© 2024 University of Missouri - KBIA
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sen. Blunt asks corps to halt fish habitat project

Missouri River at Rocheport
File Photo
/
KBIA

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt has added his voice to those urging the Army Corps of Engineers to halt a Missouri River project intended to create a habitat for endangered fish.

The Jameson Island project seeks to create a shallow-water habitat for the pallid sturgeon and includes plans to dump excavated soil into the Missouri River.

Blunt released a letter Wednesday to the corps saying that the soil-dumping undermines conservation efforts by Missouri landowners. He says it also increases nutrient-rich sediment in the Missouri River, which feeds into the Mississippi River. Runoff containing farm fertilizers has been blamed for algae blooms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Gov. Jay Nixon raised similar concerns last month in urging the corps to halt the habitat project.