INTRODUCTION (Return to Contents)

Few federal agencies have had as profound an impact on the nation's environmentally sensitive floodplains, waterways, and coastal areas as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ("Corps"). The Corps has been responsible for flood control and navigation in the United States virtually since its formation in the 1850s. In implementing this Civil Works mission, the Corps has often pursued navigation and flood control projects that are unneeded or ineffective, environmentally destructive, and extremely costly. The Corps' performance of its regulatory duties has been equally dismal, resulting in the issuance of far too many permits for dredging and filling. In the process, hundreds of thousands of acres of valuable and increasingly rare wetland resources have been destroyed.

Over the past twenty years there has been a growing recognition of the weaknesses in the Corps' approach to its Civil Works and Regulatory responsibilities. Governmental and public interest reports alike have identified the need for systemic changes in the Corps' decision-making. Congress has recognized the need to reform the Corps’ approach to its Civil Works mission, and has indicated such by enacting legislation intended to incorporate the value of floodplains and wetlands into the Corps' decision-making process. Congress also broadened the Corps' mission to include wetlands preservation and restoration. Regardless, the Corps' dogged pursuit of ill conceived and environmentally devastating projects continues.

In 1996, the Gulf Restoration Network and Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund pointed out much needed reforms in their report The Costly Corps: How the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Spends Your Tax Dollars To Destroy America's Natural Resources ("Costly Corps"). The Costly Corps highlighted ten of the most outrageous, expensive, and environmentally destructive projects in the states bordering the Gulf of Mexico. The Costly Corps' recommended reforms included the need for the Corps to

• Abide by all of its current mandates under existing federal environmental and water resources laws;
• Ensure that projects are truly in the public interest;
• Meaningfully consult with other federal agencies;
• Improve policies and methods for providing information to the public;
• Develop mechanisms to provide consistency among Districts to ensure that cumulative impacts of Corps activities are adequately considered; and
• Develop mechanisms to provide consistency between its regulatory responsibilities and its Civil Works responsibilities for navigation and flood control.

These basic changes would compel the Corps to meet its obligations to the Nation.

Unfortunately, the fundamental reforms discussed in the Costly Corps have not materialized. The absence of change appears rooted in the Corps' budget process, the continuing pressure to build projects favored by specific members of Congress, and a bureaucratic culture resistant to change. The fact that the Corps' ultimate mission is to serve the public is lost on this agency.

This report revisits the policies and practices of the Corps in the lower Mississippi River Basin and coastal Gulf of Mexico region, and makes additional recommendations for reform. As in the Costly Corps, this report highlights a host of environmentally destructive Civil Works projects. Each of these projects illustrates the impact that the Corps has on wetlands, other vital resources, and the local economies dependent upon them. The report also addresses the Corps’ poor performance in its issuance of permits to dredge and fill wetlands.

Our focus on the Mississippi River Basin and Gulf of Mexico regions is not intended to imply that they stand alone in the number of destructive projects and bad permitting decisions that have occurred there. Sadly, each region of our country can point to similar projects and bad decisions.

As in the Costly Corps, this report sets forth some striking examples of poor decisions that the Corps continues to make as it heads into the next century; decisions that will continue to wreak environmental devastation for many years to come. The impacts of these practices and poor decisions reach deep into the environmental, cultural and economic foundation of these regions. The continuing loss of wetlands in Gulf estuaries threatens ninety-five percent of all commercially and recreationally harvested fish and shellfish species in the Gulf that rely on these wetlands at some stage in their life cycle. Destruction of coastal wetlands and the wetlands of the lower Mississippi alluvial plain threatens seventy-five percent of the country's migratory waterfowl, and eliminates important natural flood control, hurricane protection, and valuable water filtration mechanisms.

The need for reform is stronger and more urgent than ever. Far too many environmentally devastating projects are in the works, and far too many applications to destroy wetlands are pending, to allow the Corps to continue with business as usual.

It is time for the Corps to step into the 21^st century. A commitment by the Corps to carry out its mission of environmental protection, honestly appraise the environmental implications of proposed projects and permit decisions, open its ears to critical reviews by other federal agencies, and serve the public, is long overdue.

The opening chapter of this report discusses the laws that support the Corps' environmental mandate, and its failure to fulfill that mission. Subsequent chapters describe in detail nine of the most egregious examples of projects and permitting practices in the lower Mississippi River Basin and Gulf Coast regions. The recommendations provided at the end of this report would require the Corps to embrace its mission, protect the environment, and truly serve the public interest.

References for Introduction

1. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Floodplain Management Assessment (1995); Interagency Floodplain Management Review Committee, Sharing the Challenge: Floodplain Management into the 21^st Century, Report of the Interagency Floodplain Management Review Committee to the Administration Floodplain Management Task Force  (1994); Report to Congress by the Secretary of the Interior, Impact of Federal Programs on Wetlands Impact of Federal Programs on Wetlands (1988).

2. Public interest organizations have called for fundamental changes in the Corps' approach to its navigation, flood control, and regulatory programs.  E.g.,  Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Army Corps Wetlands Report Card (1999); National Wildlife Federation, Higher Ground: A Report on Voluntary Property Buyouts in the Nation's Floodplains ( 1998); Clean Water Network, A Prescription for Clean Water (1997); Taxpayers for Common Sense, River of Subsidy: How Taxpayer Investments Are Wasted in the Mississippi River Basin (1997); Gulf Restoration Network and Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (formerly Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund), The Costly Corps: How the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Spends Your Tax Dollars To Destroy America's Natural Resources (1996).

3. See generally  Water Resources Development Acts of 1996, Pub. L  104-303, 110 Stat. 3658 (October 12, 1996); Coastal Wetlands, Planning and Protection Act, Pub. L 101-646, Title III, 104 Stat. 4778 (November 29, 1990); Water Resources Development Act of 1986, Pub. L 99-662, 100 Stat. 4082 (November 17, 1986);  Flood Disaster Protection Act, Pub. L 93-234, 87 Stat. 975 (December 31, 1973).

4. Gulf Restoration Network and Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (formerly Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund), The Costly Corps: How the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Spends Your Tax Dollars To Destroy America's Natural Resources (1996).