Evening star., 1945-04-05
Potomac Dam
Plans Dropped
By Army Board
Washington Levee
Proposal Still Has
Chance, However

The ambitious program to con.
struct series of IA flood control ane
power dams in the Potomac Basin al
a cost of $235, 100000 was virtually
dead today and awaited only officia
rejection by the Army Board of En-.
gineers for Rivers and Harbors.
Abandonment of the proposed
project followed swiftly a tumultu.
GUS hearing on Tuesday, when l..
200 angry citizens of the areas that
would have been affected jammec
the Interior Department auditorium
to protest the plan.
Rejection of the proposal was dis
closed yesterday in letter written
to Senator Byrd, Democrat, of Vir-
ginia by Brig. Gen. John j. King
man, senior member of the board
Senator Byrd had requested the
board to hold another hearing in
Winchester. Va, for the benefit OF
residents of that area.
Protest Has Effect.
Gen. Kingman replied that he
was pleased" to tell Senator Byrd
no such hearing would be necessary
since the board already had decided
to submit an adverse report on the
entire project.
The boards action must have been
taken almost Immediately after the
hearing ended late Tuesday after
noon, inasmuch as the letter to Sem
ator Byrd reached the legislator
early yesterday afternoon. An Army
spokesman indicated that the or
ganized protest against the con-
struction of the dams was directly
responsible for rejection of the
project.
The spokesman said "the reason
(for abandoning the plan) should be
obvious to all" Asked whether he
referred to the mass turnout at
Tuesdays public hearing, he said:
What do you think?"
May Build Levees Here.
Rejection of the project does not
eliminate the possibility of construc-
ton of f1ood-control levees in Wash
ington, it was explained. 1t was
pointed out, while the levees COM
prised part of the entire program, the
board could recommend that they
be built, while it tossed out the IA
dam feature. A decision on whether
such levees will be built along the
Potomac will be announced when
the boards final report is completed,
probably in several months.
Also held in abeyance was the
boards decision on the district en-
gineer's recommendations for a
flood-control project for Waynes-
boro, Va, and that the Savage Riv-
er dam in Western Maryland be
completed soon after the war. There
was no opposition to these sugges-
tions at the hearing
Gen. Kingmans letter to Senator
Byrd follows:
with reference to your request
that public hearing be held at
Winchester, Va, to permit the resi-
dents of the Shenandoah Valley to
register their protests against the
construction of the proposed Mill
vile and Brooks Gap dams, I am
pleased to inform you that it will
not be necessary to hold the desired
hearings, as the Board of Engineers
for Rivers and EIarbors has decided
to submit an adverse report relative
to the IA dams proposed by the
district engineer"
Dozens of persons, including Con-
gressmen, businessmen, representa-
tives of organizations and land
owners who would have been
affected by the string of dams, ap-
peared before the board on Tuesday
to protest the proposal They
pointed out that an estimated 176,-
600 acres of fertile farm lands in
Virginia, West Virginia and Mary
land would have been inundated if
the project had been approved.
Doomed Historical Sites.
The board also was told that many
historical sites and areas now noted
for their natural beauty would have
been destroyed by the dams. The
need for providing hydroelectric
power on large scale for indus
trialization of the Potomac Valley
was questioned by many of the wit
neSses.
Senator Revercomb, Republican,
of West Virginia, who appeared at
the hearing to object to the project,
said he felt the boards action was
entirely right and just" He COM
mended the people in the regions
that would have been affected for
the way in which they defended
their property and their homes"
Representative Beall, Republican,
of Maryland, another one of those
who spoke at the hearing, said he
was pleased by the adverse decision.
He praised the engineers. however,
for the splendid study they made
OF the Potomac basin.
Work Not Wasted.
"The work they did is by no
means wasted" he said. I'VE have
the blueprints and the studies they
made for posterity if, so years from
now, changed conditions make the
project advisable"
Mr.. Beall, member of the House
Flood Control Committee, said he
believed flood damages can be al
leviated by erosion control and re-
forestation. A study along these
lines, made by the Agriculture De-
partment, is before the House.
The decision to abandon the
project ended a controversy which
was becoming more and more one
sided as hundreds of citizens lined
up solidly to voice their objections
to the power features of the plan.
Only half dozen persons appeared
at the hearing to place themselves
oY, rooorG nc foyorir,o fho ,,ror,oeo1