Tagged: ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee is promising to delay the Army Corps of Engineers from restricting access near Cumberland River dams and says he might even restrict their funds. Alexander is the senior Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Energy and Water, which has jurisdiction over the Corps.

Kentucky’s First District Congressman Ed Whitfield says the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers made no promises to change their decision to restrict access near Cumberland River dams, but they were willing to continue discussions. Whitfield and several other lawmakers met with Army Corps of Engineers officials yesterday about the planned restricted access.

Kentucky's 1st District Congressman Ed Whitfield and several western Kentucky judge executives are taking their complaints about changes to Army Corps of Engineers regulations to the top of the chain of command tomorrow. The corps has reinterpreted an existing rule to prohibit recreational activity, including fishing, within several hundred feet on either side of the dams on the Cumberland river.

Kentucky First District Congressman Ed Whitfield says he’s against closing off waters close to Cumberland River dams to boaters and fisherman. Army Corp of Engineers officials say the restrictions would include closing off 400 feet of water upstream and 700 downstream from Barkley Dam.

The Army Corps of Engineers says its efforts to keep a crucial stretch of the Mississippi River open to barge traffic should help avert a shipping shutdown that river industry officials fear is imminent.