P t') ho,( .)41'! N O CAWIC A ·11n77 noo cllQIU ~,.Kat.,waoc::» 4MQt. March 7, 2017 Col. Michael Clancy District Engineer US Anny Corps of Engineers New Orleans District CEMVN-PDC-CEC Department of Defense 7400 Leake Avenue New Orleans, LA 70118 mark.h.lahare@usace.army.mil Sub: Freedom of Information Act Request Dear Col. Clancy, This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552). On behalf of the Lower 9th Ward Homeownership Association (L9WHA), the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association (HCNA), Citizens Against Widening the Industrial Canal (CAWIC), the Lower 9th Ward Stakeholders Coalition (L9WSC), Lowemine.org, Common Ground Relief, Lower 9 Resilient (L9R), Lower 9th Ward Voters Coalition, Lower 9th Ward School Development Group, and A Community Voice we request that a copy of the following document(s) be provided: > Transit time research methodology for vessels, tows and barges in the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC); > Copies of original logs from the IHNC lock for an approximately 180-day period, from September 1, 2016 - February 28, 2017; > All correspondence on this activity (including but not limited to written and electronic communications, orders, arrangements, notations, fortnulas, methodologies, phone records, emails, notes, letters, attachments, faxes, etc) involving transit/wait times and/or delays for vessels, tows and barges for the purpose of passage through the IHNC Lock on the Industrial Canal, AKA the Industrial Lock, during this approximate 180-day period. In order to help you dete1mine our status for the purpose of assessing fees, you should know that we are directors and presidents of Lower 9th Ward Community Based Organizations and Neighborhood Associations seeking information for community use and not for commercial use. If there are any fees for searching or copying these records, please inform us if the cost will exceed $100. However, we would also like to request a waiver of all fees in that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest and will contribute • COMMON ,C RELIEF A ~~ RESILIENT T Community Voice Lower 9th Ward Voter's Coalition I Lower 9th Ward Hotn':°\~rnership A.SsoCJatton ..____ Pi) tMM"1 CAWIC nr.,, k!7 No 1A >,nn ~~A.not ,';••~ "·, ·· Lower 9th\Vard Stakeholder's Coalition ·~· significantly to the public's understanding of the Army Corps of Engineers' methodology for its assertions that vessels, tows and barges in the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal experience excessive wait times, which the Corps argues necessitates its proposed Lock Replacement Project in the IHNC. The Corps argues: The average transit time for a tow using the existing IHNC navigation lock is more than 16 hours. The processing time for a tow entering and exiting the lock is nearly 44 minutes on average; meaning the delay for a tow just to enter the existing lock is more than 15 hours. This delay is a result of the existing lock's limited capacity relative to prevailing levels of traffic and the size of tows navigating the GIWW and Mississippi River that utilize the lock. We request the above records to inform independent and public review of the Corps' transit/wait times. We are requesting expedited processing of this FOIA request because we also believe that the Corps' proposed Lock Replacement Project in the IHNC can reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to life and physical safety of the residents of Lower 9th Ward and surrounding communities. Furthermore, information is urgently needed by the included organizations, as we are primarily engaged in disseminating infonnation in order to inform the public concerning actual federal government activity. Lastly, failure to obtain the records on an expedited basis could reasonably be expected to result in an imminent loss of substantial due process rights. If you deny any, or all, of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify us of the appeal procedures available under the law. We have included our contact information to discuss any aspect of our request and to release the requested documents in either digital fom1at or hard • copies. Thank you for considering our request. Sincerely, t ~ ~cl-aLinda Jackson Ariane Wiltse Founder & Executive Director Board Secretary Lower 9th Ward Homeownership Association Holy Cross Neighborhood Association 5234 N. Claiborne Ave. 5234 N. Claiborne Ave. New Orleans, LA 70117 New Orleans, LA 70117 (504) 975-9956 (504) 943-6000 info@l9wha.ori Lj ackson 9w@hotmail.com lowernine.org arianewiltse@imail.com COMMON GROUND RELIEF A ~~ RESILIENT r Community Lower 9th Ward Voife Vot er's Coalltlon