Louisiana Judge Dismisses Levee Lawsuit Against FEMA

A federal judge in Shreveport, La., has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the cities of Alexandria and Pineville against federal agencies over flood maps and who should fix levees that guard the cities against a rising Red River.

However, in Wednesday’s ruling, U.S. District Judge Maurice Hicks Jr. said both cities could “re-urge their complaint” later this year in a dispute in which the state will team up with the cities to fight the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

According to The Town Talk, the legal fight could have wide-ranging ramifications as FEMA completes flood map studies across the state and country. Once FEMA decertifies levees, flood maps for cities near rivers will show no levees whatsoever, even though they exist and have provided protection for decades. It also would force residential and commercial property owners with mortgages to purchase expensive flood insurance.

The state Attorney General’s Office filed papers to join Alexandria and Pineville’s lawsuit before Hicks dismissed it.

Hicks said the cities’ suit, filed in December, was brought prematurely. The cities must wait until after FEMA goes through an administrative process of issuing preliminary flood plain maps in March and the public input that follows until permanent flood maps come later this year.

Jimmy Faircloth, one of the attorneys representing Alexandria and Pineville, said the matter might be brought before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an opinion on whether Hicks is bound by law to wait until the administrative process is completed or if Hicks may rule now.

“There was a risk from the beginning that (Hicks) … would say you have to start the claim at the end of the administrative process, which will probably be in the fall,” Faircloth said. “We could not (wait) from the beginning because the maps were originally going to be issued in January.”

Faircloth also said the Corps has admitted in court filings that it is responsible for $5 million in repairs to the levee protecting Alexandria.

Information from: Alexandria Daily Town Talk