"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance

 and a people who mean to be their own governors

 must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."

Thursday, September 01, 2005

A Tale of Two Cities

In 1973, a flood in Bound Brook, New Jersey resulted in loss of life and the evacuation of people from their homes. In response to the disaster, the Army Corps of Engineers began studying the problem and by 1980 the Crops submitted a report recommending a plan for protecting the Green Brook Sub Basin. The project plan was authorized for construction by the Water Resources Act of 1986.

The project plan kicked around for another 11 years when in 1997 the Corps completed a General Reevaluation Report and proposed a new plan to fix the flooding problem in Bound Brook. This new plan recommended a number of remedies, including the construction of levees and floodwalls along the Green Brook to provide flood protection.

In June of 1999, a Project Cooperation Agreement between the U.S. Government and the state of New Jersey was signed. In September 1999, Hurricane Floyd swept through New Jersey, flooding Bound Brook, again resulting in loss of life and evacuation of people from their homes. The 1999 flood was the most damaging on record for an area that had long been identified as vulnerable. In September 2000, the initial phase of the flood control project began and the entire Green Brook Sub Basin project is now slated to be completed in 2012 – assuming all goes well.

By the time the project is completed it will have been: 39 years since the Crops began studying the problem, 32 years since the Corps submitted its original flood control plan, 26 years since congress authorized the project's construction and 13 years since the final construction plan was approved.

It hard to imagine, but just think, during this period the country will have been led by Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush (GHW), Clinton, Bush(GW) and one or two more Presidents we’ve yet to elect.

Very interesting you think, but why are you guys relating this saga? This ridiculous article by Sidney Blumenthal, a former Clinton advisor, begged for a little perspective. In "No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming", Blumenthal writes:

In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.

With its main levee broken, the evacuated city of New Orleans has become part of the Gulf of Mexico. But the damage wrought by the hurricane may not entirely be the result of an act of nature.

A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken.
Let’s see, Blumenthal wants his readers to believe a year ago the Corps proposed a study on how to protect New Orleans from a hurricane and if Bush President hadn’t gotten in the way, “the Big Easy” would be high and dry today. Uh, huh.

You probably didn’t need to read our little story about the Corps’ Bound Brook project to realize this is one of the most outrageous and blatant partisan attacks ever. However, let’s assume Blumenthal was telling the truth about the Corps proposing a study in 2004. Based upon our experience in New Jersey, the New Orleans flood protection project would be completed somewhere between 2017 and 2043 – just in time to save the city from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.



0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home


 Contact Us

  • Email Us
  • Blog Roll Us!

    Search

    Syndication

  • Atom Feed
  • Bloglines
  • Feedburner
  • Feedster
  • Add to Google
  • Add to My MSN
  • Add to My Yahoo
  • News Is Free

    Recent Posts

  • Hurricane Katrina Victim Relief
  • New Jersey SAT Scores Lower Than National Average
  • The Iraq Connection
  • Carnival of the New Jersey Bloggers # 15
  • The Carnival In Paradise
  • Public Employees Lecture New Jersey Taxpayers
  • What's The Matter With New Jersey II
  • Fort Monmouth Slated To Close - Jobs Will Move To...
  • Have You Read?
  • Rutgers Report: New Jersey's Economy Lags Nation

    Archives

  • November 2004
  • December 2004
  • January 2005
  • February 2005
  • March 2005
  • April 2005
  • May 2005
  • June 2005
  • July 2005
  • August 2005
  • September 2005
  • October 2005
  • November 2005
  • December 2005
  • January 2006
  • February 2006
  • March 2006
  • April 2006
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • April 2008
  • November 2008
  • January 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • February 2012

    Online Journals

  • National Review

  • Opinion Journal

  • Real Clear Politics

  • Weekly Standard


  • Blog Roll

  • A Blog For All
  • Althouse
  • Ankle Biting Pundits
  • Barista of Bloomfield Avenue
  • Betsy's Page
  • Blue Crab Boulevard
  • Blogs For Condi
  • Bob the Corgi
  • Brainster's Blog
  • BuzzMachine
  • Captain's Quarter's
  • Cinnaman
  • Coalition of the Swilling
  • CWA-NJ
  • Dino's Forum
  • Daily Mail
  • Don Surber
  • DynamoBuzz
  • eCache
  • Exit 4
  • Fausta's Blog
  • GOP Bloggers
  • Instapundit
  • Joe's Journal
  • Kate Spot
  • Kausfiles.com
  • Little Green Footballs
  • Michelle Malkin
  • More Mnmouth Musings
  • Parkway Rest Stop
  • Patrick Ruffini
  • Polipundit
  • Power Line
  • Right Wing News
  • Roger L. Simon
  • The Blue State Conservatives
  • Riehl World View
  • Red Jersey
  • Right, Wing-Nut!
  • Sid in the City
  • Tiger Hawk
  • The Truth Laid Bear
  • Tim Blair
  • Wizbang


  • Sid in the City



    Majority Accountability Project

    MAP

    New Jersey Blogs

    Enlighten-Carnival-small

  • 11th and Washington


  • A Blog For All
  • A Planet Where Apes Evolved From Man?!?
  • Armies of Liberation
  • Atlantic Highland Muse
  • Attack of the 15.24 Mete


  • Barista of Bloomfield Avenue
  • BeLow Me
  • Big Windbag
  • Blanton's and Ashton's
  • Blue State Conservatives
  • Burning Feathers
  • BuzzMachine


  • Clifton Blogs
  • Coalition of the Swilling
  • Cobweb Studios
  • CoffeeGrounds
  • Constitutional Conservative
  • Confessions of a Jersey Goddess
  • Corzine Watch
  • Crazy Jackie
  • Cresting Acrocorinthus
  • Cripes, Suzette!


  • Daniella's Misadventures
  • Did I Say That Out Loud
  • Dojo Mojo
  • Dossy's Blog
  • Down the Shore
  • DynamoBuzz


  • eCache
  • Enlighten-NewJersey
  • Eye On Hoboken
  • Exit 4
  • Exit Zero
  • Extreme-Psychosis


  • Fausta's Blog
  • Fausti's Book Quest
  • Fractals of Change
  • Frenchtown NJ Blog


  • GiggleChick
  • Gregg Gethard's Amazing Personal Journey
  • goethe re scape


  • Hoboken Rock City


  • IamBillPower
  • If this is paradise, I wish I had a lawn-mower
  • Imaginary Therapy
  • Inadmissible Evidence
  • INCITE


  • Jersey Beat
  • Jersey Perspective
  • Jersey Side
  • Jersey Style
  • Jersey Writers
  • Joe's Journal


  • Karl's Corner
  • Kate Spot


  • Laughing At The Pieces
  • Likelihood of Confusion
  • Liss Is More


  • Mamacita
  • Mary's Lame Attempt at Fame
  • Media in Trouble
  • Michael Carroll
  • Mister Snitch!
  • MucknMire
  • My Life as a Rabid Blog
  • My New Jersey


  • New Jersey Eminent Domain Law
  • NJ Conservative
  • NJ Fiscal Folly
  • New Jersey For Change
  • New Jersey Weblogs
  • NJ Spoken Word
  • Northeast Corridor


  • Parkway Rest Stop
  • Philly2Hoboken.com
  • Poetic Leanings
  • Poor Impulse Control
  • Professor Kim's News Notes
  • Property Tax NJ


  • Rain Angel
  • Riehl World View


  • Shamrocketship
  • Shipwrecks
  • SloppyDawg
  • Sluggo Needs a Nap
  • SmadaNeK
  • Static Silence


  • Tami,The One True
  • Tammany on the Hudson
  • Tequila Shots For The Soul
  • The Art of Getting By
  • The Center of New Jersey Life
  • The Daily Fry
  • The Duc Pond
  • The Jersey Shore Real Estate Bubble
  • The Joy of Soup
  • The Mark(ings) of Zorro
  • The New Wisdom
  • The Nightfly
  • The Opinion Mill
  • The Pink Panther
  • The Political Dogs
  • The Rix Mix
  • This Full House
  • Tiger Hawk
  • Tomato Nation
  • Toxiclabrat
  • Twisty


  • Unbillable Hours
  • Usdin.Net


  • Where Is The Remote
  • Wine Goddess


  • Xpatriated Texan


  • Links

  • NJ Governor
  • NJ Legislature
  • GOP GOTV
  • Bob Menendez Information


  • Blog Rings

  • Blog Explosion
  • Blog Directory
  • Blogsnow
  • Blogwise
  • Blogstreet
  • Blogshares
  • Blogarama
  • Blog Digger
  • Daypop
  • Globe of Blogs
  • Blog Search Engine


  • Ecosystem Status


  • Who Links Here






  •