U.S. Army Corps of Engineers delays decision on breaking Birds Point levee

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon visited a drenched Southeast Missouri on Monday to promise rain-weary government and law enforcement officials that he would do everything in his power to keep the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from blowing a levee that would unleash floodwaters on 130,000 acres of farms and homes.

"I don't want anybody blowing up any levees in my state," Nixon said.

Meanwhile, the corps delayed its decision, though it did send a barge of explosives from Memphis, Tenn., to Missouri in case it deems the breach necessary to relieve pressure upstream. The barge's trip was scheduled to take 36 hours, so it is expected to arrive in Mississippi County sometime today, Nixon said.

Nixon surveyed the damage from the recent rains that have pounded the region with stops in Poplar Bluff and Charleston. At Charleston, he met for more than an hour with more than 60 government and law enforcement officials from across the Bootheel at the Delta Growers Association building.

Nixon reported that the flooding was responsible for two fatalities, people who had died because they attempted to drive through flooded streets. In the Poplar Bluff area, the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Water Patrol Division had made 57 water rescues, Nixon said.

But the big topic at the meeting in Charleston was whether the corps was going to blow up the nearby Mississippi River levee, which would flood 132,000 acres. Nixon told the group, which included U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson of Cape Girardeau, that Attorney General Chris Koster's office on Monday filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to stop the corps' plans to detonate the Birds Point levee in Mississippi County.

Koster said in a statement that the Corps of Engineers, which manages the Mississippi River, is preparing to intentionally breach the levee in hopes of keeping nearby Cairo, Ill., from flooding. Demolition of the levee, however, will cause serious flooding across large portions of Mississippi County, Koster said.

The corps maintains that a law enacted in the 1920s requires them to blow up the levee if the gauge at Cairo reaches a certain water level, Koster said. But the lawsuit claims that the law is unclear as to whether the corps actually has the authority to make the decision.

Koster said flooding from the detonation could cover as much as 130,000 acres -- 30 miles north to south and as much as eight to 10 miles wide at certain points. The flooding would leave a layer of silt on the farmland that could take as much as a generation to clear, causing significant injury to the quality of the farmland for years to come. Also, Koster said, there are about 100 homes in the spillway.

"There are no good options at this juncture," Koster said. "Nonetheless, given the long-term effects of the federal government's proposal to blow the levee on so many Missouri citizens, we are demanding a review by the federal court before the detonation is allowed to go forward."

'Can wait a little longer'

Mary Statum, a spokeswoman for the Corps of Engineers Memphis District, said no decision has been reached. She said corps officials met with the multistate Mississippi River Commission for several hours Tuesday but came to no conclusion.

"We're not going to make a decision until we have to," she said. "It's nothing we want to just jump into. You don't take it lightly. We decided we can wait a little longer."

The Mississippi is expected to crest at Cape Girardeau on Friday about four feet lower than the record-setting amount in 1993. At Cairo, Ill., not too far from Birds Point, the Ohio is expected to set a record Friday, and it is already 17 feet above flood stage. Forecasts call for the river to rise by another four feet by Friday.

Statum said the barge of explosives was sent to Missouri because preparation for blowing the levee is necessary should flood pressures require it. Statum said she could not answer other questions, such as a reaction to the lawsuit and how much explosives are on the barge.

Those at the meeting Tuesday afternoon said they are very worried about the possibility of the levee being blown.

"Most of our residents would hate to see that happen," said East Prairie Mayor Kevin Mainord. "Some of the richest farmland in the state of Missouri is in that spillway. A third of that would be rendered useless forever if they blow that levee."

Emerson said during the meeting that she wanted to emphasize as much as possible that "breaching that levee is unacceptable." A letter signed by her and U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill has also been sent to the corps conveying that sentiment, she said.

Emerson also questioned whether the 1928 Flood Control Act actually gives authority to the Mississippi River Commission and the Corps of Engineers. The corps has maintained that it does, when the Mississippi River reaches 58 feet on the Cairo, Ill. gauge, with the prediction that it will rise to 61 feet.

But Emerson said the last time the levee was breached was 1937 "and it didn't really succeed then. I just don't see any justification for doing it."

Nixon said his preference is to let the levee do its job.

"We're going to do everything in our power to let nature take its course rather than have folks jumping in and exacerbating the problem. What they're talking about is moving the river, basically."

Other state officials were at the meeting, including the Brig. Gen. Stephen Danner of the Missouri National Guard, Department of Public Safety director John Britt and Col. Ron Replogle, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

About 200 Missouri National Guardsmen have been activated to help with evacuations and two dozen troopers are stationed in the area to assist in various ways, including patrolling for looting.

Meanwhile, more rain was expected to add to the problem Tuesday night, causing more worry. During the afternoon, Bob and Deborah Byrne were having the equipment moved from their 550-acre farm near the base of the levee. They said they would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars if the levee washes out their crops.

"It would be devastating," Deborah Byrne said. "It would be for a lot of us who live along the levee. Why not just let nature take its course and leave that levee alone?"

A little farther up the way, Beth Dewitt was packing up her home. She didn't know if she would ever spend another night there.

"I'm packing everything up and I'll be staying with friends," she said. "Then it's a waiting game. I'll just have to wait and see if I have a home to come home to."

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Gov. Jay Nixon meets with state and local government officials, law enforcement officers and area farmers on Tuesday, April 26, 2011, at Delta Growers Association in Charleston, Mo., to discuss plans for dealing with area flooding. (Kristin Eberts)

Charleston, MO