WASHINGTON  -  U.S. Representative Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) today cited the signed Record of Decision approving the Final Revised Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement No. 2 as welcome progress in the effort to complete the St. Johns Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project.  Brigadier General Robert Crear, Commander of the Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, signed the document today.

 

“The Record of Decision is an important step as we move toward the completion of a vital flood protection project in Southeast Missouri.  The plan contains unprecedented mitigation features that will preserve and enhance our bottomland hardwood forest, a natural resource of which we are very proud, and at the same time protect homes, livelihoods, property and lives threatened by Mississippi River flooding,” Emerson said. 

 

“This is a project the people of Pinhook, East Prairie and surrounding areas have awaited for decades, and much of the groundwork for the flood protection was laid by Bill Emerson and local interests in the 1980's and earlier.  I’m confident we have a good plan, a fair proposal, and an urgent need to move forward so that, the next time
disaster strikes, we are prepared.”

 

Previous floods have rendered the community of Pinhook uninhabitable and forced children to ride to school through floodwaters on trailers. 

 

“The levee improvements and pumping stations, when completed, will enhance flood protection for thousands of people in Mississippi, Scott and New Madrid Counties.  I applaud the U.S. Corps of Engineers for advancing this important cause for the people of our region,” Emerson said.