Subject: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

• Mo Money Mo Problems: Leppert's Got Some "Good News" for the Council About Trinity

  Sam Merten In February, Mayor Tom Leppert and Kevin Craig of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- and tomorrow, they're holding a repeat performance Earlier tonight, a few of us local media members found in our respective in-boxes a draft of remarks Mayor Tom Leppert is expected to deliver Monday during a 10 a.m. press conference in the Flag Room at Dallas City Hall. He's expected to announce that the city will "invest approximately 29 million dollars to determine the items that need to b

  May 31, 2009

• Sam Coats Calls for Trinity Toll Road Vote

  April 17, 2007

• A Trinity "Tweak"? Impending Disaster's More Like It.

  November 17, 2006

• Angela Hunt: "Let the Voters Decide."

  May 2, 2007

• Eddie Bernice Johnson's Trinity Toll Road Comment Still Not News to The News

  May 21, 2007

• Trinity Trust? Not on Yer Life.

  June 6, 2007

• Lunch With the Trinity Muckety-Mucks

  June 7, 2007

• Pumping the House Organ

  September 19, 2007

• "Flooded with Misinformation"? Damn Right.

  October 15, 2007

• Read This While We Decide Whether to Get Out of Bed This Morning

  November 7, 2007

• Good God, That Was One Helluva Fight

  November 9, 2007

• More Truth About What the Trinity Parkway Will Really Cost Us

  February 20, 2008

• Burnt offering

  When major-league Dallas soccer wanted to come to Hickory Creek, the folks there just weren't buying

  August 26, 1999

• This Morning at City Hall, Mayor Tom Leppert Put Lipstick to Levee and Said It'll Be Fine

  Sam MertenEddie Bernice Johnson and Kay Bailey Hutchison were the levees to Mayor Tom Leppert's Trinity River at City Hall this morning.It almost isn't possible to describe what Mayor Tom Leppert and a line-up of loyal politicos were trying to accomplish this morning in the Flag Room of Dallas City Hall. Talk about lipstick on a pig.For weeks everybody has been wondering whether Leppert and the Dallas Citizens Council would be able to move enough heaven and earth, politically speaking, to force

  June 1, 2009

• Trinity Parkway Already Taking Its Toll

  The Dallas City Council's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee gets a briefing at 9:30 this morning on hurdles facing the Trinity River toll road project. They'll have people there from the North Texas Tollway Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. I really wish they had thought to ask me. I could have whipped together a PowerPoint for them called "Biggest Hurdle: Really Dumb Idea to Begin With." Ah, but there I go again.At one point this morning, they are supposed to talk about the

  January 27, 2009

• Trinity Chairman Sees "Many, Many Obstacles" With Turnpike Project

  Sam MertenFrom left to right: Gene Rice and Kevin Craig of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Dan Chapman of HNTB and project manager for the NTTA and Rebecca Dugger, director of the Trinity River Corridor Project As Schutze mentioned earlier, the council's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee met this morning to get an update on the Trinity Turnpike, with reps from the North Texas Tollway Authority and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on hand to walk everyone through the PowerPoint presentation

  January 27, 2009

• The Goatslayers

  March 26, 1998

• Watch Your Step, East Texas

  Winona's about an hour and a half east of Dallas on a good day -- just out I-20, little north of Tyler. Out thataways you'll find what remains of Camp Fannin, so named for James Walker Fannin and, from 1943 till '46, an Army infantry training center. Ever since then, it's been privately owned land -- except, whoops, there may be some unexploded ordinance spread across some 10,000 or more acres out in that part of East Texas. Among the possible artifacts: "small arms ammunition, mines, grenades,

  February 9, 2009

• Corps Values: Tom Leppert and Mary Suhm Aren't In D.C. To Talk About Flood Control

  An illustration from the Trinity Parkway Design Criteria ManualYou know what I love? When people live up to their own stereotypes.My column this week in the paper version of Unfair Park is about signs that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may have grown a backbone in the matter of resisting political pressure on flood safety. I talk about how the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina may have contributed to a new sense within the Corps that they really, really need to not build bad flood-control levees

  February 13, 2009

• Under Pressure: Angela Hunt Sends a Letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

  Hunt with State Senator Royce West in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the Obama inaugurationUnfair Park today received a missive Angela Hunt sent on Wednesday to General Kenneth Cox, Colonel Christopher Martin and Ray Russo of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in which the city council member expresses concern over Mayor Tom Leppert's lobbying political officials and the Corps to "expedite its evaluation of the NTTA's levee testing plan." On Thursday, Leppert and City Manager Mary Suhm were in D

  February 14, 2009

• Corps' Attention to Detail Could Jeopardize More Than Just the Toll Road. The Whole Effin' Trinity Project Could Die!

  flickr member: puuikibeachThe entire Trinity River Corridor Project, including the Texas Horse Park, is tied to the approval of the toll road by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. At least, that's what proponents of the Trinity Turnpike want you to believe."Attention to detail delays Army Corps of Engineers, frustrates Trinity Parkway supporters." The headline of Michael Lindenberger's latest story on the Trinity Turnpike in The News serves as a powerful reminder of the fundamental difference b

  February 16, 2009

• Better Now Than Never, the City Council's Gonna Get a Civics Lesson Tomorrow

  Here we are, one full decade -- 10 years, count 'em, one-10th of a century -- into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and City Of Dallas's Trinity River Corridor Project, and tomorrow the city council's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee has a briefing scheduled that I would summarize as, "The Corps of Engineers: Just What in the Hell Is That Thing, Anyway?"Ah, well. Better late than never.The briefing, scheduled for 11 a.m. in Room 6ES of City Hall, is actually titled "Overview of United St

  February 16, 2009

• Bait and switch

  December 10, 1998

• Writes Angela Hunt Today: "The Fact Is, This Toll Road Project is Dead."

  That's the council member's assessment, at least, in the wake of yesterday's news that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has rated "unacceptable" 34 of 170 areas in the Trinity River levees. An excerpt from the piece she just posted to her Web site:The fact is, this toll road project is dead. There's no funding for it. Despite the Mayor's assurances during the Trinity referendum to the contrary, the NTTA just admitted that the toll road is facing a billion dollar funding shortfall. If the Corps i

  February 25, 2009

• Destiny Does Dallas, or: Why the Corps' "Unacceptable" Levee Rating is a Blessing

  Back during the campaign season for the 2007 referendum on the Trinity River toll road, Dallas Morning News columnist Steve Blow and I got into this really high-flown intellectual debate where I said, "Steve, you're stupid," and he said, "Jim, you're dumb," and I said, "Steve, you're a ninny," and .... You get the picture. I'm not sure how many hearts and minds we reached with all that.Today Blow has a column in the paper about the announcement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the leve

  February 26, 2009

• Mayor Tom, Unplugged

  Moments ago, the city of Dallas posted a little more than eight minutes' worth of video from the mayor's press conference Tuesday, during which he and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers representatives discussed the "unacceptable" rating given some parts of the Trinity River's levee system. As Jim and Sam have had their say this week, I figured we might as well show the video without further commentary. Look, it was either this or Terrell Owens on CNBC last night.

  February 27, 2009

• The News Must Have Amnesia Regarding Mayor Leppert and the Toll Road. And Just What The Heck Does "At Risk" Really Mean?

  Patrick MichelsMayor Tom Leppert with DMN writer Michael Lindenberger (right) ... we think.To my delight, I returned from vacation and discovered that the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Trinity Turnpike has finally been released. It would have been a nice read on the plane ride home, but rest assured I'll be scouring the 1,942 pages and reporting back shortly. In the meantime, I also stumbled on yet another poorly reported story about the toll road in The Dallas Mor

  March 19, 2009

• Corps of Engineers' Yogi Berra, "This Project Isn't Going to End Until It's Completed."

  Courtesy the City of DallasThe Pantanal arriving in Houston with the first shipment of steel for the Margaret Hunt Hill BridgeJudy Schmidt at Dallas City Hall forwards along the following message from Mayor Tom Leppert: Till he hears otherwise, Santiago Calatrava's Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is gettin' built, so there. You will find after the jump the entirety of the city's media release announcing that the feds have extended the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 404 Permit for another four years, whi

  March 20, 2009

• More from the Corps: Or, Why You'll Now Think Twice About Driving I-35 Over River

  Photos from the Corps' Trinity River report. You may wanna think twice about driving Stemmons over the Trinity.OK, so after the jump you'll find all the appendices from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Trinity River Floodway Report -- including all the photos and maps and cost breakdowns ("breakdown" being the operative word) you'll ever need. But below is the letter the Corps sent to the city yesterday, in which the Corps pretty much yanks its 2006 okee-doke. Jim and Sam will have much more sho

  April 1, 2009

• Word of the Day: Desiccation

  More from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Trinity River floodway report released todayJim's opted to wait till the a.m. to post concerning the Corps' report, but his quick take: "The worse gets worser." Sam's also got priceless video coming early Thursday. Which gives everyone time to get their head around these docs. So, speaking of which, the last of the documents worth a peek are posted after the jump: a table from the Corps titled "LEVEE SAFETY ISSUES & RECOMMENDATIONS," for those who

  April 1, 2009

• Enter Sand, Man

  From Page 43 of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Trinity floodway reportAstute Friend of Unfair Park "Wylie H." drilled into the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' report on the Trinity River levees yesterday evening and found the real horror story that goes almost unmentioned in this morning's Dallas Morning News account of the report: the story of the day we almost lost the Margaret Hunt Hill Calatrava signature make-believe suspension bridge.Do you know that most city council members haven't even

  April 2, 2009

• Angela Hunt: City in Serious Denial About Effect Corps' Report Has on Trinity Toll Road

  For those willing to fight through the poor video quality, I condensed my footage from yesterday's city council meeting, where Angela Hunt and Mayor Tom Leppert had different ideas about how the report from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers affects the city's plans to jam a toll road in its floodway. Most fascinating was Hunt's exchange with Assistant City Manager Ramon Miguez, who served as the spin master at Wednesday's shindig. She darted off shortly after the meeting, but we caught up wi

  April 2, 2009

• Report on Trinity Levees Shows A Failure of Dallas' Leadership

  April 9, 2009

• Corps Warns that Trinity River Levees Pose a Flood Risk to Downtown, but is City Hall Listening?

  March 5, 2009

• Getting to No | Eat Less Live Longer

  February 26, 2009

• Is the Army Corps of Engineers Having Second Thoughts About the Trinity River Project?

  February 12, 2009

• Toll You So

  The Trinity River Project should be floating right along. Instead it's sinking under the weight of its own folly.

  September 4, 2008

• Mitchell Says No

  So what about the dogfight on the Trinity River Project?

  December 21, 2006

• Flood Blood

  Politicians create flooding, not the Bible

  August 19, 2004

• Corps Approved Bridge Without Geotechnical Data, Still Trying to Solve Sand Mystery

  Sam MertenKevin Craig of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flanks Mayor Tom Leppert as he tells the press about the levees' "unacceptable" ratings.After the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its report on the city's levees, we were baffled to learn that construction on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge would continue, especially since drilling a concrete pier for the bridge into the floodway resulted in the troubling discovery of sand and the botched installation of the pier. So we asked Kevin

  May 5, 2009

• A Backward Way of Moving Forward on the Trinity

  May 7, 2009

• Convention Center Hotel Promoters are a Bunch of Get-Along Business Guys Who May Not Even Realize Their Own Deception

  May 7, 2009

• Yeah, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, What'd a Tree Near a Levee Ever Do To You?

  One week ago today, city officials were cautioning the council not to worry -- Dallas ain't about to spend $3 million to reduce 2,800 trees along the Trinity River to firewood just because the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says so. But this isn't just a Dallas issue: Friend of the show Bethany Anderson directs our attention this morning to this Associated Press nationwide survey of levee projects that counts a grand total of 100,000 trees to get the chainsaw adios per Corps orders to "chop down e

  June 10, 2009

• So, Turns Out, the City Knew About that Sand Beneath the Calatrava Bridge All Along

  Uh-oh. I'm back in the sand. Just can't keep away from that stuff. I should see a doctor about my sand obsession. I will. Later.Right now I am staring at a table of Trinity River soil boring results I just received from the City of Dallas, and I am just aquiver with fascination. I see the smoke. I see the gun. But I still can't put the smoke in the gun.Review: Last year the city's contractor was drilling a seven-foot diameter hole 90 feet down in the river bottom to hold one of the main piers

  June 24, 2009

• Who knew sand flowed under the Trinity? Everybody but the folks building bridges there.

  June 11, 2009

• The Easy Answer to the Trinity River's Levee Problems? Just Blame Katrina.

  Sam MertenKevin Craig of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wasn't given a chance to speak when Mayor Leppert and other politicos announced a two-year, $29 million levee study.After Mayor Tom Leppert announced the need to pony up $29 million to study Dallas's levees resulting from "unacceptable" ratings by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a frustrated city official essentially blamed Hurricane Katrina for everything. "I think the corps is CYA'ing in the worst way," I was told. Indeed, the 53 levee

  July 7, 2009

• The City's Done Some Clean-Up Work on the Levees. But the Big Repairs? None So Far.

  One of the 72 levee issued repaired: the Little Coombs Creek Conduit on the West Levee, where crap behind the flap gate prevented it from sealing. Crap removed, problem solved.​For those who didn't take a look at the Trinity River Corridor Committee briefing doc to which I linked first thing this morning, Assistant City Manager Jill Jordan told council members this morning that the city's done fixed 72 of 198 problems with the unacceptable levees. But keep this in mind: Sixty-eight of those re

  August 18, 2009

• Suspense is Building? Don't Tell Jim.

  ​As Unfair Park has dutifully informed you, The Trinity Trust this week debuted an advertising campaign for the Calatrava signature bridge "under construction" (or not) on the Trinity River, called "Suspense is Building." Oh, yeah?The purpose is to convey the impression that all is well with the bridge project and progress toward completion of Dallas's faux suspension bridge has been just MAHVELOUS! MAHVELOUS!I have decided, therefore, to launch my own campaign to proffer my own view of the

  August 19, 2009

• When It Comes to the Trinity River Project, History Keeps Repeating Itself, Repeating Itself

  John W. Carpenter Papers, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Library,Ben Carpenter, son of John, is the one seen here pointing to a Trinity River canal master plan​Your Trinity River correspondent and advice-to-the-lovelorn columnist, which would be me, had two interesting experiences yesterday. First up was a screening of Living with the Trinity, KERA Television's hour-long documentary by award-winning producer-director Rob Tranchin, which airs Monday at 9 p.m. The seco

  November 18, 2009

• What Does Judge's Ruling Against Corps in New Orleans Mean For the Trinity Project?

  ​I am still trying to absorb the 189-page ruling of U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood J. Duval yesterday in the Corps of Engineers Katrina lawsuit in New Orleans, but an early read of it produces this clear and overwhelming impression: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just took one big and bad ass-whuppin'. It's not just the judge's ruling that burns a scarlet letter here. It's the facts and the analysis presented in his order. This is a serious hiding of the Corps that penetrates deep into t

  November 19, 2009