Senate panel OKs lock project bill
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Printable FormatPEORIA JOURNAL STAR
By Dori Meinert of Copley News Service
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Kicking off the latest round in a long-running battle, a key Senate committee Wednesday approved a bill authorizing a costly and controversial project to lengthen seven locks on the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.
In a voice vote, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the latest version of the bill that would authorize the nation's flood control and navigation programs including the river project.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who pledged his support for the lock and dam project during his campaign last year, voted for the bill after joining with Republicans to defeat an effort to tighten standards for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects.
The $3.6 billion lock and dam expansion project, which includes $1.8 billion for new, longer locks and $1.6 billion for environmental work, is the most expensive and controversial project in the bill. The Illinois River locks are at Peoria and LaGrange.
Barge operators and farmers support the project, while a coalition of environmentalists and taxpayer advocates have criticized the plan as fiscally irresponsible and environmentally harmful.
The project has been criticized by several expert panels including the National Research Council, which concluded the corps hasn't made a credible case for construction. In addition, President Bush didn't request funding for the project for fiscal 2006.
"My general assessment, in speaking to farmers and communities, is that this would be an important economic boost to some regions of the state that need it," Obama said after the vote. "I think there are significant improvements we can make with respect to how ... corps projects move forward.
"But what I don't want to do is to risk potentially enormous economic benefits to my state because the bill isn't perfect," Obama said.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also supports the lock expansion project.
Last year's bill stalled after committee passage, never making it to the Senate floor. Congress hasn't passed a bill reauthorizing flood-control and navigation projects since the last one expired in 2002.
Obama said he believes improvements are needed in the corps' process for reviewing projects and that he would like to find compromise language that could be added on the Senate floor.
"I do believe that reform of the Army Corps of Engineers is necessary," Obama said. "I'd like to see corps guidelines updated to include modern practices, objective science and a more appropriate cost-benefit analysis. More transparency is also needed in the corps' project review process. Finally, the agency ... should be held to the same mitigation standards required of private entities."
The Illinois Corn Growers Association praised Obama's vote Wednesday.
"He met efforts to scuttle this bill head-on and did the right thing for his constituents and the entire Midwest economy," said association president Roger Sy.
But Environmental Defense's Scott Faber, a project critic, called Obama's vote disappointing. Faber said the committee-passed bill would roll back environmental and fiscal safeguards, predicting it would generate more opposition on the Senate floor.
"I think there are many senators who are anxious to restore trust in the Army corps," Faber said.