EON

Says Adverse Reaction To Thousands Of Wetland Acres Would Result

Washington, D.C.- One of the areas that the EPA has sway over is in projects that would affect the environment, and many people do not realize that in some cases they have the right to veto and deny access if a project threatens the environment or otherwise would cause environmental harm.

The Environmental protection agency recently used one of their rarely used vetoes when they shot down a huge federally funded water pump project that was designed to prevent floods on the Mississippi River.

The EPA said that it would “have a unacceptable and adverse impact on thousands of acres of wetlands.”

The EPA killed the project that was slated to be $220 million dollars, and the Yazoo Pumps Project marked only the 12th time in the history of the EPA that it exercised its right to veto a project or plan that conflict with its mission.

The 1972 Clean Waters Act give the EPA a limited veto to block or prevent those projects that in the estimation of the EPA could harm people, harm wildlife, or harm the environment.

The decision and subsequent veto represents a huge blow to the Mississippi politicians and planners, including US Army Corps of engineers that helped plan the prospective project.

The main element would have been a 14,000 cubic foot per second pump that would have pumped water from the South Mississippi River delta during floods.

The EPA says that it would adversely affect wetlands, and points to the 47,000 public comments and letters they have regarding the project, most of which are in opposition or negative about the pumping project plan.

This veto means the project is dead in the water, at least in its current form. Planners and politicians may try to revamp it and resubmit it to the EPA for review.