As a series of public meetings focusing on the One Lake project begin, the Marion County Board of Supervisors has sent formal letters opposing the project.
On June 23, the Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control Board released its report, evaluating the $355 million project. The study recommends moving forward with the project, though opposition south of Jackson is growing, including in Marion County.
In letters to the board of directors of Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District and Col. Michael C. Derosier, commander of the Vicksburg District of the Army Corps of Engineers, the local entity states several reasons for opposing the project and requesting a new public comment period.
On Monday, the Rankin-Hinds board issued a statement that the comment period had been extended an additional 45 days until Sept. 6, in part due to the efforts of opposition groups and letters from entities such as the Marion County Board of Supervisors.
“Please note that the Pearl River traverses through the middle of Marion County,” the letter for the Marion County Board of Supervisors reads. “As the governing body of this county, we hereby request that you put on hold the current public comment period for the above referenced study. We ask that you then properly notice a new 60-day public comment period, including through a formal notice in the Federal Register, once a series of required reports are made available to the public (the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act Report, Biological Assessment and any needed Biological Opinion, and Independent External Peer Review Report).”
The plan calls for moving an underwater dam downstream and widening the river’s channel to create a reservoir or “lake” several miles long, a project that the district says in the most technically feasible, environmentally sound and cost-effective way to prevent the Pearl River from overflowing and flooding Jackson. Opponents, including those in Marion and surrounding counties fear the project would cut the flow of the river, leading to economic hardship (paper mills in Monticello and Bogalusa, La., would be affected) and that harm would be done to the fragile wetlands ecology further downstream on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in Louisiana.
In addition to the Marion County Board of Supervisors, 26 other groups, including the Gulf Restoration Network and Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, say that the 45-day public notice for comment was insufficient and that the draft statement from the Rankin-Hinds board is missing critical information.
“Because of the deficiencies in the public comment and study process, we have submitted a request to the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Vicksburg District asking that the District take control of the public comment process,” the Marion County letter continues. “We also call on the Vicksburg District to immediately initiate and independent external peer review for the Pearl River study as required by 33 U.S.C 2343.”
The letter from Marion County goes on to say that Section 211 of the Water Resources Act of 1996 requires full compliance with environmental laws and planning requirements.
“As you know, the One Lake alternative would dam and dredge an ecologically rich section of the Pearl River to create a lake in the heart of Jackson, bury more than 1,800 acres of vital floodplain wetlands and other waters, eliminate miles of habitat for two federally protected species, and reduce vital freshwater flows reaching the Gulf of Mexico,” the Marion County letter states.
The four-page letter was signed by all five Marion County supervisors. While the period was extended through Sept. 6, it was not extended 60 days as the board had desired.
The first of several public meetings on the project was held in Jackson Tuesday night. Results were unavailable by press time. The Lower Pearl River meeting for Mississippi is slated for 6 p.m. on Aug. 2 at the Infinity Science Center in Pearlington. The Louisiana public meeting is slated for 6 p.m. on Aug. 16 in the Slidell Municipal Auditorium.
At each meeting, a 25-minute formal presentation will be followed by 60-90 minutes of informal discussions with the project team.
Pictured Above: Officials are concerned that views like this one in Bluff Street Park could change if the flow of the Pearl River is altered by the One Lake project in Jackson. | Photo by Mark Rogers
