Commentary: Drainage veteran calls for greater New Orleans' pump

New Orleans CityBusiness, Jun 23, 2008 by Deon Roberts

This column was supposed to be about the history of New Orleans' pump stations.

A few months ago, out of the blue, I decided I wanted to learn more about these structures, without which we would quickly realize why the New Orleans area is called a bowl.

I contacted the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board, which arranged for me to meet with Joe Sullivan, its general superintendent. Our interview was scheduled for June 2, the second day of the 2008 hurricane season.

Sullivan is 81. He started working for the S&WB on Jan. 1, 1972. He's been with the S&WB longer than I've been alive. A New Orleans native, he was born at Touro Infirmary. The only time he didn't live in New Orleans was when he served in World War II. He went to Tulane. He stayed for Katrina. Yeah, he's a local.

Sullivan and I met at Pump Station 6 off Metairie Road at the end of Orpheum Avenue. Once the interview started, I realized why the S&WB put me in touch with him: This guy is a walking Wikipedia when it comes to the city's pump stations. He even invented the screens that keep debris out the stations.

He started talking about the Louisiana Purchase and how New Orleanians have been fighting since then to keep water from overtaking this place.

While Sullivan was talking about the drainage commission that in the late 1800s tried to figure out how to drain New Orleans, all I could think about was why the heck we can't keep our streets from flooding when it rains.

During the history lesson, I got in some questions about pumping capacity. Sullivan said if the system gets 3 inches of rain an hour, which is not uncommon around here, the pumps can handle only half an inch an hour. That's why the streets of New Orleans look like Venice on a stormy day.

Why not increase pumping capacity, I asked.

Sullivan said he tried to do that two decades ago.

Around 1980, he studied how to increase the city's system to handle an inch an hour. Back then, the project would have cost $420 million.

To fund the project, Sullivan said he pitched the idea of charging residents a drainage service charge, but it failed to win approval from the city council.

That was more than 20 years ago. Today, Sullivan doesn't sound interested in fighting that fight again. He said some residents wouldn't want the fees. And he's been preoccupied since Katrina inspecting work being done by contractors. The S&WB doesn't have enough vehicles for its employees to inspect contractors, he said.

The octogenarian said he doesn't think he'll see the system enhanced to handle an inch an hour in his lifetime.

I'm 30. So, maybe it will happen in mine.

It's not asking too much for New Orleans residents to pay a fee to improve drainage and protect our houses and streets. After all, how much money do we throw away on frivolous items?