Kentucky enters the legal fray over Birds Point

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Lawyers for Kentucky are calling for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to detonate a Missouri floodwall to prevent catastrophic flooding in the city of Hickman.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway said Thursday he had intervened in a federal lawsuit asking a federal judge to allow the Corps to breech the levee.

The case stems from a federal flood-control plan that calls for the Corps to detonate the levee when floodwaters endanger downstream cities. The move would lower the river level by allowing water to flow onto rural farmland.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster sought Wednesday to stop the Corps from breeching the levee because he said it would flood about 100 homes.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan also intervened in the case to protect Cairo, Ill., from flooding.