Floodway delay

By Jack Hurt

The recent comments by Rob Henderson of Scott City extolling the so-called environmental experts is a prime example of bad information or relying on people who don't know the facts.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indeed was authorized in 1954 to close the levee at New Madrid, Mo. However, the authorization to install the pumps was only approved by Congress in 1986, a difference of 32 years. The work began a few years ago when funding was made available by Congress, a difference of several more years.

In 1986, Congress authorized several flood-control projects, one of which was the construction of the levee and installation of pumps at Ste. Genevieve, Mo. This work was completed and protected the area around Ste. Genevieve, a much smaller area than the thousands of acres that would benefit from the St. John's Levee and Drainage District. The farmland that would be helped by the floodway project is some of the most productive in the U.S.

The great majority of farmland in the floodway is being maintained by the scientific use of fertilizer, not all of which is petroleum-based. Overall, the land is in better condition that it was 50 years ago.

The floodway project was not designed to drain wetland. It was designed to prevent flooding. Approximately 7,000 acres of land was made available to various conservation groups to enhance the fish and wildlife in that part of Southeast Missouri. Some of the examples of good planning over the years have resulted in Big Oak Tree State Park and the 10-Mile Pond reserve, among others. Our collective hats are off to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Having lived in the floodway for many years and having enjoyed the fishing and hunting, it is my opinion that fish and game are more abundant than 50 years ago. I have fished the ditches, blue holes, various chutes and the Mississippi River and have hunted all over the floodway.

To call the floodway a wetland is without merit. I wonder if any of the environmentalists have ever tried to count the thousands of farm acres that are irrigated. Common sense tells us that you do not irrigate wetlands.

The case was tried in Washington, D.C., rather than in Cape Girardeau or other nearby by courts. I wonder why. U.S. District Judge James Robertson, in my opinion, would have been better qualified to pass judgment had he traveled to the floodway area. His ruling appears to have been based on a so-called expert on the habitat of fish as presented to the judge and paid for by the environment defense. It is also my opinion that the paid witness convinced the judge that fish mitigation would occur because fish would think a box culvert is the mouth of a larger fish.

The judge and the paid witness should visit some areas where box culverts are used. The fish seem to enjoy going in and out of them. They need to see some of our fish hatcheries. The fish do not seem to be under stress or damaged in any way. Perhaps then the environmentalists would have to use different means to slow or stop the floodway project.

Judge Robertson's ruling has stopped the floodway project and requires to the corps to remove the work already completed. Work done so far has cost about $7 million of taxpayers' money. The dollar amount to tear down the existing work may run as much as another $7 million. When the project is started again -- and it will be -- the delay will result in even higher costs.

I wonder if the environmentalists made known to the judge that in 1973 the northbound lane of Interstate 55 was closed due to floodwater for a period of a few days. At the same time, Missouri 80 between Matthews and East Prairie was under two or three feet of water.

The corps worked with landowners, the Department of Conservation, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Congress and others and spent a lot of time over the years researching the floodway project before it was started. To have the corps criticized for not analyzing if fish would willingly swim through a box culvert is absurd. The corps officials are responsible, knowledgeable, well-educated and dedicated individuals. They carry out their tasks in a professional manner.

The judge's remark directed at U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and, indirectly, at a knowledgeable staff member, Lloyd Smith, was uncalled for. They have spent untold hours in an effort to get the floodway project underway and completed. Emerson's work on the project started in 1981. This does not count time spent by her predecessors.

Her efforts are meant to help the folks who reside in the towns and farms that are affected by flooding. The floodway project would reduce the hardships, loss of revenue and damages. Our heartfelt thanks go to Emerson and her staff.

The environmentalists don't care about the good folks in the floodway area. I suggest they learn the facts and try not to bend them.

I trust the corps will take this floodway project to further litigation and obtain the right to finish it.

Jack Hurt resides in Advance, Mo.