President Trump on Saturday ripped the “sea wall” that was proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers to protect New York City from damaging natural disasters such as Hurricane Sandy, calling the plan costly, foolish [and] environmentally unfriendly.”
“A massive 200 Billion Dollar Sea Wall, built around New York to protect it from rare storms, is a costly, foolish & environmentally unfriendly idea that, when needed, probably won’t work anyway,” the president tweeted.
“It will also look terrible. Sorry, you’ll just have to get your mops & buckets ready!” he added.
The proposal, which would create a six-mile long barrier of man-made islands with retractable gates, is expensive, but not $200 billion like Trump claims in his tweet. The Corps estimates that the barrier would cost $119 billion and 25 years to build.
While the barrier would protect New York from storm surges, it would fail to protect against flooding from high tides and storm runoff, according to The New York Times. The barrier could also trap sewage and toxins, which could prove harmful to the New York’s surrounding ecosystem.
However, a final decision on the sea wall is still far off, as Congress would have to approve of the plan.
The Corps has announced that it won’t present a finalized plan to Congress until 2022 at the earliest.