By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE — Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers, Pontchartrain Levee District and St. John Parish have reignited discussions concerning levee protection from the waters of Lake Pontchartrain, but the wait for construction will continue for at least the next couple of years.

The corps entertained questions and concerns from about 100 residents of St. John and portions of St. Charles and St. James at a scoping meeting in LaPlace Wednesday.

Officials said that an environmental impact and feasibility study must be performed before work can begin on the 28-mile levee.

The final report is expected to be done by the fall of 2010.

“What I want you to understand tonight is that this project is going through a similar scoping process as the Morganza to the Gulf project of a few years ago,” said Corps Environmental Manager Bill Klein. “Environmental issues have come up to stall the project, and we don’t want that to happen to this project.”

Steve Wilson, president of the Pontchartrain Levee district told the crowd in attendance at the St. John Community Center that these meetings are designed to let residents express what they would like to see out of the project and bring up any reservations they may have about protection or lack thereof.

“Nobody knows how the water goes in your area better than you,” Wilson told the group. “Give us your concerns, and we will give you the answers as to why we went the way we did.”

Most of the East Bank of St. John Parish has no protection from storm surge coming out of Lake Pontchartrain. Major flooding occurred in the area as a result of hurricanes Betsy, in 1965, and Juan in 1985.

A meeting was held in St. John in 1988 to discuss positioning of a levee. The corps eventually produced an alignment in 2001, but the project stalled after the parish created its own alignment.

“Neither side would budge on negotiations,” said Wilson, “so the project stopped moving.”

The demand for the levee was revived in 2005 following hurricanes Katrina and Rita and again after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, when water fully submerged both interstate interchanges in the area and pushed surge into neighborhoods and homes.

In addition to the original two alignments, residents were shown two new potential alignments that have been created since the original debate. Corps officials say they are taking into account the effects the levee would have on the wetlands in the area.

“We don’t want to destroy the wetlands, but we cannot have a levee positioned right up against a subdivision,” said Wilson. “There must be some room for rain drainage.”

Wilson said any proposed levee would also incorporate a series of pumps to help drain water out of the bowl when surge becomes an issue.

Wilson said high end estimated costs have ballooned to almost $420 million and costs will be shared federally and locally at a rate of 65 percent to 35 percent, respectively.

Residents who were not in attendance and wish to submit written concerns or comments may mail them to Dr. William P. Klein Jr., CEMVN-PM-RS at P.O. Box 60267 New Orleans, LA 70160-0267. Comments must be postmarked no later than Jan. 30, 2009, to receive consideration.