US Army Corps Must Curb Wasteful Spending - Activists
Date: 19-Mar-04
Country: USA
The Corps, the agency responsible for building federal dams and designating flood plains, has been criticized in recent years for frivolous spending and rigging data to justify projects that create jobs at the expense of the environment.
A two-year review by the National Wildlife Federation and Taxpayers for Common Sense targeted 29 projects they described as unneeded and likely to damage some 640,000 acres of land and nearby wildlife.
Together, the group of projects spanning from California to Florida would cost taxpayers $12 billion, the report said.
"There is so much damage being done by some of the worst Corps projects right now that we cannot imagine continuing on this course," said David Conrad with the National Wildlife Federation who coauthored the study.
Army Corps chief Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers did not address the findings in the study, but he acknowledged the agency is in dire needs of legislative reform.
"What we are hoping is that there will be some legislation (from Congress) which will give us some direction and authority," he told Reuters.
Congress is set to review legislation this spring that authorizes Corps civil works projects for the next two years. The Corps has more than $50 billion in unfinished projects.
Among the Corps projects criticized in the report was a controversial $60-million study that endorsed spending about $1 billion to upgrade the 70-year-old lock-and-dam system that dots the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.
The Corps' planning process for the project came into question after it said grain imports in the region would rise between 1995 and 2000 when, in fact, they fell.
A bipartisan team of senators including Democratic leader Tom Daschle introduced a measure last week that would create an independent panel to monitor the Corps and require the agency to update the process it uses to determine if a project should proceed.
Many of the same suggestions were included in the report issued yesterday.
Several unsuccessful bills have been offered in Congress in recent years. Corps critics have vowed to oppose any legislation that does not call for reform.
(Additional reporting by Sue Pleming)