Squinney
squinney wrote:I'm reading today that the toxicity will be there for at least a decade.
I'm not much on city planning knowledge, and I never made it to NO either, but I imagine the thing to do is to bulldoze the whole thing. Bring in some dirt. (I'm always seeing piles of dirt from new construction with "free Dirt" signs) Rebuild on top of the old NO, much like they turn our city dumps into playgrounds.
NOT that NO was a dump. Just that is what the damage now reminds me of, and doing it this way would raise the city reducing the bowl affect.
Is that not viable?
That is not a feasible solution, too expensive, and not a permanent solution. The best way to bring back New Orleans is to find a location further north, which would allow the land to heal. New Orleans is sinking quite rapidly into the Gulf. The "bowl" referred to is the natural draining of all the northern areas east of the Rockies into the great Mississippi valley. It's a huge area extending all the way past Texas even into New Mexico. We don't see the scope of that drainage valley anymore due to the engineering changes made to the river.
The engineers fiddled with the river to meet the demands of building a port, and all the commerce along the river. The river was even straightened to make this possible.
It is insanity to try to continue to confine one of the world's largest rivers to satisfy corporate demands. The lower Mississippi must be restored to it's natural drainage with cautious restraint by engineering water containment. The wetlands must be restored as part of that natural drainage system to reduce the loss of land to the Gulf.
The most difficult task will be to sustain America's most important economic port facilities. The oil pipe lines can be relocated, but a great cost. The port is more important than the city of New Orleans. The City can be rebuilt in some safer location to restore the culture of the area. The port cannot easily be relocated.
If you doubt what I'm saying, I remind you of my immediate thoughts after New Orleans was flooded. I post my concern that all terrorists had to do was to wait until New Orleans was rebuilt, it's current levee system repaired and restored, and then just blow up the levee system. It would be Katrina all over again. What a lesson Katrina has been to the terrorists studying the vulnerable spots in the US and our economy.
We must be smarter than that and do it right this time while we have the chance.
BBB
