Shooting Pork in the Barrel By Michael Grunwald Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday , March 2, 2000 ; A17 Two nonprofit organizations from opposite sides of the political spectrum today plan to release a report blasting 25 Army Corps of Engineers water projects as financially profligate and environmentally destructive. The anti-spending Taxpayers for Common Sense and the pro-environment National Wildlife Federation joined forces on the report, which criticizes more than $6 billion worth of river navigation work, port-deepening initiatives, flood control structures, beach-building efforts and other projects nationwide. In recent weeks, the corps has been under investigation for allegedly rigging a study to justify a billion-dollar expansion of barge locks on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers, a plan ranked third in the report's list of unnecessary projects. A billion-dollar plan to divert the White River for irrigation in Arkansas ranks first, followed by a $311 million proposal to deepen the Delaware River for tanker traffic up to the Port of Philadelphia. The corps, a 200-year-old federal agency best known for building massive locks, dams and levees along America's rivers, has been trying to recast itself in a more ecosensitive light. But its longtime critics say the 37,000-employee agency remains addicted to expensive construction projects regardless of environmental consequences, a charge they repeated with new vehemence after the recent news of an agencywide "Project Growth Initiative" to boost the budget. "The growing environmental consciousness and tight federal budgets of the past two decades led many to believe the era of large, destructive, pork-barrel-driven projects was becoming a matter of history," the new report says. "It is increasingly clear that as budget pressures ease . . . a resurgence of wasteful and damaging projects is looming on the horizon." Corps of Engineers officials declined comment. But at a tense Senate hearing last week, Assistant Army Secretary Joseph Westphal, the agency's civilian overseer, and Lt. Gen. Joe Ballard, its top military officer, argued that their organization should take on more work, citing a $30 billion backlog of unfinished projects. "I believe the nation has great needs out there," Westphal said. Ballard noted that half the locks and dams on the nation's 11,000-mile navigation system have reached the end of their 50-year design lives, a frequent complaint of the barge industry and its customers, including farmers, agribusinesses, petroleum interests and power companies. But critics point out that much of that navigation system is rarely used; 90 percent of America's waterway freight floats on just four waterways. Today's report calls for scaling back navigation on low-traffic rivers such as the Missouri, where recreation generates 12 times as many economic benefits; the White, where a proposed channel project threatens two national wildlife refuges; and the Snake, where pressure is building on the engineers to breach four dams to save endangered salmon. Still, the study's authors say the problems run deeper than the corps--Congress, after all, must approve everything the agency does--and the individual projects. The dilemma, they say, is an entrenched culture of water-based pork, an "iron triangle" formed by members of Congress eager to bring home projects, corps leaders eager to "grow" their agency, and special interests eager to reap the benefits. "The corps is out of control; it needs a major overhaul," said Steve Ellis, director of water resources for Taxpayers for Common Sense. "Now Congress has to decide whether it wants to continue to be part of the problem, or if it wants to be part of the solution." At last week's hearing, several senators expressed grave concerns about the Corps of Engineers, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) declared that "the time has come for some member of Congress to commit political heresy," to oppose a big project in his home district. But Wyden didn't, and the critics are skeptical that anyone will. "Unfortunately, the fervor in Congress for reform has given way to the demand for more and more projects," said David Conrad, the National Wildlife Federation's water resources expert. This article can be found on the web at: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/A57567-2000Mar1.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask]