Reply #2: AP: Army Corps Hit With New Katrina Lawsuit (Neighborhood Residents)

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/KATRINA_FLOOD_LAWSUIT?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Feb 8, 7:12 PM EST
Army Corps Hit With New Katrina Lawsuit

By CAIN BURDEAU
Associated Press Writer

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A group of residents whose neighborhood was flooded during Hurricane Katrina added a lawsuit Thursday to the mounting case against the Army Corps of Engineers, saying the agency knew flood walls were unstable.

The suit, which seeks class-action status and unspecified damages, was filed in federal court on behalf of seven residents of the Lakeview area near the 17th Street Canal. The suit alleges that dredging approved by the Corps weakened the soil that supported the canal's levees.

If class-action status is granted, tens of thousands of New Orleans residents could be included, and claims in the tens of billions of dollars could be involved.

A decision last week bolstered the suit's basic premise - the liability of the Corps.

In that ruling, a federal judge allowed a suit to proceed charging the Corps was liable for the flooding of eastern New Orleans and suburban St. Bernard Parish by waters from the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, a navigation channel known locally as Mr. Go.

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