Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Camas, spoke this week on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to oppose building walls along Interstate 5 through the Twin Cities to protect the interstate from flooding.
As part of the 2011 legislation that allocated the Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority $1.32 million to mitigate flooding in the river basin, legislators required the state’s Office of Financial Management to evaluate project alternatives to water retention, specifically those that could protect the Interstate, airport and medical facilities.
The Washington State Department of Transportation is working to develop some of those project alternatives, including the proposed flood wall.
Local officials have said if the wall is built, the federal and state government will neglect to help residents in the basin.
Herrera Beutler on Wednesday introduced an amendment to the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Related Agencies appropriations bill; the amendment would prevent federal money from being used to build the wall.
“When flooding hits the Chehalis River basin, it’s like having an invader that comes to destroy the homes and businesses here,” she said. “This proposal would be like building a castle wall around I-5 that only protects a road while leaving citizens totally vulnerable to the invading floods. I can’t allow a plan that only protects valuable government property while leaving residents’ lives, properties and livelihoods vulnerable. If the entire federal investment is spent on the I-5 wall, it greatly diminishes the resources left to help protect families and communities.”
Herrera Beutler withdrew the amendment after she was assured that the T-HUD subcommittee would address the walls within the bill’s conference report.
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Bianca Fortis: (360) 807-8245, twitter.com/biancafortis and facebook.com/biancafortis
