| August
5, 2002
Letters to the Editor
Box 40
Jackson, MS 39205-0040
Dear Editor:
On June 23, a Jackson resident, who apparently
has never had the luxury of having his quality of life interrupted
by Delta flood waters, criticized Delta flood control projects
from his comfortable perch located an estimated 100 miles
from the problem. There are many flaws in Mr. Russell's letter
which criticizes my friend, Al Rankin's position on flood
control in the Delta, but I will direct my comments to two
points:
1. Mr. Russell's reference to the Tunica County
economic boom being tied to their lack of emphasis on flood
control is silly. In fact, the channel work currently ongoing
on the Yazoo River is designed specifically to bring less
flooding to Tunica County. Local officials and residents in
Tunica have publicly endorsed that channel work.
2. Mr. Russell must not be aware that his claim
about these projects being "ill-conceived" has already
been disproven. The Main Canal project in Greenville is doing
exactly what federal and local officials told us it would
do. I would invite Mr. Russell to come up to the Delta and
show us the environmental destruction inflicted on Greenville
as this project came through the middle of the 5th largest
town in Mississippi. There is no evidence that these projects
have damaged the environment like we were earlier told by
environmentalist. I hope Mr. Russell will bring EPA with him
when he comes, so they can test the Yazoo River and Main Canal
to see if the ongoing dredging on these two streams has caused
health problems to local people.
I would submit to your readers that if you live
in the Delta and were subject to flooding, who would you believe--Mr.
Russell or the people responsible for getting the water off
us? As a public official, I've learned to respect anyone and
their opinion, but his solution is about as far off as his
mailing address is from the Delta.
Johnny Robinson
Greenville, MS
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