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Flood Authority: Water seeping from Lakeview levee unacceptable

Army Corps submits plan to fix the problem

NEW ORLEANS -- Water seeping through a Lakeview levee is eroding the soil on a series of vacant lots along Bellaire Drive and neighbors confidence in their safety along the 17th Street Canal.

"It makes us uncomfortable, unconfident about the flood protection systems to see that water leaking out constantly," Lakeview neighbor Roy Arrigo said.

Thursday, the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East discussed the seepage issue with representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers.

The Corps spent $22 million repairing the levee that breached during Hurricane Katrina, flooding a large swath of New Orleans.

SLFPA-E President Joe Hassinger told the Corps, having water above ground, adjacent to that levee is not acceptable.

"We can't have it constantly flooded," Hassinger said. "It's not fair. It's not appropriate to the adjacent property owners, the people who live in the neighborhood."

The Army Corps plans to start moving dirt on to the Bellaire Drive site next week to address the seepage problem.

"Planning to put a clay berm over a majority of the lots, ranging in thickness anywhere from a foot and a half to three feet thick, depending on what the natural ground elevation is," Army Corps engineer Chris Dunn said.

According to Corps the water is coming through expansion joints between the concrete floodwall and metal sheetpiles used to re-enforce the wall and levee.

Flood Authority consultant, Dr. Ray Martin said a clay berm won't stop the seepage.

"Seepage could come through that and then you would have the same problem you have now," Martin said.

The authority passed a resolution urging the Corps to go a step further and install a trench drain along the levee to capture the water.

"The people who live there need the issue resolved," Hassinger said. "They need an assurance that it isn't a safety issue and when a storm comes the levee and the flood wall aren't going to collapse."

Corps project manager Brett Herr assured authority commissioners the levee and flood wall are not compromised.

"You give me one of those lots, I'll build a house on that lot," Herr said. "I have no concerns about that area, none."

"I think what the public needs to see is to not see water leaking from here," Arrigo, the Lakeview neighbor said. "That's what's going to make is comfortable."

The Corps promised to consult with engineers on what it would take to install a trench drain at the site and whether it would make a difference.

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