Communications Department
National Wildlife Federation News
For Immediate Release:
November 5, 1998
Contact: Mary Burnette (703)-790-4097
Susan Rieff (512)-346-3934
Jim Hecker (TLPJ) (202)-797-8600
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF),
represented by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ), filed suit against
the federal government today to save the Big Sunflower River Basin in the
Mississippi Delta from unnecessary dredging that would ravage one of the
most biologically rich areas in the nation. The suit contends that the $62
million plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge and clear more
than 133 miles of the river would violate federal laws by damaging important
fish and wildlife habitat and ignoring requirements that local interests
pay 35 percent of the project costs.
"This project not only harms wildlife and valuable natural resources, but it's a senseless gouging of the taxpayer's pocketbook, and it's against the law," said Gerald R. Barber, volunteer chair of the NWF board of directors and a Mississippi resident.
Though promoted as a significant flood control measure, dredging the river would actually produce only minimal flood control benefits, reducing the depth of a 25-year flood in a thinly populated area by a mere 6 inches. "It's sad that folks are being led to believe that these projects will cure their flood problems, when, in most cases, we're talking inches, not ‘high and dry'," said Barber. "What's more, it's unimaginable to be spending this much taxpayer money on such a sparsely populated area.
The Big Sunflower and its tributaries comprise one of the few remaining
river systems in the Mississippi Delta not severely altered by flood control
projects. The proposed dredging and clearing would wipe out thousands of
acres of bottomland hardwood wetlands, taking a huge toll on fish populations,
waterfowl wintering grounds
and freshwater mussel beds. All of this directly violates the 1986 Water
Resources Development Act, which requires that projects have only a negligible
impact on fish and wildlife resources.
According to Dr. Barry Kohl, geologist and adjunct professor at Tulane University, dredging and clearing of the Sunflower could release DDT trapped in the river's sediments and cause more environmental damage downstream by increasing the concentration of chemical fertilizer reaching the Mississippi River, the likely cause of the infamous biological "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.
"Congress changed the law in 1986 to make sure that water resources projects cause negligible harm and that the local sponsors of those projects share the costs," said TLPJ environmental enforcement attorney Jim Hecker, lead counsel in the suit. "The Corps is acting as if the 1986 law doesn't exist, and these projects can still be a free gift from Washington."
Corps officials claim that their plans are exempt from the 1986 law because the project amounts to nothing more than "maintenance" on a 14-mile stretch of the Big Sunflower that was originally authorized for dredging in 1944. But Congress said that cost-sharing applies to all new construction, whether or not it is maintenance or part of an old project. In any event, at 133 miles, the new dredging goes well beyond the scope of the original project and therefore cannot possibly be classified as maintenance.
"The claim that this is maintenance appears to be an end-run around
federal law," said John Harvey, president of the Mississippi Wildlife
Federation, which along with NWF has questioned the Corps' planned dredging
for years.
The Big Sunflower project represents a giant step backwards for the nation's
flood control policy. "Ignoring the law sets a dangerous precedent
for other similar projects," said Susan Rieff, senior director of NWF's
Gulf States Natural Resource Center. "The Corps should develop a cheaper,
less environmentally damaging project that does not ravage the Delta's most
valuable wetlands."
NWF asserts that existing flood problems can be addressed using a more limited approach to clearing and de-snagging in the river, coupled with purchase of flood easements and reforestation of frequently flooded lands. These sorts of non-structural flood control measures are often cheaper, cause less environmental damage, and yield more permanent flood control benefits than traditional dredging and channelization projects.
An alternative approach would further reduce the claimed justification for yet another ill-advised flood control effort known as the Yazoo Backwater Project. This $150 million dollar boondoggle would build the world's largest pump to transfer water from the southern part of the Mississippi Delta region into the Mississippi River, providing few real flood control benefits. The Big Sunflower River dredging, if completed as planned, would deliver more floodwater into the lower Yazoo basin, creating more justification for the Yazoo pump and resulting in the drainage and destruction of hundreds of thousands of additional acres of wetlands.
" Political pork begets more political pork," said Rieff. "These projects don't serve the public interest. They just spend federal taxpayers' money to benefit a few construction companies and a relatively small number of landowners."
Unless blocked by the NWF suit, the Corps could begin work on the dredging
within the next few weeks.
The nation's largest member-supported conservation advocacy and education
group, the National Wildlife Federation unites people from all walks of
life to protect nature, wildlife, and the world we all share. The Federation
has educated and inspired families to uphold America's conservation tradition
since 1936. Its common-sense approach to environmental protection brings
individuals, organizations, and governments together to ensure a brighter
future for people and wildlife.
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice is a public interest law firm dedicated to using trial lawyers' skills and resources to advance the public good. TLPJ utilizes a network of more than 1,500 of the nation's outstanding trial lawyers to pursue litigation in areas such as toxic torts, environmental protection, consumer rights, and worker safety.
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Note to Editor: Fact sheets are available on: Big Sunflower Dredging; Outdoor Recreation in the Mississippi Delta; Farmers Perspectives on Sunflower Project; the Yazoo Backwater Pumps.
Note to T.V. Producer: Broadcast quality B roll available from NWF.