More floodgates followup - urgency

I've written quite extensively about how the Corps has allowed its contractors at the floodgates to go back to treating the critical work on those sites as everyday 9 to 5 jobs, no more important than routine maintenance of their dredging boat or working on some study not due to be complete for three years. Unfortunately, that's continuing to this day.

The beauty of pictures is that they don't lie. If you've been reading this blog over the last month, you've seen me post a lot of pictures of the floodgates, and I've provided interpretation for the various things in those pictures.

However, there is a common element in almost all those pictures: a distinct lack of work on site when there should be some.

Here's a series of shots, some during the day, some at night, some during the week, some on weekends. The common thread is that there is no one working at the site at the time the photos were taken. This is scandalous, considering how important this work is, and also the obvious need for extensive, weeks-long testing and troubleshooting once the work is complete (most of the pumps are still vibrating, over four months after the Corps first announced the problem. It's likely they knew about it long before that announcement).

London Avenue, October 11:


Orleans Ave, October 11 (while there are contractors working on the discharge pipes, no one's working on the pumps behind them):


Orleans Avenue, October 21st:


Orleans Avenue October 21st, 8:30 AM (October 21st was a Saturday. Obviously, the Corps has given contractors at Orleans Ave the weekend off):


17th Street, November 5, 5:00 PM:


London Avenue, First week of November, after dark:


17th Street, First week of November, after dark (this is a previously unpublished Deep Flood photo):


And of course, we can always look at WWL's webcam of 17th Street. Here it is tonight/this morning:


Not a soul in sight.

Here's what 17th Street is supposed to look like:

This picture is taken from an article posted to Time Magazine's website on May 21, 2006. The article is titled "You're On Your Own" and can be found here. Look at how the site is lit up like a stadium. Why in the world isn't that happening now? How is it things are less urgent now, and apparently have been for four months (when work stopped being 24/7), dating all the way back to just after the anniversary of Katrina?

I guess this is what they mean when people say the Corps is back to "business as usual." I hope they can account for this laziness if they're called to account next storm season, knock on wood!