For Immediate Release: July 26, 2007
Contact: Jeffrey Buchanan 202-463-7575 ext 241
buchanan@rfkmemorial.org

Human Levee for Human Rights and Fair Flood Protection
ACORN members, neighbors and supporters from RFK Center for Human Right, including Kerry Kennedy, human rights advocate and daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, rally for right to equitable flood protection.

10AM Saturday, July 28th, between Claiborne Ave. to Airline Hwy. along the Monticello Canal in New Orleans, LA

NEW ORLEANS—Hundreds of New Orleans residents and their supporters will assemble the morning of Saturday, July 28th along the Monticello Canal to form a “Human Levee” demanding residents’ right to equitable flood protection.

The Monticello Canal, despite its high levee and floodwall reaching 12 ft. along the Jefferson Parish side, has virtually no flood protection on the Orleans Parish side. This leaves Carrollton-Hollygrove residents vulnerable to flooding in the event of a storm. More water is pumped into the Monticello Canal from other parts of the city canal drainage system than is pumped out, pushing flood waters into these unprotected New Orleans neighborhoods.

“This neighborhood has always flooded during heavy rains,” said longtime Carrollton-Hollygrove resident and ACORN member Joe Sherman. “Our community is left vulnerable while the state, the Corp of Engineers and the Water and Sewerage Board keep pointing fingers.”

At 10:00 AM protesters including ACORN members, their neighbors and supporters from the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, including Kerry Kennedy, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy, will protest this injustice by forming a human levee extending the length of the unprotected Monticello Canal.

During the neighborhood-based recovery planning process of the Unified New Orleans Plan residents placed equitable flood protection for Carrollton-Hollygrove as a top priority. When the final plan was released it was only a mid-term priority, not to be addressed for five years or more.

Despite warnings from noted hurricane experts like Dr. Ivor Van Heerden of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, and residents, the Sewage and Water Board has stated publicly it has no current plans to protect the neighborhood.

“The risks increase for these residents because there is protection on one side, and no protection on the other,” said Stephen Bradberry, Louisiana ACORN head organizer and 2005 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award winner. “How can you say the community is not at risk when you have protected one half and not the other? This is unacceptable.”

While many of New Orleans’ displaced residents want to return to their homes, they fear the risks of the city’s inadequate response to creating equitable flood protection. This lack of respect for the rights of residents highlights the city’s attitude towards those returning to low to moderate-income neighborhoods. Orleans Parish residents demand immediate action to increase flood protection.

“The Internally Displaced Persons of Orleans Parish have the right under international law to demand that the United States government protect them from ongoing threats by building the necessary levees and flood walls to protect their communities from future hurricanes and floods,” said Kerry Kennedy, founder of the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights. “All US citizens have a responsibility--even an obligation--to demand action that will ensure protection to all our sisters and brothers in New Orleans without regard to race, creed, economic status, or community.”

Source: Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights (www.rfkmemorial.org)