Army Corps Suspending Work on 150 Water Projects
Decision is
Unprecedented Response to Criticism
By Michael Grunwald
Washington
Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 30, 2002; 2:14 PM
The Army Corps of
Engineers is suspending work on about 150 congressionally approved water
projects to review the economics used
to justify them, an unprecedented
response to criticism of Corps analyses inside and outside the Bush
administration.
Maj. Gen. Robert H. Griffin, director of the Corps civil
works program, announced that the Corps will immediately "pause" work
on
billions of dollars worth of active public works projects that are not yet
under construction. Griffin said any project with a pre-1999 economic analysis
will need a new analysis before it can proceed. The Corps will also review newer
projects where questions about economics, engineering or the environment "may
have resulted in significant changes in project justification or
support."
The Corps will not provide a list of affected projects until
the end of the week, but sources said they will include scores of the
agency's
most controversial efforts to build levees and pumps for flood
control, dredge rivers and ports for navigation, and pump sand onto beaches for
recreation. Corps spokesman Homer Perkins said he assumed the list would include
most of the projects highlighted in a Washington Post series in 2000, from a
$165 million flood-control pump in the Mississippi Delta to a $690 million
widening of a New Orleans barge canal. An analysis by Taxpayers for Common Sense
found $8.1 billion worth of projects with economic analyses from before
1992.
"This action is part of a more comprehensive initiative to ensure
that Corps projects are a sound investment for our nation and are proposed
in
an environmentally sustainable way," Griffin said. "It is essential that Corps
projects keep up with the pace of change."
Environmentalists and fiscal
conservatives hailed the announcement, saying the Corps finally seems to be
acknowledging the problems they
have complained about for years. In December
2000, even an internal Pentagon investigation
concluded that Corps studies were tainted by a deep institutional bias toward
approving large-scale construction projects the agency would then get to build
itself.
"The pressure has been building, and it looks like the dam
is starting to break," exclaimed David Conrad of the National Wildlife
Federation. "This is really good news."
The critics did warn that the
Corps may be trying to create an illusion of action to prevent a growing cadre
of would-be reformers from taking real action. President Bush's budget called
for deep cuts and major changes at the Corps, and a congressional Corps Reform
Caucus formed in 2000 has built momentum for legislation to overhaul the agency.
In March, Bush budget director Mitchell Daniels Jr. helped engineer the ouster
of Corps civilian chief Michael Parker, who had complained publicly about the
proposed budget cuts.
The Corps had suspended two projects highlighted in
the Post--a deepening of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and a study of
billion-dollar lock expansions on the Mississippi River--but then it restarted
the Mississippi study. As late as this month, Gen. Robert Flowers, the Corps
military commander, had fiercely defended his agency's analyses in a meeting
with Post editors, saying he believed the Corps was more reliable than any
independent reviewer.
But last week, Griffin suspended a $311 million
deepening of the Delaware River, citing criticism of its economic analysis from
the General Accounting Office. Sources said the new review will also include a
$127 million Dallas flood-control project attacked by Daniels, a $196 million
Columbia River deepening challenged by The Oregonian newspaper, and a $122
million Houston flood-control project flagged by Corps officials
themselves.
Last week, Steve Ellis, director of water resources for
Taxpayers for Common Sense, compared the freeze of the Delaware River project to
putting sour milk back in a refrigerator. He says the same goes for the projects
suspended today: if the Corps doesn't throw them out for good, they're still
going to be sour when they come out of the fridge.
"The devil's in the
details," said Steve Ellis, director of water resources for Taxpayers for Common
Sense. "But the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. It sounds like the Corps is admitting it has a
problem."
But the review could run into problems in Congress,
where members have always enjoyed steering Corps water projects toward their
districts. "This is kicking us where it hurts," one staffer joked. Parker's
ouster provoked a firestorm of outrage on Capitol Hill; one House Democrat
recommended he should get a tickertape parade for pushing for more money for the
Corps. Howard Marlowe, a lobbyist for communities with beach projects, said
Congress will not be happy if the reviews cause delays and cost overruns to
projects it has already approved.
"It all depends how much review is
required," Marlowe said. "It's a good idea for the Corps to be diligent about
its economics. It's good
damage control, and it's good quality control as
well. The question is: What's the next step?"
In his statement, Griffin
described the action as a "limited review," saying that some projects will
proceed quickly, while others may require more serious review. He said that
"Corps projects across the nation protect lives and property, improve our
quality of life and ensure and enhance the nation's environment, economic
prosperity and national defense."
But the
Corps Reform Caucus has argued that the agency wildly overstates those benefits,
while downplaying the costs to taxpayers
and the
environment. Sen. Robert Smith (R-N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee, recently filed a sweeping bill to revamp
the Corps, co-sponsored by John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.).
He said today's announcement represents a real response to his concerns with the
Corps.
"Ensuring fiscal responsibility
and defensible scientific review in the Corps decision-making process is a
long-overdue necessity," Smith
said.
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