Legislation calling for the state to study the impacts of the growing height of the Army Corps of Engineers' dredged-material disposal area at Craney Island in Portsmouth died in General Assembly committees.
The bills were introduced by Del. Johnny Joannou, D-Portsmouth, in the House of Delegates and Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, in the Senate at the request of the Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth residents and city officials worry that as Craney Island's levees - now up to 40 feet tall - grow higher, the roughly 2,500-acre site becomes more vulnerable to hurricane damage and lowers the values of nearby houses, among other concerns.
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Common Sense Revisited
Um, actually, the taller the dredge materials become, the more susceptible they are to strong winds. Unlike traditional levees that are designed for the purpose of preventing floods, the levees on Craney Island are unlike those that failed to withstand the force of Hurricane Katrina. What is on Craney Island is little more than a large pile of dredge material that comprise of sediment, debris, and organic matter. The issue that is on the minds of many Portsmouth residents including myself is what will happen if such material gets significantly higher. Let us say for the sake of example and hyperbole that the the "levees," as they are erroneously called, get to a height of 200 feet. You now have 200 feet tall mound of crap scooped up from the ocean floor. A hurricane comes. How will this affect the waterways, surrounding communities, etc.? We will never know because our state legislature is ineffective at looking beyond the concerns of their own constituency.
common sense
Um, doesn't making levees taller makes it LESS vulnerable to hurricane damage?