Greens, local officials urge EPA to nix levee extension

摘要

Environmental groups and a slate of local officials are asking President Obama today to have U.S. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy prepare her veto pen as a contentious 60-year-old levee project nears approval. Southeast Missouri farmers and communities -- and their elected officials in Washington, D.C. - - have for decades been trying to close a quarter-mile gap in the massive Mississippi River levee in order to protect valuable farmland and homes from the floods that come every few years. Proponents argue that extending the 60-foot-high levee would be an economic boon, not only protecting current crops but also allowing more diverse ones to be grown in the rich floodplain.