In a legal decision that may prove seminal, a federal district court judge in New Orleans has ruled that the U.S. government is liable for flood damage resulting from Hurricane Katrina because of the contributing role the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet project, popularly known as MRGO (Mr. Go) played in the damage.

As NPR's Debbie Elliott reports:

In a sometimes scathing critique of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval found "monumental negligence" in the operation and maintenance of a shipping channel called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.

He rejected the government's argument that the Corps was immune from liability and had properly maintained the navigation channel, known locally as MRGO.

Flood victims had sued, arguing the widening of the channel and subsequent loss of protective wetlands turned MRGO into a speedway for Katrina's storm surge. Judge Duval blamed government engineers for letting the shipping channel "run amok."

Judge Duval awarded damages of about $720,000 to four people and a business. The case has been closely watched by other Katrina victims seeking compensation from the government.

You can read the opinion below:

 

MRGO Opinion U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana