The mainstream media, including the New York Times and the New Orleans Times-Picayune, have not covered an independent evaluation recently released by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) that there are serious safety and reliability issues with hydraulic pumps that were installed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The Government Accountability Project (GAP) says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is misrepresenting the situation and failing in preparedness to protect New Orleans in the event of another hurricane.
Post, with text and video, by Jesselyn Radack, GAP Homeland Security Director and counsel to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers whistleblower Maria Garzino.
GAP client Maria Garzino, an engineer with the Corps of Engineers, was the pump team installation leader who blew the whistle on several problems that render the pumps ineffective. After unsuccessfully taking her concerns to the Corps in August 2006, Garzino made a whistleblower disclosure to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel—the federal agency charged with investigating whistleblower disclosures and defending such employees.
Government Accountability Project press release with additional detail and links to documents:
OSC Report Substantiates Allegations of Defective Hydraulic Pumps in New Orleans
See our earlier post:
On third anniversary of Katrina, concerns about preparedness for Hurricane Gustav