Congressman
Bennie Thompson endorses pump project 2nd District leader
tours region, meets with residents
Click
to view .jpeg
1of2.jpg) In
a special South Delta tour, organized by the Greenville-based
Mississippi Levee Board and the South Delta Flood Control
Committee on Monday, December 2, U.S. Representative Bennie
Thompson pledged to support the Yazoo Backwater Pump Project
and other flood control initiatives.
Thompson, who has been on record as a supporter of the project,
said at a public gathering near Valley Park, MS after the
tour that "I will pledge to you today to become actively
involved in supporting the pump project. I will do whatever
I can from my office's standpoint to make it work."
Joined by legislative director Lanier Avant, Thompson was
briefed in a presentation given by Levee Board chief engineer
Jim Wanamaker at the Steele Bayou Drainage Structure, site
of the proposed Yazoo Backwater Pump. Commissioners of the
Levee Board, as well as representatives from the South Delta
Flood Control Committee and various media outlets, were also
on hand for the tour.
Several times a year, the Mississippi Levee Board provides
a tour of the project area to state and federal dignitaries
to demonstrate the need for the Yazoo Backwater Project and
to give these individuals the opportunity to meet with local
citizens affected by flood water in the region. Attorney General
Mike Moore was provided the tour last January.
After visiting the proposed site for the pump, Congressman
Thompson was shown the Mahannah Wildlife Refuge where he was
briefed on timber and wildlife impacts from flooding and given
a perspective on water management in the area by Scott Baker,
wildlife biologist with the MS. Department of Wildlife, Fisheries
and Parks. The tour concluded at the Catledge Shop near Valley
Park, where Thompson spoke with, and heard from, local citizens
gathered to discuss the effects of flooding on the area's
economy and standard of living.
"Nobody has shown me a viable alternative (to building
the pump)," Thompson stated to the group of approximately
50 on hand.
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