covering all studies, construction, and science work that would support the wetlands restoration effort, including the measures now undertaken under CWPPRA, without regard to the specific projects and funding allocations envisioned in the LCA plan.
The kind of authorization that we have recommended will ensure that the coastal
Coastal Protection and Restoration
The Corps began its Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration (LACPR) study in 2005. We are considering a full range of flood and storm damage reduction and coastal restoration measures, including those that could reduce the risk of damage from a “Category 5” storm. Potential measures are being developed based on extensive stakeholder involvement efforts with the State, resource agencies, Nongovernmental Organizations, academia, and the public. These measures will be integrated into alternatives, with the objective of developing an overall plan to improve the existing coastal restoration and protection system. We are using a risk-based approach to evaluate alternatives for risk reduction to people, property and coastal landscape stabilization and performance for design levels ranging from the stage-frequencies that could be expected during a 100-year storm to those that might occur during a much more severe storm. Our analysis will focus more extensively on uncertainty and will include consideration of relative sea level rise, redevelopment rates, and storm intensity and frequency. A preliminary draft report was submitted to Congress in July 2006.
As you can see, we have a wide range of programs and studies underway to reduce the risk of flood and storm damage, protect and rebuild the coastal wetlands, or both. As we go forward, particularly with the LACPR study, we will need to keep in mind the importance of integrating these dual, complementary objectives in a way that will promote a long-term, sustainable vision for the coast.
Debris Removal
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita created catastrophic devastation throughout the Gulf region. In the State of
Waste Segregation and Disposal
From the outset of the response, the Corps applied rigorous protocols for segregation, collection, processing, staging, recycling, and disposal of hurricane generated waste to sustain compliance with environmental laws and regulations. Specific waste streams, which require special handling, included municipal solid waste, vegetative debris, construction and demolition debris, small motorized equipment, asbestos containing materials, electronic waste, household hazardous waste, white goods and tires.
Robust quality control and quality assurance programs were followed throughout operations to assure the appropriate disposition of waste. The Corps employed quality assurance personnel to monitor segregation, collection and disposal of hurricane debris. Contracts for debris removal required execution of quality control plans to assure the application of waste disposal protocols. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the State of
Special care was exercised to ensure the proper handling and disposal of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle C hazardous waste and household hazardous waste that is often commingled with debris. The EPA established and managed the operation of a hazardous waste processing center in eastern
Landfills
To date, 48 landfills have been used for disposal of hurricane Katrina generated waste and 21 have been used for hurricane Rita generated waste. Presently, there are nine active landfills. The permitting of landfills for receipt of hurricane generated debris falls under the jurisdiction of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality. The Corps does not engage in a direct contractual relationship with permitted landfills, but reimburses our prime contractors for tipping fees charged for waste disposal. Contractors have the discretion to direct hurricane waste to any of the properly permitted landfills to optimize the efficiency of their debris removal operations. The
Gentilly Landfill
The Old Gentilly Landfill (Gentilly Landfill) is located in an industrial corridor in eastern
Corps contractors started using the facility on October 2, 2005, initially receiving an average daily quantity of 20,000 to 25,000 cubic yards (CY) of C&D material during the first month. The operation quickly ramped up to a daily average of 40,000 to 50,000 CY over the next two months. On October 31, 2005, the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) filed a Petition for Judicial Review of the Commencement Order citing concerns related to environmental sustainability and structural stability of the landfill which is in close proximity of the MRGO hurricane protection levee. LDEQ and LEAN entered into a Consent Judgment on March 16, 2006, which resulted in establishment of a daily limit of 19,000 CY pending issuance by LDEQ of a decisional document addressing concerns raised by LEAN. FEMA subsequently directed the Corps to limit daily quantities to 10,000 CY at the end of February and further curtailed the daily quantities to 5,000 CY in March 2006. LDEQ issued their decisional document on August 28, 2006, which substantially addressed issues raised by LEAN. FEMA responded by relaxing the daily quantity limits. At present, the limit has been set at 15,000 CY per day.
This concludes my testimony. Madam Chair, again, thank you for allowing me to testify on the ongoing efforts of the Corps of Engineers in the