Canal renovation to improve health issues

Photo By Sgt. Spencer Case | Staff Sgt. Steve Maki of the 84th Engineering Battalion guides a small employment excavator (SEE) truck as it clears a canal near the north gate of LSA Anaconda, Feb. 11  

02.11.2006

Courtesy Story

207th Public Affairs Detachment

Thanks to Soldiers of the 84th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) over 1,100 Iraqis living near Logistical Support Area Anaconda will have access to the water they need for drinking, raising crops and nourishing livestock, said Lt. Col. Charles Blaschke, the installation engineer and master planner for LSA Anaconda.

The unit used backhoes to clear a 200 meter stretch of badly congested canal near the north entry control point of LSA Anaconda between Feb. 11 and Feb. 14. The segment has been under the control of coalition forces and off limits to Iraqis since the beginning of the war.

"It's really a win-win situation for everybody here," Blaschke said. "The great thing is if we can get them that water"which we are going to be able to do now - they are going to be endeared to us because they know we're really trying to help them."

The necessity of fixing the canal became a matter of attention for U.S. troops on Feb. 7, when Faris Alassadi, a civilian bi-cultural adviser working with the 3rd Corps Support Command's Civil Affairs office, received a call saying that several Iraqis with a backhoe had shown up unannounced at the north entry control point. Alassadi called Blaschke, who had some background with the problems the Iraqis faced with the canals, and the two immediately went to speak with them about their intentions, Blaschke said.

When they arrived, Blaschke and Alassadi found the Iraqis were an engineer, two farmers and a representative from the Iraqi government who had come to maintain a badly neglected junction in the canal that had to be finished before the arrival of the growing season Feb. 20.

Blaschke and Alassadi returned to the site with a security patrol to determine what kind of engineering effort it would take to allow at least some water to flow.

Blaschke reported that the water in the canal was stagnant and covered with water bottles, concertina wire and other trash. He described it as "extremely nasty."

Realizing the potential humanitarian benefit of a project to clean the canal, Blaschke contacted the 3rd COSCOM Civil Affairs office. After surveying the area the following day the project was shortly delegated to B Company, 84th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy).

On Feb. 11, five 84th Soldiers arrived to clean the canal. They were equipped with a dump truck, a Hydraulic Excavator (HYEX) and a Small Employment Excavator (SEE). They used the SEE truck to move trash away from narrow areas and scooped it up with the HYEX.

At times they created temporary dams so they would have a dry area to work at. The number

• Date Taken: 02.11.2006
• Date Posted: 02.23.2006 08:39
• Story ID: 5470