Judge rules no case in Katrina lawsuit (Roundup)

By Rich Bowden, M&C Staff Writer Jan 31, 2008, 11:45 GMT

(FILE)A picture dated 23 August 2007 of a brage dredging the 17th Street Canal near the site of a breach in the flood wall in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. EPA/DAVID RAE MORRIS

(M&C) - A New Orleans judge has dismissed a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the latter's alleged failure to secure the city's levee system against the flooding that occurred during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

U.S. Judge Stanwood Duval ruled that the Engineers, who built the levee system, could not be prosecuted due to the protection of a 1928 federal law which says the government cannot be sued over flood damage from levee projects.

However the judge was scathing in his opinion of the Corps saying in his judgement: "Millions of dollars were squandered in building a levee system ... which was known to be inadequate by the Corps' own calculations."

"The byzantine funding and appropriation methods for this undertaking were in large part a cause of this failure. It is not within this court's power to address the wrongs committed," the judge said.

"It is hopefully within the citizens of the United States power to address the failures of our laws and agencies,'' Duval said. "If not, it is certain that another tragedy such as this will occur again.''

Plaintiffs' attorney Joe Bruno said he would appeal the decision.

"I know I'm fighting an uphill battle, but I'm not going to give up," Bruno said in a statement.