Mitch McConnell Roadblock to Reelfoot Lake ! Phillip Pinion Works to Save Reelfoot !

By : JOHN BRANNON
Messenger Staff Reporter, Union City TN

Constructing a new spillway at Reelfoot Lake is the “key to survival” of one of Tennessee’s greatest natural resources, Gov. Phil Bredesen said Monday. He was commenting on Friday’s disclosure that the U.S. Corps of Engineers has approved a permit requested by the state Department of Transportation for the construction program. “This is certainly great news,” Bredesen said. “The lake is a major economic driver for the region. This (construction program) has been a priority since I first took office.” Bredesen said he’s proud to have worked on the project with Congressman John Tanner, state Rep. Phillip Pinion and state Sen. Roy Herron. Friday, Col. Thomas P. Smith, commander of the U.S. Corps of Engineers Memphis District Office, made the decision to grant the permit. Target date Construction could start as early as January 2009, according to TDOT commissioner Gerald Nicely. “We are very pleased that this critical milestone has been achieved,” he said. “I know Governor Bredesen joins me in thanking Congressman John Tanner and state Rep. and chairman of the House Transportation Committee Phillip Pinion. They have worked tirelessly to move this project forward. “TDOT will immediately commence with right-of-way acquisition. We hope to let a construction contract in early 2009.” TDOT received copy of the Corps permit Friday afternoon. “We will be reviewing the permit. We expect to sign it and send it back to the Corps this afternoon (Monday). The Corps will then add its final signature to the permit,” said public information officer Julie Oaks. Pinion expressed relief that the decades-long campaign to build a new spillway has finally been resolved. “I am thrilled that the Corps saw fit to issue the permit. It will allow us to start buying right of way and build a new bridge and spillway,” he said. Several years ago, when Bredesen was running for the Democratic nomination for governor, he visited Reelfoot Lake to see the spillway for himself. He was accompanied by Tanner and Pinion. “We all got down in the spillway. We showed him water seeping out from the spillway. Governor Bredesen’s got a degree in physics. He figured it out right quick that ‘This thing’s going to go,’” Pinion said. “It is ironic that we got the news when we did. Last Wednesday, I was with the governor discussing things and the spillway issue came up. He said, ‘I’ve worked six years trying to help you with that.’ I told him, ‘Governor, I’ve been working on it 20 years, especially the last six.” Pinion, who did not run for re-election, will retire from public service in November after a 20-year stint. “So to hear the permit’s going to be allowed is a thrill to me,” he said. “Here at the end of my term, to see something I’ve worked on so long, come to fruition means a lot. It couldn’t be a better present, as I begin preparations to exit office.” As an aside, Pinion said it’s sad that five farmers and a Kentucky congressman (Rep. Ed Whitfield(R)) and a Kentucky U.S. Senator (U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell(R)) were able to stop a $31 million renovation project planned for Reelfoot Lake several years ago. The ambitious project, which would have depended on federal funding, was withdrawn from a federal appropriations bill in 2001. “McConnell stopped it,” Pinion said. McConnell was ranking member of the Senate Water and Energy Committee. “Now the cost is going to be double,” Pinion continued. “It’s all TDOT money. It’s a sad thing that the project has been put off this long. If we hadn’t done the $3 million emergency repair of the spillway last year, we would have lost the lake. Today it would be a marsh.” Published in The Messenger 8.19.08