U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City District and the Assistant Secretary of the Army urging the Corps to halt the Jameson Island shallow water habitat construction project due to concerns of dumping dredged soil into the Missouri River.
As the letter states, the Corps’ dumping of dredged soil into the Missouri River increases nutrient-rich sediment buildup and undermines conservation efforts by Missouri farmers and landowners already unfairly blamed for algal blooms and hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.
“It is estimated that the Jameson Island project and the other proposed Corps shallow water habitat projects will discard 90,000 acres of soil into the Missouri River,” Blunt wrote. “ Therefore, I ask that the Corps cease the dumping of dredged soil into the Missouri River. I would also ask that all shallow habitat construction projects be placed on hold until an alternative plan for soil disposal is implemented.”
To read the entire letter click here .
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Press Release, October 10, 2013