Evening star., 1945-04-04
9th ARMY AT WISER RIVER 3Rp PAST GOTTA
Army Engineers
IkiNPotomac
Dams Project
Senator Byrd Told
Of Adverse Report
By Gen. Kingmon

The Board of Engineers for
Rivers and Harbors has turned
down the proposal to build IA
dams in the Potomac River
basin, Senator Byrd, Democrat,
of Virginia was informed today
by Brig. Gen. John j. Kingman,
senior member of the board.
The news came to the Virginia
Senator in response to his request
that another hearing be held at
Winchester, Va, to get the views Of
residents of that area. In reply,
Gen. Kingman wrote:
Dear Senator Byrd:
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 Harbors has decided
to submit an adverse report relative
to the ID dams proposed by the
District engineer.
Sincerely yours.
JOHN J. KINGMAN."
Action Follows Protests at Hearing.
The action followed swiftly hear
| ing on the project here yesterday
which turned into protest meet
| ing as 1900 residents of the Dis
! trict, Maryland and the Virginias
/ packed the 800-seat Interior De-
! partment auditorium to oppose the
plan.
/ The Engineer Board heard land
owners. businessmen, representa-
tives of various organizations and
farmers, backed by eight members
of Congress, demand that the board
reject the S235 900, 900 project The
dams. the board was told, would
food 10000 acres of the most pro-
ductive land in the three-State
area.
! Opponents questioned the economic
feasibility of the project. its flood
control benefits and held that the
Washington. would be threat to
the tafety of the city in the event
of war
! Only a half dozen persons voiced
approval of the project
i Both the Washington Board Of
Trade and the Fine Arts Commis-
sion submitted letters to the board
opposing the project.
Sees Damage to Valley.
In a letter signed by E. Barrett
Prettyman, president of the Board
of Trade, the organization said it
was against the system of dams 'on
the basis that it would largely de-
stroy the Potomac River Valley and
that less expensive plan for flood
control could be devised"
The Fine Arts Commission. in a
letter signed by Gilmore D. Clarke.
chairman. commended the motives
of the Army Engineers in trying to
devise means of controlling the
waters of the Potomac but pointed
out that flood control does not
|, necessarily mean destructive con-
Struction."
DR.. Frank Thone, president of the
Washington Biological Society, said
the dams, if bombed by an enemy.
would "let loose torrent that would
wipe Washington off the map"
This view also was expressed by
DR.. Paul Bartsch of the National
Audubon Society.
Dams Called Oyerrated.
Speaking for the Izaak Walton
League, Dr. William B. Holton said
the engineers had overrated the
earning capacity of the hydroelectric
dams. He said that to get a return
of approximately S14,345 900 an
nually from the sale of power, rate
of 6.26 mills per kilowatt hour would
have to be charged. That. he said,
is about double a reasonable rate
Miss Harlean James. secretary Of
the Committee of 100 on the Federal
City, presented resolutions from that
organization and from the American
Society of Civil Engineers, the Gar
den Clubs of America and the Amer
lean Society of Landscape Archi-
tects, urging that the project be
abandoned, or that the three dams
nearest Washington be eliminated.
i lrL-L:u Co. w.: