Stop politics, support real solutions

By Judith Cureton

There are 3,200 residents in East Prairie, Mo., who are tired of bailing out their basements. Every 10 years or so, the nearby Mississippi River extends beyond its banks and floods the town. Unfortunately for East Prairie residents, when U.S. Senate candidate Jim Talent came to Cape Girardeau to stump last week, he showed more concern for politicking than for finding a viable solution to East Prairie flooding ("GOP candidate criticizes Sierra Club for hindering flood control project," Sept. 20).

During Talent's campaign visit he endorsed the Army Corps of Engineers' New Madrid Levee project, an $85 million fiasco that offers little more than a guarantee that 35,000 acres of flood-absorbing wetlands will be destroyed. Missouri's wetlands act like large sponges that soak up floodwater and reduce our flooding risk. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "the record-setting floods occurring and expected around the country would likely be worse if not for nature's safety net of wetlands."

If the corps is going to destroy this natural sponge, the residents of East Prairie should at least expect the flooding to stop. The most troubling aspect to the corps' project is their admission that East Prairie can still expect flooding every 10 years due to inadequate stormwater drainage. This frequency of flooding and the nuisance it causes undermines the economic development of East Prairie.

If Talent and the Corps of Engineers are truly concerned about protecting the residents of East Prairie, they should build a small levee along a tributary to the Mississippi River, improve stormwater management and raise streets to meet flood-control needs.

In his speech, Talent cited the Sierra Club for our opposition to the corps' current proposal. Talent failed to mention, however, that the proposal has also been vigorously criticized by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state economist for Minnesota and other scientific and economic experts. Even Missouri's own Department of Natural Resources said it was "very troubled" by the current proposal.

Unfortunately for Missourians who would like to see a responsible, long-term flood control plan put in place, Talent's support for destroying critical wetlands runs deep. As far back as 1993 and as recently as 1999, Talent voted to weaken provisions of clean-water laws that protect these natural sponges.

The Sierra Club urges Missouri residents to tell former congressman Talent to stop playing politics with important issues and ask the administration and our Missouri representatives to oppose the Army Corps of Engineers' proposal to build the New Madrid Levee and to support long-term flooding solutions -- for our families, for our future.

Judith Cureton of Cape Girardeau is a member of the Sierra Club.