The Army Corps of Engineers Is Once Again In The Spotlight

The Army Corps of Engineers may soon have to pay the piper for its neglect and faulty design that led to the levees breaking after Hurricane Katrina.

The most expensive Katrina claims filed so far against the Army Corps of Engineers -- those specifying damages of at least $1 billion each -- total $3 quadrillion, according to a thumbnail set of figures released Monday by the agency.

That's $3,013,283,057,589,910, to be exact. And no cents.

One claim alone accounts for all but $13.3 trillion of the total, and that one came from Baker -- 93 miles northwest of New Orleans and far outside the Katrina flood zone. Federal privacy laws prohibit the corps and plaintiffs' attorneys from identifying claimants by name, so the basis for the Baker claim was not immediately clear.

The corps released a list of 247 claims of $1 billion or more in response to requests from news organizations. Most claims were filed by individuals. Fourteen of them included compensation requests for "wrongful deaths."

Even if these claims are paid, no one truly wins.