Katrina Victims: Justice is Coming

On the eve of the historic Robinson v. United States trial set to begin next Monday, one of the Army Corps’ most vocal and knowledgeable critics has been fired. Dr. Ivor van Heerden, a research professor at Louisiana State University, was recently informed that his contract would not be renewed. The professor has been sharply critical of the Corps’ mismanagement of the flood protection system that was supposed to protect Greater New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. http://www.lsureveille.com/former-professor-unsure-about-fire-1.1714945

On April 9th^, 2009 LSU announced it was firing van Heerden, effective the end of the spring semester 2010. Van Heerden said he was not offered any reason. Van Heerden spoke to Harry Shearer on his Le Show radio program: "I learned about not being deputy director through the news media. They basically didn't have the guts to tell me that to my face.... They couldn't tell me why and wouldn't tell me why."

Dr. van Heerden wrote the highly-acclaimed book The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina—The Inside Story From One Louisiana Scientist that chronicled the post-Katina investigation that he led for the State of Louisiana. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/30/books/30stor.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=0e0db3ff031f3f7a&ex=1306641600&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

LSU is the beneficiary of substantial research grants from the Army Corps. The Chancellor and his minions have made no bones about the fact that van Heerden was rocking the boat by biting the hand that fed the university’s coffers. http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1239714610325230.xml&coll=1

Dr. van Heerden has also served as a valued scientific consultant to our trial team in the Robinson case. LSU prohibited him from being a testifying expert at our trial. It is hard enough to defeat the most powerful adversary—the United States of America that prints the money and makes the laws—but heavy-handed tactics to suppress the truth make the challenge even more daunting.

This story is not finished.