Parish appealing ruling in suit against FEMA

St. Tammany Parish has appealed a federal court decision that ruled FEMA is not responsible for cleanup of Slidell area canals after Hurricane Katrina.

The suit, filed by Parish President Kevin Davis in June 2007, was denied last December by judges in the Eastern District Court of Louisiana. Now, the case is headed for the Circuit Court of Appeals, 5th U.S. with hearings scheduled Nov. 3.

“It’s not about the money,” said parish spokeswoman Suzanne Parsons Stymiest. “It’s never been about the money. It’s about the cleanup.”

Parish officials sued FEMA after it refused to fund hurricane debris cleanup for Bayou Bonfuca in east Slidell. About 150 residents live in Coin du Lestin subdivision that stretches along that bayou.

When Davis filed the suit two years after Katrina, residents in that neighborhood could almost skip across the bayou on dead trees, washing machines, even cars, without ever falling in water, Davis said.

The lawsuit was applauded with much fanfare as Davis held an impromptu press conference on the steps of the Hale Boggs courthouse in New Orleans when he filed the suit.

“It’s a sad day when a local government has to file legal action against its federal recovery partner,” Davis said at the time

The 30-page lawsuit accused FEMA of violating the Stafford Act, which regulates how the agency should provide emergency aid.

St. Tammany Parish contended FEMA failed to remove the debris, fabricated rules governing debris cleanup, violated the appeal process and did not determine and assess aid in a fair and equitable manner.

The cleanup costs ranged from $500,000 to $14 million, and the parish began the process, only to stop because FEMA would not fund it.

“The parish doesn’t have the resources to do it. I did not have any other choice,” Davis said at the time. “It’s not about money or damages. It’s about doing the right thing.”

FEMA officials would not comment pending litigation.