Monday is deadline for comments on pumps to EPA|[05/04/08]

Published 12:00 am Sunday, May 4, 2008

Comments for and against the Environmental Protection Agency’s expected veto of the Yazoo Backwater pumps will be accepted by mail and online through Monday.

They can be e-mailed to ow-docket@epamail.com with the Docket ID, EPA-r04-OW-2008-0179-Yazoo Pumps, in the subject line. Also, comments can be submitted at the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Instructions are available on the Web site.

Submissions via mail may be sent to Wetlands, Coastal and Nonpoint Source Branch, Water Management Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4, 61 Forsyth St. SW, Atlanta, GA 30303-8960.

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A recommended determination on the $220 million project by EPA’s Atlanta-based Region 4 Administrator J.I. Palmer Jr. is expected by May 20. The decision also faces review by water management and administrative offices at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Under Section 404(c) of the federal Clean Water Act, passed in 1977, the EPA can restrict, prohibit, deny or withdraw an area as a site for disposing of dredge or fill material if the discharge is deemed harmful to natural resources. Since it and other provisions were added, only 11 projects have been vetoed and none since 1990.

Authorized by Congress in 1941, the overall project has undergone several revisions in scope and environmental impact since the Yazoo Backwater Levee was completed in 1978.

Its latest version calls for a facility with per-second pumping capacity at 14,000 cubic feet to remove some of the water that becomes trapped inside levees during flood years. Pumps would be built just west of the Steele Bayou Control Structure north of Vicksburg on Mississippi 465. They would not be turned on until the water reaches 87 feet above sea level inside the levees. About 55,000 acres would be reforested as part of the Army Corps’ plan, which the Corps has said is a balance between flood protection and habitat conservation.

Most notable among supporters are Gov. Haley Barbour, and U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss. Also, 11 resolutions of support were passed by boards of supervisors, including Warren County. Those against it include the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, American Rivers and the National Audubon Society.