Investigation Of Army Corps Finds System-wide Abuses, Industry Bias

Environmental Defense today welcomed the release of the Army Inspector General’s report investigating whether the US Army Corps of Engineers manipulated a study to justify spending $1 billion to expand barging on the Upper Mississippi River. The report finds that top military officials in the Corps encouraged planners to manipulate the Upper Mississippi study to find a way to justify the project.

“The investigation found the Army Corps’ planning process is systematically biased in favor of building projects, no matter what the need, and no matter what the cost to taxpayers and the environment,” said Environmental Defense attorney Tim Searchinger.

The report found a widespread perception among Corps economists that the agency was biased in its analysis of water projects in favor of large, expensive new construction favored by special interests. This bias flowed from the very culture of the Corps of Engineers, and from a funding system in which employees’ jobs could depend on whether they found new projects justified.

“The report also found that the Corps’ ‘Program Growth’ initiative to increase its budget created enormous pressure on staff to deliver new projects no matter what,” said Searchinger. “This pressure explains other, equally unjustified projects on the Lower Mississippi River that would drain up to 200,000 acres of wetlands. It is imperative that the Secretary of the Army address these projects promptly, in particular, the St. Johns Bayou/New Madrid Floodway project, the Yazoo Pumps, and the Big Sunflower dredging project.”

The investigation report released today was triggered by an affidavit filed in February, 2000 by Dr. Donald Sweeney, who served for five years as the chief economist on the Upper Mississippi River study. Environmental Defense attorney Tim Searchinger assisted Dr. Donald Sweeney in preparing his affidavit.