Commission favors end for New Orleans Gulf Outlet

Commission favors end for New Orleans Gulf Outlet    A city commission serving as an advisory body on the rebuilding of New Orleans is recommending the elimination of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, the shipping channel that serves as a shortcut between the Port of New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico.
   The 78-mile channel allows faster access to the Gulf than following the Mississippi River, but it has also been blamed for flooding in some parts of New Orleans after the storm surge from Hurricane Katrina. Unless the channel is eliminated, that part of the city could not be safely rebuilt.
   The panel has no legal authority and has generated considerable controversy with its recommendations. Yet it represents a consensus of opinions from a group assembled by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.
   Steamship lines have had to stop using the channel after hurricanes in years past because silting problems from storm surges reduced the draft of the channel to the point that some containerships could not transit the waterway.