'Officials fooled around on job'

2005-12-15 19:59

Lara Jakes Jordan

Washington - Local commissioners tasked with maintaining New Orleans levees did very little actual inspection of the floodwalls that failed during Hurricane Katrina, according to interviews with congressional investigators released on Thursday by a senate panel.

Instead, Orleans levee district commissioners "normally meet and get some beignets and coffee in the morning", former commission president James P Huey said in a partial deposition released at a hearing to examine who was responsible for overseeing the floodwalls.

"You have commissioners," Huey told investigators. "They have some news cameras following you around, and all of this stuff. And you have your little beignets, and then you have - you go do the tourist and that and you have a nice lunch somewhere or whatever. They have this stop-off thing or whatever. And that's what the inspections are about."

Asked about other levee inspections that might be more thorough, Huey told investigators: "When you say inspections - and I don't really know and I couldn't even answer to tell you - how do you inspect levees other than if you see seepage?"

Huey resigned from the board in October amid questions about no-bid contracts to his relatives in the days after the August 29 storm.

A work order also released by the senate panel that was dated August 16 -two weeks before Katrina hit - shows inspection crews did check the levees but also cut nearby grass and green space.

- AP