One year after the intentional breach of the Birds Point levee in southeast Missouri, Sen. Roy Blunt is criticizing the Army Corps of Engineers for the pace of efforts to rebuild the levee.
The Missouri Republican sent a letter Tuesday to the acting commander of the Corps of Engineers, urging fast restoration of the levee to 62.5 feet, its original height. Blunt calls the pace of the rebuilding effort unacceptable.
The corps has temporarily rebuilt the levee to 55 feet and plans to get it back to 62.5 feet by the end of the year. Spokesman Bob Anderson says the corps is also rebuilding many other levees at the same time.
The intentional breach on May 2, 2011, flooded 130,000 acres of farmland and displaced 50 families.
