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The Clarion-Ledger
June 5, 2002
Flood control criticism is misguided
Needed flood control projects continue to be slammed in biased, poorly written editorials in The Clarion-Ledger ("Water Projects: Corps review a necessary process," May 2).
We lost count of the number of times the terms "waste", or "wasteful", were used in this piece to describe the Yazoo Backwater and Big Sunflower River Maintenance Projects, but we did not lose the point the editorial conveyed: that the lives and property of people in the south Delta take a back seat to the rhetoric of environmentalists, misguided political figures and The Clarion-Ledger's editorial board.
How can a price tag be put on a human being's life? The cost of the Yazoo Backwater and Big Sunflower Projects is miniscule compared to the number of lives these flood control projects will protect and save. We know that if similar projects were proposed for, say, Massachusetts or Wisconsin, there would not be the irrational outcry we are now hearing. Our regional newspapers here in the Delta support the projects because they live with the potential of flooding and realize the great gains our region would receive from them. Once again, however, the Delta just does not seem to count to Mississippi's largest daily newspaper.
We have called time and time again for facts to be given due process when the validity of the south Delta water projects is written about in this newspaper. Instead, the public is given derogative and snide adjectives in place of evidence and documentation.
Moreover, contradictions abound whenever the projects are the focus of a Clarion Ledger editorial. As but one example, at a point in the latest slam, the author writes that dredging will "actually worsen" south Delta flooding--how? A line later it is stated that the pump will, in fact, "reduce" flooding. Which is it? Those of us with science, reason and the best interests of those living in the Delta know: these projects will indeed reduce flooding.
The threat of flooding is a real one to human life. So is hysteria. We urge those who desire the facts on the two critical south Delta flood control projects to read between the lines in these editorial pages.
Alfred Rankins, Sr.
Washington County Board of Supervisors
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Letter sent to The Clarion-Ledger
July 12, 2002
Let's get priorities straight in flood control
The hysterical hostility towards flood control projects in the south Delta is truly mind-boggling. From numerous op-eds in this paper, to letters to the editor ("Drop obssesion with 'flood control', June 18, T. Logan Russell), the facts are rarely mentioned on this critical issue.
Mr. Russell, for example, calls the Big Sunflower River Maintenance Project and the Yazoo Backwater Pump Projects "outdated." This is hardly the case. Two similar dredging projects were recently endorsed and advocated by the Environmental Protection Agency in both the Hudson River in New York and the Elizabeth River in Virginia.
Additionally, in contrast to what opponents claim, support for the Big Sunflower and Yazoo Pump Projects is widespread. Second District Congressman Bennie Thompson recently issued a press release saying, "Any individual who would oppose an effort to keep floodwater out of people's homes is off-target. Claiming that 'it costs too much' won't get it. (These citizens) want and deserve better." Both projects are supported by all localgovernment agencies in the project areas, as well.
As for Mr. Russell's comparison of the south Delta economy with that of Tunica and Vicksburg, one can only scratch their head. Both of these communities have benefitted from enormous casino revenue, and, in the case of Vicksburg, the National Military Park. To compare Mayersville or Drew, for instance, with these two towns is ludicrous. Moreover, businesses and industry are hesitant to invest in the south Delta precisely because better flood control is needed. Therefore, the projects on board would be an enormous boost to economic development.
Both projects would provide tremendous, tangible benefits to the south Delta. Our priorities should be clear: human beings--and their safety--must be our top concern.
Laurance Carter
Rolling Fork, MS
Roy Nichols
Glen Allan, MS
Commissioners
Mississippi Levee Board
Greenville, MS
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