LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) — Republican U.S. Congressman Clay Higgins criticizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, blaming the agency for slowing important flood mitigation projects in Lafayette Parish.

Higgins took to social media to call out the Corps of Engineers.

“This is a massive project that’s being held up and obstructed by our own Corps of Engineers,” said Higgens. “I’m telling you the Corps of Engineers no longer serves our republic.”

Higgins said flood prevention requires completed projects, not ones held up by red tape and lengthy permit processes.

“The Corps of Engineers has this thick bureaucracy industry of consultants, studies, assessments, supplemental assessments and supplemental studies that just gets in the way,” Higgins said.

Carencro Mayor Charlotte Clavier supports the congressman’s stance.

“We all have areas that we need to clean in order to prevent flooding,” said Clavier. “We need to make drainage work, and sometimes that’s as simple as cleaning a ditch, but because it requires something from the Corps of Engineers, we have to get their approval on basic say so that’s almost redundant and unnecessary.”

Clavier recalls trying to secure a permit for the drainage canal cleanup, which took a frustrating five years. She emphasizes that Higgins was instrumental in putting pressure on the corps to get it done.

“Very simple, cleaning out a drainage canal in Carencro that was in our capital outlay,” said Clavier. “Because that project had been waiting for the Corps of Engineers’ permit for so long, it stopped other projects from happening. Not only did it hurt that particular project, but it hurt the whole progress of the City of Carencro. It hurt a lot more than just a bureaucrat taking a long time to get paperwork done.”

Dredging the Vermilion is another local example Higgins spoke of. He believes the projects should be 100% turned over to the states and to local governments.

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