EPA releases comments on the Sunflower River Channel
Maintenance Project
The Region 4 Environment Protection Agency (EPA), based in
Atlanta, this week released its comments on an Environmental
Assessment by the Vicksburg District Corps of Engineers for
the Big Sunflower River Maintenance Project. Covered in the
report were examinations of cumulative impacts, freshwater
mussels, endangered species, risk analysis, sediment toxicity
and water quality. The Big Sunflower River Maintenance Project
is an ongoing flood control maintenance project in the Yazoo
Basin which will utilize hydraulic dredging for a majority
of its work. The Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners,
based in Greenville, MS, is pleased that the EPA has released
these comments, according to Jim Wanamaker, chief engineer.
"This assessment is necessary for the Vicksburg District
Corps of Engineers to continue with the decision making process
on this important maintenance project," Wanamaker says.
"However," he adds, "we find it puzzling
that, in this recently released report, concerns are voiced
about the validity and appropriateness of the Big Sunflower
River Maintenance Project, especially in light of the fact
that EPA Region 2 has unequivocally advocated similar dredging
projects, such as in New York on the Hudson River,"
Wanamaker continues. Wanamaker also notes that the Vicksburg
District Corps of Engineers utilized the same environmental
consulting firm to perform the risk analysis for the Big Sunflower
River Maintenance Project which did the analysis on the Hudson
River Project for the EPA. "Both the Mississippi Levee
Board and the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board have continuously
provided required maintenance on the Big Sunflower River and
Tributaries Project since 1950," Wanamaker says. "Every
year the Corps of Engineers inspects these projects to insure
that we are maintaining these streams properly and to their
specifications. We are confident of the work we have done,
and are advocating that the Big Sunflower River Maintenance
Project continue on to its completion. This project provides
an outlet for over sixty drainage districts and is vital for
the protection of citizens of the Delta. We are pleased that
EPA has stepped forward and identified their questions and
concerns so that we can proceed with providing them the appropriate
responses."
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