State, EPA still wrangling over Yazoo flood pumps

The Sun Herald, 8/20/8

The chief engineer for the Mississippi Levee Board says he’ll keep pushing for a massive pump project aimed at reducing flooding in the south Delta despite opposition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Peter Nimrod says the EPA has failed to consider the adverse impacts of flooding that would be minimized by the proposed Yazoo Backwater Project.

EPA Assistant Administrator Benjamin Grumbles sent a letter to Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran earlier this month, saying the agency has the right to veto the $220 million project under the Clean Water Act.

“We believe that the project remains subject to regulation,” Grumbles wrote Aug. 6.