Press Conference Tues (2/26) on Decertification of Metro East Levee System

Representative of the scientific community will discuss the rationale used by the St. Louis District of the US Army Corps of Engineers to justify their use of “in-channel” structures (chevrons and bendway weirs) for navigational purposes. Scientists will discuss research documenting that these in-channel structures can drive flood levels up significantly and what this means for St. Louis and Metro East. 

When:       11:00am CST         Tuesday, February 26, 2008 

Where:      The Adams Mark Hotel  Room 46  (Fourth Floor)                   4^th & Chestnut St. Louis, MO 63102  

Background: Metro East Levee Decertification FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers have identified five (5) levees in the Metro East area at risk of failure due to structural deficiencies.  All are scheduled for “decertification”.  Some of the levees are over 70 years old.  Some, such as the Wood River Levee, were constructed in the late1930’s. FEMA is currently updating its flood plain maps to reflect these aging levees and the noted deficiencies will make it more difficult to insure against catastrophic flood loss.  Anticipated decertification of the levees by FEMA will have far reaching financial and personal impact on Metro East Communities.   The US Army Corps of Engineers St. Louis District has estimated the cost to repair the levees to be as high as $100 Million.  Under current federal policies, local communities would need to provide a 35% local match.  Neither the Corps nor the local communities are in a financial position to provide those funds in time to ward off decertification.   According to a report issued by East-West Gateway Council of Governments in September 2007, the most vulnerable areas stretch across more than 75,000 acres from Wood River, to the south of Belleville.  Most of the American Bottoms from the Mississippi River to Bluff Road is at risk.  East-West Gateway estimates that approximately 156,000 (US Census, 2000) Metro East residents have grown to depend on the protection of these deteriorating levees.  Roughly 60% of those residents reside in just four communities:  ·       

Granite City                (31,301)·       

East St. Louis             (31,155) ·       

Cahokia                      (16,391) ·       

Wood River                 (11,233) 

More alarming is the realities that over 80% of these citizens reside within the confines of the “Metro East Sanitary District”, one of the areas’ most vulnerable.  ·       

Metro East Sanitary District                          (126,628) ·       

Wood River Drainage & Levee District      (  24,723)·       

Prarie DuPont Drainage & Levee District  (    5,330)  

The Panel of Scientific Participants 

Nicholas Pinter  (PhD, Geology, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara)          Department of Geology; Environ’l Resources & Policy Program          Southern Illinois University          Carbondale, IL  62901-4324          618-453-7375           npinter@geo.siu.edu 

Robert E. Criss  (PhD, California Institute of Technology)          Department of Earth and Planetary Science          Washington University in St. Louis          St. Louis, MO  63130          314-935-7441           criss@wustl.edu          www.cris.wustl.edu        

Timothy Kusky  (PhD, Johns Hopkins University)Paul C. Reinert Professor and Chair of Natural Sciences, Director of the Center for Environmental SciencesSt. Louis UniversitySt. Louis, MO  63108314-997-3132kusky@eas.slu.edu 

Jonathan W. Remo (Doctoral Candidate)Environmental Resources and PolicySouthern Illinois UniversityCarbondale, IL 62901618-453-7370diamict@siu.edu    

for more information see the US Army Core of Engineers Web Site and the press release from the stlouis-leveepress_document_final_2-25-081.pdf