I think a lot of New Orleanians are pinning some big hopes on the building of the LSU/VA Complex. I know people who live in that area and from what I can tell they are seeking a “just and inclusive process”:http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2007-12-25/news_feat.php in this effort. They too would like to see a process that resembles transparency.

One commenter supplied a little more information about the Section 106 and the E/P

This notice indicates that the VA is moving to complete the NEPA review before it begins the NHPA 106 review. This is problematic because a completed NEPA document will have an imposing influence on the 106 review.

So it seems in the creation of a document that reaches the conclusion of No Significant Impact would lead to a less exhaustive 106 review.

However, if it is an Environmental Impact Statement/Record of Decision (EIS/ROD), a document that more meaningfully addresses adverse impacts and mitigation, it will mean a more thorough, more meaningful 106 review.

Since we have been left with a situation of overstressed to unavaliable Health Care any discussion about building a Hospital is met with a desperate desire for progress, but it would seem that the games being played here have been played before..here is what another commenter has said.

Before readers assume that the original German, Irish, American and African-American families left the neighborhood because they didn’t care, they should acquaint themselves with the urban renewal projects of the 1950s, 60s and 70s that were enacted without neighborhood involvement and which were at first filled with empty promises then typified by empty or ill-kept commercial and municipal buildings. The neighborhoods pre- Katrina decline is directly connected to more than 50 years of botched urban planning, much of which was done without meaningful community input.

Section 106 is that portion of the National Historic Preservation Act which requires federal agencies to take into account the effects of their actions on historic properties. (“Historic properties” are those historical or archaeological resources that are listed in or determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.) Agencies must make a good faith effort to avoid adversely affecting historic properties.

While many of us feel secure that our Neighborhood is safe from a project such as this, we should be aware and informed when it comes to the Public process that dictates the decisions made, the very least should be an informed,honest respectful and just public process.