NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, May 17, 2007

Reprint Information

Book on Katie Couric Makes Waves White House: We're Not Subject to FOIA FBI Seeks 2 Mysterious Men on Ferry Publisher: Conservatives Do Read As Much As Liberals Romney Shrugs Off Mormon History Film

NEW ORLEANS -- Congress's investigative arm found no evidence of fraud or improper influence in the placing of faulty pumps along New Orleans' drainage canals before the start of last year's hurricane season, Sen. Mary Landrieu said Thursday.

Landrieu said the Government Accounting Office found that the Army Corps of Engineers was in a rush to get pumps in place prior to the June 1 start of the 2006 hurricane season. The 2005 season had produced Hurricane Katrina, when failures in the city's flood protection led to inundation of 80 percent of New Orleans.

A May 2006 memo by a Corps inspector working on the pump project, provided to The Associated Press earlier this year, warned that the pumps were faulty and would not work if needed to remove water during a hurricane.

The GAO opened its investigation after the memo surfaced, and Landrieu said she was briefed Thursday morning on the GAO's forthcoming report.

The Corps has insisted that the pumps would have worked, but last year's unexpectedly mild hurricane season never put them to the test. The pumps have since been overhauled.

© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Editor's note:
Laura Bush: The Real Story -- Read More
Learn the Money-Making Secrets of the World`s Four Most Successful Investors
Sex Drive: You Can Improve Your Vitality

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Katrina Disaster