Commissioner Disagrees With Corps' Levee Study

As the mighty Mississippi continues to rise in some places, questions are raised about the effectiveness of levee systems.  Levees cover 21 miles of the Arkansas River shoreline.  But, a recent study by the Army Corps of Engineers gave the levees a rating of unacceptable.  News On 6 anchor Terry reports the man in charge of Tulsa County's levees says the corps' study is way off-base.

An 18 foot high levee protects 5,000 property owners along the Arkansas.  The Corps of Engineers says it has some serious problems, but the man who has been keeping watch on the levee for 28 years says the corps has it all wrong.

For 21 miles, the West Tulsa Levee snakes next to the Arkansas River.  Its job is to protect more than a billion dollars in property should the river waters rise over the banks.

"We're basically a faucet for several cities, the county, the state, etc.," said Levee Commissioner Frank Keith.

Frank Keith has been the levee commissioner since 1980.  He was here in 1986 when a drain pipe burst, causing a section of the levee to fail.  Since then, he says, the levee has seen more than $5 million in renovations.

"The levee has not worsened.  The levee has improved," said Levee Commissioner Frank Keith.

Jim Martell is the levee safety manager for the Army Corps of Engineers.

"Our number one priority is safety to the public," said Jim Martell.

His yearly inspection in Tulsa gave the levees an unacceptable rating.  He points to two specific problems.  One is the 63-year-old drain pipe system that filters water out of the levee.  The other major concern is what can found along the levee, rows and rows of trees.

"We don't allow trees.  We can't have trees on a levee system because what it does is it creates a seepage path through the levee which will create a pathway for material or sediment that's in the levee to be washed out during a flood event," said Jim Martell.

Frank Keith admits some of the drain pipes are old and many haven't been serviced since the early 1950's.  But, he disagrees that the levee is at risk, saying the Corps of Engineers has changed the way it inspects levees since the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina.

"It's a fear factor.  It's not a reality. The levee is in good shape," said Levee Commissioner Frank Keith.

The Corps of Engineers does not provide money to help fix the problems, and Keith says it would cost millions to study then ultimately replace the drains.  He says that's money he doesn't have in his budget.

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