Jeff Treffinger is a New Orleans building designer. In 1987, the Corps of Engineers hired Treffinger to analyze the lock located at the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (IHNC) for National Register eligibility. At the time, the corps already had plans to remove the lock and build a larger lock about 12 blocks north. During Treffinger's studies of the lock, he learned that building a new, larger lock in this canal would involve significant dangers. The dangers Treffinger identified ranged from toxic materials that would be released into the river and into St. Bernard Parish’s drinking water downstream, to severe soil destabilization at the intersection of the IHNC and the Mississippi River. This destabilization would potentially adversely affect the Upper and Lower 9th Wards. Even though this project has been in the works for many years, experts have grave concerns that the project will be pushed through under a new fast-track program, without consideration of possible serious consequences.
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