Reasons to Trust the Corps, Continued

EDINBURGH--If it isn't the continuing battles with insurance companies (the only source of rebuilding money until the long-delayed federal funds finally arrive), or the periodic power outages, New Orleanians can depend for a dose of daily anxiety on their old friends, the Army Corps of Engineers. With a catastrophic failure of their designed-and-constructed floodwalls and a slew of missed repair deadlines to their credit, the Corps re-earns the city's trust every day. Today's dose: the pumps supposed to remove rainfall from the city when the new floodgates are closed at the drainage canals don't work, because of excessive vibrations. This is the 21st century, and the Corps didn't discover this problem until the pumps were installed, past the original deadline, of course. But the Corps explains, or maybe it doesn't:

The problemed (sic) pumps were specially manufactured for the canal projects, and corps officials were unable to explain why the vibrations were not detected during tests performed in the manufacturer's lab under corps scrutiny.

"We have to find out why the pumps did what they did, but until we do further investigation, we won't know," (corps specialist Jim) St. Germain said.

Okay,at least you've defined the task before you, sir. Now, what do you think--more tests, more scrutiny?

Or maybe let's bring in the Dutch and do this thing right for a change.