La., fed gov’t levee negotiations slow

The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority focused at its July 19 monthly board meeting on its so-far unsuccessful efforts to get the federal government to dismiss a $3 billion bill for the state's share of building the New Orleans area hurricane levee system in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The state is facing a payment of at least $100 million a year for 30 years beginning in 2020, CPRA Chairman Johnny Bradberry told board members at a meeting in Chalmette. The state is attempting to get the debt cut or have the 30 years of interest payments removed, if it can't get the bill canceled, he said. Congress has paid $12.8 billion for the levee system. The state is responsible for the remaining $1.5 billion of the system's construction costs, but entered an agreement with the Corps of Engineers to spread the payments across 30 years, which raised the cost to about $3 billion. The state wants Congress and the CoE to forgive the state's share of the construction costs, but negotiations have been slow in developing. (Source: NOLA.com 07/19/17)