St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 11

WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1993 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 11A THE FLOOD OF '93 River Control Debate Has Only Begun To Churn By Robert L. Koenig Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau WASHINGTON As roiling floodwaters surge downstream, the leading currents of two conflicting approaches to controlling the Mississippi River are about to converge in Missouri this week. While Army Corps of Engineers officials meet in Kansas City to discuss how to rebuild the river levees, the head of the American Rivers environmental group is heading for St. Louis to work on a plan that would scrap some levees in favor of natural floodways.

Before that debate over river policy crests this summer, it will spill over into the halls of Congress where political heat from the Midwest's flood victims may spark changes in federal policies. "This devastating flood is giving us a chance to focus the nation's attention on the need to change how our government tries to manage the said Kevin J. Coyle, head of American Rivers. When he travels to St. Louis later this week, Coyle plans to point out problems of the damaged levee system which he contends worsened the flood by "channelizing" the river and promote proposals to set aside more bottom land along the Upper Mississippi Valley as natural "release valves" for floodwater.

Meanwhile, at a meeting Thursday in Kansas City, some of the Corps of Engineers' top levee experts and flood managers along the Mississippi and Missouri river valleys will discuss how to start rebuilding the damaged levee system they supervise. David Sills, acting chief of emergency management for the corps' Lower Mississippi Valley division which includes St. Louis said he hoped to complete by next spring most of the repairs on levees that the corps maintains. Sills said most of the damaged levees are not corps levees, but are private or local levees such as the one along River Des Peres in south St. Louis that did not meet the corps' standards.

As the floodwater was cresting in St. Louis, influential members of Congress who represent Missouri, Illinois, Iowa and other flood-ravaged states converged on Capitol Hill this week to appropriate emergency flood-relief money and to start the policy debate. House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt, said Tuesday that the. federal government should "fundamentally re-evaluate" the flood-control system.

"I will be asking the Corps of Engineers to undertake a comprehensive study of our current system," Gephardt said, "and to recommend a long-term course of action for the future that will best protect homes, businesses and the environment along the Mississippi River and its tributaries." In addition, congressional committees that oversee the Corps of Engineers are expected to hold hearings later this summer on the nation's flood-control and river management systems. The issues that will get a national debate include: How to go about rebuilding and strengthening the levees that have failed in the Midwest. On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee started that process by approving $130 million in emergency appropriations to begin repairing levees and other flood-control systems. That sum was part of a $2.98 billion emergency appropriations bill. Sills of the corps said he would need much more money later for the repairs, which can cost $1 million or more for each mile of levee.

He said he won't know the full extent of the damage to levees until the floodwater recedes. "Even as the river falls, you'll see levee slides and other additional damage," he said. Whether to revamp the system of levees on the Upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers to create more natural floodways. Coyle said his group would not oppose rebuilding levees in St. Louis and other populated areas but wants to create more natural floodways in river bottoms that levees now protect.

Also, he suggested reforming parts of the federal flood-insurance program that encourage rather than prevent economic development in flood plains. Whether to give more federal help to local areas, such as historic Ste. Genevieve, to build flood-protection systems. This week, Congress' Lower Mississippi Delta Caucus began pushing to waive the federal government's cost-share requirements for new flood-control projects along the Mississippi. Under the cost-share provisions, most local governments must pay a quarter of the cost of new levees.

But Coyle said the federal government should spend more of its money on restoring natural wetlands, creating riverside parks and other natural outlets for floodwater. "We're getting together with other environmental and advocacy groups to develop a platform now and recommending ways to improve the system," said Coyle, who hopes for congressional action. "We want to change policy so the engineering system operates more in tandem with the natural flood plain." Cuts Urged To Pay For Flood Relief Hancock Is Among House Backers ft i 11 1 i i jJjl By Charlotte Grimes Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau WASHINGTON Pay now! That's the battle cry of a small group of House fiscal conservatives among them Rep. Mel Hancock, R-Mo. as Congress rolls toward approving $2.9 billion in emergency aid for flood victims in Missouri and other Midwestern states.

They are asking their colleagues and the Clinton administration to designate new cuts called "offsets" in other federal spending to cover the cost of flood relief. "There is no doubt assistance is needed to these devastated areas, but providing such assistance does not mean we should suspend our fiscal responsibilities," the group of 20 representatives wrote to the House Appropriations Committee. Hancock, one of the 20, was more blunt Tuesday: "It's something we should have been doing for the past 50 years and we've ignored it." But in the congressional flurry to get as much federal aid as fast as possible to the flood victims, Hancock and the others are getting about as warm a reception as the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Rep. Richard Durbin, D-Spring-field, 111., is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

On Tuesday, that committee not only ignored the group's request for pay-as-we-go on President Bill Clinton's $2.48 billion aid request but upped the ante to $2.9 billion. He accuses the group, made up chiefly of Republicans, of trying to inject a partisan debate into a painful crisis for ordinary people. "The communities I represent need help today not at the end of some long congressional debate over the deficit," said Durbin. "I wish some of these folks would come out and take a look at some of these communities and meet with these families. They might have a different point of view." Some of the pay-as-you-go group express a different point of view, when disaster strikes their own turf.

In the 1988 Midwestern drought, all but one of the group who were in Congress at the time Reps. Tim Penny, Fred Grandy, R-Iowa; Jim Sensenbrenner, Jan Meyers, Jim Slattery, and Thomas Petri, R-Wis. voted for a $3.9 billion aid package for farmers. The lone member of the group who voted against that aid was Rep. Harris W.

Fawell, R-IU. Even now, some have joined in the arm-twisting to get federal help for their constituents during the flood. In June, when the Mississippi River swamped Minnesota, two of the pay-as-you-go group Reps. David Minge, and Penny were among those asking the Agriculture Department to lend a hand to farmers in their state. Penny is such a fiscal conservative that the Almanac of American Politics puns that he's a "pinchpenny" in the House.

And Penny insists that that issue isn't whether to help disaster victims but a matter of principle on how to pay for it. "We don't dispute the need for aid," Penny said. But Congress and the administration, he argues, ought to be "fiscally honest" that the aid package will increase the federal deficit and do something about it. The pay-as-you-go group hasn't settled on specific cuts to recommend, Penny said, but he ticked off a list of possibilities: Halving the $4 billion Community Development Block Grant program and putting the money into flood aid; cutting all federal programs by "a fraction of a or putting in a special fee in next year's budget. Some members, he said, may try to offer a pay-as-you-go amendment to the flood relief bill when it comes to the House floor on Thursday.

"It's just fiscally honest and responsible, I think, to pay for this aid rather than borrow the money," Penny said. Penny and Hancock are among those who said they had voted against federal aid packages for victims of the California earthquake and Hurricanes Andrew and Hugo, none of which touched their constituents. Hancock, whose southwestern Missouri district is about as far from the flooding as it's possible to get in the state, said he might vote against this package, too. Hancock sharply disagrees with Durbin and others who say that the deficit debate should come after the flood-aid package is passed. Said Hancock, "That's the same old; excuse that the big spenders always use: 'Don't debate while we're spending the Wes PazPost-Dispatch lAmv Kussman.

12. sittina on the roof of her home on the Meramec River in south St 'Louis Countv. where the flood moved her to write a poem about her family's ordeal. Flood Yields Torrent Of Extra Effort I 'It'" ILV 1 N. lu.

'3 Reporters have been privileged to encounter hundreds of heroes, to hear dozens of heart-breaking stories and to watch with the rest of the country as swollen rivers made history. Here are some "word SOUTH COUNTY Amy Kussman, 12, watched a foot of water rise in the first floor of her family's home on the Meramec River in South County. "This is the first flood I've been in," she said. "I hope it's the last." Amy wrote this poem. Oh no, what do I do? My house is flooded, And I feel like a shoe.

The Army Corps of Engineers Says the water is coming near. We have no sandbags. We have no boat. I guess we will Just have to float. The basement's full of yucky green slime And we're getting phone calls all the time.

The big old flood gave us a spill And now we're moving up on a hill. Phil Linsalata ST. LOUIS Visitors to the Arch come away impressed with both the spirit of giving here, and the Mississippi River. Ken Balsters of Bethalto said: "It's another example of how in times of adversity, people forget about some of the man-made barriers and cultural differences between them and go to the aid of their fellow man." Jim Boler, a former St. Louisan who now lives in Florida, said: "Samuel Clemens said it all.

You don't tame this river. You must work with nature. That's a good theology." William Allen ST. LOUIS Paul Tipton, 10, had a thriving Great Flood of '93 souvenir business until he ran into trouble with the government. Paul, who lives in Florissant, started with plastic reproductions of the Arch set in a marble base.

He glued two-ounce bottles of authentic floodwater to the base of each souvenir. On Sunday, Paul set up shop on the Gateway it was too muddy. Paul plans to stay in business, and says he will give one-third of his income to the Red Cross. Fred W. Lindecke BELLEFONTAINE NEIGHBORS Sue Bauer, who lives in Dogtown, spent more than five hours helping stack sandbags last week to try to hold back water from Maline Creek.

"We had a chain going, passing the sandbags along, and some of the women started singing beautiful hymns. We didn't all know the words, but we kind of hummed along. Then we all sang the "Barney" song." Bauer said she also helped a woman pack and leave her home, and Bauer and other volunteers offered to move dozens of potted plants from the woman's yard to higher ground. "There was just so much love in her yard," Bauer said. "We couldn't walk away from those plants." Patricia Corrigan WEST ALTON Melissa Anderson came to St.

Louis for a party over the Independence Day weekend. A junior at the University of Missouri at Rolla, Anderson lives near Fort Leonard Wood. She belongs to a National Guard unit at Lambert Field, but St. Charles County was never her worry. By noon on July 6, she had worked 26 hours straight as the volunteer chief of the county's temporary command center, a van in the median of U.S.

61 at Missouri Highway 94. Anderson directed sandbag volunteers, trucks carrying sandbags, Guard members and residents. "I offered to help. When I said I was in the Guard, they said, 'You go run she said. "Here I am." TimO'Neil LEMAY In 1973, Ilene Carr's home on Nellie Avenue flooded.

She moved several blocks away, to a house on Kayser Avenue that never would be flooded or so said her real estate agent. Two weeks ago, water from Kayser Creek rushed in and Carr, 65, had one hour to move out. She now lives in a shelter. "I've been crying so much, I don't know where the tears are coming from," she said. Patricia Corrigan House Panel Speeds Flood Relief Funds Renyold FergusonPost-Dispatch Paul Tipton, just 10 and already an entrepreneur, holding a souvenir he made to commemorate the flood.

The bottle under the model of the Arch holds floodwater from the Missouri River. Arch grounds, selling the souvenirs for $15 each. Paul gave one to Gov. Mel Carnahan and one to Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. He had sold all but 14 of the first 100 when a Park Service ranger told Paul that selling souvenirs is not allowed on the Arch grounds.

On Monday, Paul's father, Ken Tipton, took him to City Hall to see if he could get a license to sell the souvenirs on city streets near the Arch. Ken Tipton said the answer boiled down to "No." Paul said, "People wanted a piece of the Berlin Wall when they tore it down in 1989. Why not give them a piece of the flood?" A trophy shop made the souvenirs. Then Paul, with help from his father, his two brothers and sister, filled the bottles with Missouri River water. Paul said he checked Mississippi River water, but burses farmers a little more than 50 cents for every dollar of crops destroyed by flooding or not planted because of it, up to 65 or 70 percent of a farmer's total crop.

Under the amendment, the government will boost the 50-cent payment to 95 cents on any portion of a crop ruined beyond 75 percent of the total crop. The extra aid would add more than $200 million to the relief package. The committee also accepted an amendment by Rep. William Natch-er, adding $250 million in flood aid to the original aid package. His proposal included $85 million to the Army Corps of Engineers to repair levees, locks, dams and other flood-control structures; $50 million for the Department of Health and Human Services to control insects and the spread of disease and $43.5 million for the Department of Labor to fund jobs for people who would repair flood damage, clean up affected areas and provide public safety and health services.

The committee rejected an amendment by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, to limit funding for projects in areas with a history of flooding. "I think we need to send some kind of smoke signal out there to the governors and localities," she said. But Rep. Bob Livingston, bristled at the suggestion.

"When you start dealing with Historically prone areas," he-aid, "you're taljtfjig about the entire state, of Louisiana." By Stephen Casmier Of the Post-Dispatch Staff WASHINGTON President Bill Clinton's bulked-up disaster relief package began its sprint through Congress Tuesday as the House Appropriations Committee approved spending $2.98 billion on farmers, families and communities affected by flooding in the Midwest. The committee approved a bill calling for $501 million more in disaster relief than had Clinton's original proposal. Budget director Leon Panetta requested the extra money in a letter to the appropriations committee Monday evening. The bill placed the relief package on a "fast track" through Congress, said Rep. Richard Durbin, D-Ill.

It will make $1.15 billion available to cover farmers' losses. The Federal Emergency Management Agency also will get $815 million to provide direct assistance to individuals, families and cities. "The president and the administration will have all the tools they need to respond to disaster," Durbin said after the meeting. The House is expected to vote on the bill Thursday, then send it to the Senate. At the appropriations hearing, Durbin and two other representatives responded to Panetta's late-night request for more aid with several amendments.

The committee passed one by Durbin for extra payments to farmers who suffered losses exceeding J5 percent of their crops. Normally, the government reim Mellencamp To Stage 3 Benefits; Other Aid Pours In By Jo Mannies Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Singer John Mellencamp is staging three benefit concerts, including one here, to raise money for flood victims. The benefits called Concerts for the Heartland will be held July 2-8 in Chicago, July 29 in Indianapolis, and at 8 p.m. July 31 at Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights. Tickets cost $10 and go on sale Thursday at Riverport, at Tickets Now sites and by calling Dialtix at 291-7600.

Today at. noon, Boy Scout Troop 630 of Manchester will give 1,735 pounds of pet food and $2,827 to the St. Charles Humane Society to help care for stranded pets. Twenty-two mem semi-trailer full of food and supplies was also collected. Reliable Life Insurance Co.

gave $2,500 to the Salvation Army and is contributing $2 for every dollar donated by employees. Venture Stores Inc. gave $25,000 to the Red Cross disaster fund. Thirteen Missouri credit unions, including eight here, jointly donated $8,550 to the Red Cross. The credit unions included: Anheuser-Busch Employees Credit Union, Purina Credit Union, St.

Louis Teachers Credit Union, Wette-rau Employees Credit Union, St. Andrew Credit Union, Gateway Telco Credit Union, West Community Credit Union and St. Louis Postal Credit Union. bers of the troop collected the money and food last weekend outside a Dierbergs store, said one of the leaders, Kevin Cummins. The troop is affiliated with Christ Prince of Peace Catholic Church.

In other donations and collection efforts: Farm Home Savings Association will match employee contributions to the Red Cross disaster relief fund and plans to donate at least $10,000. J.C. Penney Co. gave $60,000 to the Red Cross chapter here as part of the company's donation of $250,000 to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund. Radio station KSD said its relief drive last Friday raised $37,848 for the Salvation Army.

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