Flood Study Summit
John Henderer, The Chronicle, 4/24/99
A summit this week may have quelled political infighting that flared late last year and early this year over a $1.1 million Chehalis River Basin flood-control study.
Officials who attended Wednesday's event at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Seattle offices said the meeting, which was closed to the public, seemed to address concerns that had developed previously.
" I THINK THE MEMO WARS are going to be over with ... at least for a while now," said Richard Graham, study project manager and Lewis County Commission chairman.
The memo wars started last fall, when the chairman of a technical committee overseeing the study accused project consultant Pacific International Engineering of producing a "self-serving" report.
The official said PIE's study gave brief treatment of alternative flood-control measures.
The dispute escalated early this year, when four state and four federal agency directors signed a Feb. 2 letter to Graham and Col. James "Mike" Rigsby, commander of the Corps' Seattle District.
The administrators' letter expressed concern about the pace of the study, along with analysis of environmental and hydrological effects.
"In the urgency of the moment, we must not forego the analysis necessary to address the legitimate concerns of constituents (downstream and) outside your jurisdiction," the directors said.
IN RESPONSE, LEWIS COUNTY officials circulated a letter garnering even weightier political signatures U.S. Sens. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., and Patty Murray, DWash., as well as eight other elected officials.
The letter called for Rigsby to organize the summit.
"I think some of those that signed that letter understood better now," Graham said. "The colonel wasn't very happy having his name attached to that letter."
Grays Harbor County Commissioner Bob Beerbower, who sits on the flood-control study executive committee with Graham, said Corps officials assured the group it would address environmental concerns.
"They were assuring the state agencies that they're not going to skip anything, and they're bound by federal law," Beerbower said. "I think that's what the whole thing was about: that no one's going to cut any corners."
After initially lobbying the Federal Highway Administration to pay for flood-control measures on the Chehalis, the executive committee switched its focus to the Corps.
"That's why we told the Corps to be the lead agency," Graham said.
The agency has been preparing a project study plan to outline a schedule for the study. It will build on groundwork placed by a $1.1 million effort thus far by Pacific International Engineering.
"It takes a lot of work to get a project like this through and done right," said Gerry Arbios, Corps spokeswoman. "We're trying to move as fast as we can to ensure that (residents) have some protection."
Meanwhile, the county continues to hope for $1.1 million more from the Legislature in a transportation spending package to continue PIE's work.
John Henderer covers county government and environmental issues for The Chronicle. He can be reached by e-mail at jhenderer@chronline.com, or by calling 807-8239.
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