Louisiana has asked a federal court to shield it from any costs the Army Corps of Engineers may want to charge the state for repairs of corroding pumps that are key parts of New Orleans' hurricane levee system.
The suit also says state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority officials raised concerns over the potential for corrosion while the pumps were being built -- concerns that turned out to be correct. The lawsuit serves as a precautionary move by the state since the Corps, which oversaw the project, has committed to addressing the problem.
The pumping stations located at the ends of the 17th Street, Orleans Avenue and London Avenue canals in New Orleans have been undergoing repairs since the corrosion was discovered.
The Corps and PCCP JV, the joint venture that built the combined storm surge canal closures and pump stations for $726 million, conducted temporary repairs of some of the 17 pumps in the stations last year after an initial pump failed in 2021. All the pumps are now included in a two- to three-year permanent repair program by PCCP, overseen by the Corps.
Aerial view of the Permanent Canal Closure and Pump Station at the lakefront entrance of the 17th Street Canal. The Corps has agreed to not allow repairs at this and other stations during the upcoming hurricane season, as requested by the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East. (Google Earth)
The combined canal mouth closure gates and pump stations were a key addition to the east bank hurricane levee system rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina, designed to guarantee that the interior canals would no longer be threatened by storm surge from the lake. Because the gates are closed during tropical storms, the pump stations are supposed to keep water levels in the canals lower than the top of floodwalls that protect portions of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish from rainfall flooding.
A spokesperson for the Corps said the agency does not comment on litigation, and did not address whether the state would be asked to chip in money if the joint venture refused to pay for the repairs.
Army Corps of Engineers and construction partners removed a discharge elbow for corrosion repairs earlier this year. Water from the pump station moves through the elbow into Lake Pontchartrain. These pieces were trucked to an off-site facility for repairs while other parts were repaired on-site. The state of Louisiana has filed suit against the Corps to avoid being charged the costs for these and other repairs at the three lakefront pump stations. (Photo courtesy of the Army Corps of Engineers)
Spokesperson Ricky Boyett said there were plans for permanent repairs for all 17 pumps.
"Our focus now is to complete the repairs of the four pumps currently under rehabilitation by the beginning of hurricane season," he said. "We will not undertake work during hurricane season."
Enough pumping capacity will be in place if a storm hits this season, the Corps says.
The state lawsuit focuses on two documents outlining the financial responsibility of the state and the Corps for the levee system.
Army Corps of Engineers employees and contractors remove remove the gear box for Pump #1 at the 17th Street Canal Permanent Canal Closure and Pump Station to address corrosion. (Photo by Ryan Labadens, Army Corps of Engineers)
The first is a 2008 "project partnership agreement" between the Corps and the CPRA -- which was amended in 2010 to include the pump stations -- that lists the state as the local sponsor of the entire post-Katrina east bank levee reconstruction project, and outlines the state's financial responsibility for sharing the construction costs.
The second is a May 1, 2018, "notice of construction completion" issued by the Corps to the CPRA when the three canal closure-pump station projects were declared to be complete. That document governs how the stations were to be handed over to the state, which would become responsible for their operation and maintenance. Operation and maintenance of the stations is actually assigned by the state to the east bank levee authority.
According to the suit, CPRA officials repeatedly "expressed concerns regarding the potential for corrosion in the design and construction of the pumps" during the stations' construction.
A worker probes a sinkhole found adjacent to the Orleans Avenue Permanent Canal Closure and Pump Station. (Army Corps of Engineers)
"These concerns included the use of dissimilar metals and inadequate cathodic protection for the electrically continuous pumps, all of which could lead to corrosion," the lawsuit said. Those concerns turned out to be prescient, based on initial reports by the Corps explaining how numerous pumps were so damaged by corrosion, or in danger of being corroded, that they all had to be rebuilt.
On May 16, 2018, CPRA formally objected to the notice of completion, saying it did not agree that the Corps' obligations to assure the pump stations were actually complete had been met.
However, recognizing that the Corps didn't have the capability to operate and maintain the stations, CPRA agreed to take over their operation and maintenance, and in turn assigned the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East to do so.
A worker prepares concrete floor for repair of basement cracks at the London Avenue Permanent Canal Closure and Pump Station. (Army Corps of Engineers)
The New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board also is involved since its own, separate pump stations are linked to the canals.
The pumps were supposed to have a 35-year lifetime, but one pump failed in 2021 and most of the others were found to be corroded after only three years in place.
While the Corps has assured the state it will not be held responsible for repair costs, the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, the local sponsor for the three stations, filed the suit to protect it if the joint venture fails to pick up its share of the repair costs, said CPRA Executive Director Glenn Ledet.
This photo shows corrosion in a diffuser that is part of a pump at the London Avenue permanent canal closure and pump station. Permanent repairs to pumps at the London Avenue station and two others are expected to last at least two years. (Army Corps of Engineers)
He said the state won't take action to move the lawsuit forward unless the Corps asks for the state to pay.
The lawsuit points out that in addition to the pumps, screens designed to protect pump intakes from debris are deficient, sinkholes have been found adjacent to some of the pump stations, cracks are being repaired in station basements, and some pump equipment within the stations has tilted.
"The government‘s design and construction deficiencies continue to render the pumps within the PCCPs insufficient to perform and fulfill the intended purposes," the lawsuit said. "As a result, the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas, as well as the residents, are vulnerable to future flooding events."
Severe corrosion was found in the pump bearing housing of a pump at the London Avenue permanent canal closure and pump station. Repairs, and in some cases, replacement, of pumps are under way at three lakefront canal closure/pump stations. (Army Corps of Engineers)
The suit asks a federal judge in New Orleans to find that the federal government breached the partnership agreement with the pump stations' defective design and construction, and the agreement's implied warranty, and to declare the notice of construction completion to be "arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion, and contrary to law."
The lawsuit has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown, chief judge for the Eastern District, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama.
The east bank levee authority last month requested that the Corps block PCCP from conducting permanent repairs on some of the pumps during this year's hurricane season, which begins June 1. The company wanted permission to repair two of the pumps during the early part of the season to limit the construction project to two years.