File - Bridge Phillips Elam Concurrent Drainage Districts

Bridge, Phillips, Elam Drainage District News
From the desk of Milton Sandy Jr
February 22, 2012
Vol 2012-1
This newsletter is directed to friends and supporters of our efforts to get something done about the repetitive flooding in Corinth and Alcorn
County which on May 2, 2010, caused loss of life, public and private property and threatened public health and safety by the massive release of raw
sewage into flood waters. If you have news, questions or comments, please fire away.
WHO YOU GONNA CALL
when you have
DIRTY, DAMP, DANGEROUS DRAINAGE WORK?
Flood Threat for February
February 16, 2012 This experienced crew of the Tombigbee River Valley Water Management District
aren't afraid of no drainage work and have the tools, equipment, knowledge and experience to get the job
done. L to R- Dale Franks, Tommy Jaggers, Michael Burk, Tommy Lindsey, Lee Graham, and Jim Mullins
along with director Mike Phillips (not pictured). This small group collectively has around 102 years of
combined experience solving drainage problems with TRVWMD in North Mississippi.
We're glad we called the Tombigbee River Valley Water management District after the flood
of May 2, 2010, and after enough paper work to sink a small boat, they quietly arrived on February
Contact: Milton Sandy Jr 662-286-6087 - Fax 287-4187 - E-mail [email protected]
7, 2012 and started working out of public sight at the Kansas City Southern Railroad bridge over
Bridge Creek. They have been working steadily downstream and are near approaching the CR402
bridge. This multi-county agency of the State of Mississippi is the ONLY governmental
agency which has given ANY help to the city of Corinth or Alcorn county to prevent future
flooding, in my opinion. Since the flood of May 2, 2010, Corinthians have been living in the
constant shadow of a repeat of those disastrous events. We had a near miss last year in April of
2011. We should all be glad that the TRVWMD exists and is a small bastion of knowledge,
experience, tools and equipment to help solve major drainage problems which cause
flooding in our area of the State.
As you might deduce from the group picture above, this work is not for the faint of heart.
The men are wearing safety chaps over their legs to help prevent chain saw accidents. Their
boots are waist high waders. Safety hats and goggles or glasses are standard equipment. The
work is wet, dirty and
dangerous. They've seen
rain, cold and a little snow
while they've been here in
Alcorn county.
Starting at the KCS RR
trestle, the routine has been
pretty straight forward. Work
is being done from the south
side with a crew wading or
using a boat to reach the
north side. The crew on the
north side fells and cuts any
leaning trees and any fallen
trees blocking the water flow.
Trees are cut and felled, the
Cutting and felling trees blocking lower banks of Bridge Creek
stumps are not removed. The tree root systems
remaining help stabilize the soil and help prevent
sediment washing downstream.
Using a cable attached to a tree skidder with
a heavy duty winch or a cable attached to a
heavy duty excavator, the cut trees and flood
debris are pulled from the North side to the south
side where it is removed and stacked in neat
windrows at a safe distance from the creek banks
to avoid washing back into the creek.
Attaching choke line cable
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On the south bank, the excavator is equipped
with a bucket and thumb attachment which allows
trees, brush and debris to be picked up and stacked.
The excavator is also equipped with a changeable
tree-shear attachment which allows large trees
within reach to be clipped and felled just like a large
garden clipper.
A bulldozer and skidder/loader round out
the heavy equipment list. The equipment is largely
for handling and moving the debris removed from
Excavator bucket- note hydraulic
thumb behind bucket to grip
Excavator bucket with cable being attached
with choker to tree limbs.
the creek. The operations are calling “clearing
and snagging” which is basically a
maintenance operation designed to be as
environmentally friendly as possible. There is
no digging, dredging or modification to the
canal being done at this time. Any operations
of that nature would require engineering
design and review with a host of regulatory
agencies. We'll have to be content for the
time being with returning Bridge Canal to its
Beautiful stretch of Bridge Creek after clearing and snagging completed.
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hydrological capacity as built and as modified by erosion from flooding for the last almost 100
years.
Looking East down Bridge Creek from south side of Bridge Creek at KCS RR trestle. A
railroad bridge has been at this exact same spot for over a 150 years. These tracks carried
Confederate forces evacuating Corinth during the Civil War. On the night of May 29, 1862,
Confederate General Beauregard began slipping his forces out of Corinth. On May 30, the
remainder of the army left the city and burned any remaining supplies. Halleck's men entered
a deserted Corinth later that day. Although an important city had been forfeited to the Union
army, Beauregard's army remained intact and, with it, Confederate hopes in the West. It's
highly likely this trestle was damaged or destroyed as they left.
A closer look at this same trestle shows a rather Rube Goldberg engineering construction.
Many of the wood members are in rather poor shape- the TRVWMD workers would not
cross under the bridge or allow equipment near any of its supports for safety reasons.
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This is just an initial preliminary report on the work being done by the Tombigbee River
Valley Water Management District on Bridge and Elam Creeks. The list of people I have to thank
for getting us to this spot is longer than the room I have left in this newsletter but I'll be covering
that in the next newsletter. We're still have 3 major projects to complete the paperwork for the
TRVWMD in the City of Corinth on Phillips and Bridge Creeks. There are only 4 property owners
holding up those projects. I'll have to reveal those names soon if we can't make some headway in
moving forward. In the case of future flooding, I want everyone to know what the obstacles have
been in continuing progress in the city of Corinth against flooding.
WATER QUALITY ALONG BRIDGE CREEK
One of the issues raised while I was visiting with TRVWMD crew working under the harsh
conditions I've described above was the overwhelming sewage smell and the proximity to the
sewer treatment plant. The turbidity of Bridge Creek is rather high and the sediment content of the
water is apparently relatively high from runoff upstream. The natural question for anyone having to
work in this dark, muddy water with an overwhelming sewer
smell in the air is whether there is raw sewage in the water.
Naturally, I was curious as well so I brought along a
sterile container and took a Bridge Creek water sample
from the TRVWMD work area and brought it back for water
testing. Using 1mg of the water sample and Coliscan
Easygel, I plated a petri dish, incubated it for 24 hours at 95
degrees and then inspected the dish.
I was pleasantly surprised to find NO FECAL
COLIFORMS. The level of Non-fecal coliforms was 800 per
100 ml of water- a very safe level for human contact . NonBridge Creek West of KCS
fecal coliforms are widely distributed in nature, being found RR Trestle- 2/16/2012 11:30
both as naturally occurring soil organisms, and in the
am, 0 Fecal Coliforms,
intestines of warm-blooded animals and humans. Fecal
8x100=800 per 100 ml Noncoliforms are coliforms found naturally only in the intestines fecal coliforms
of warm-blooded animals and humans. Based on this
information, I would conclude the smell is primarily from the sewer plant and not from the water in
Bridge Creek.
To improve public relations around the sewer plant, I would think the sewer department
could consult with Corinth native Dr. Leila Scott Kelly of the Mississippi State Extension Service
and find some beneficial fragrant landscape plants which might help ameliorate the smell. I was
always intrigued by some of Dr. Kelly's plants that used to be sold at the CO-OP. I remember in
particular a Geranium plant which smelled exactly like mosquito repellant. Others had unusual
beneficial smells. I know that plants would have to match the soil conditions in that area but it
seems it would make an interesting olfactory and horticultural experiment.
Page 5/6
CORINTH STREET DEPARTMENT
The Corinth Street Department
is also doing a good job of cleaning out
some of our problem areas on local
creeks. Work continues on Phillips
Creek nearing Shiloh Road mulching
by Mike Pittman Construction
contractor Larry Bonds.
Just this morning I was going
down Hwy 72 and noticed the Corinth
Street Department had a crew hard at
work clearing debris from the KCS RR
trestle over Elam Creek. Wading in
water and pulling out debris, they were
also doing some damp, dirty drainage
work. It is a real pleasure to observe
some preventative flooding maintenace
work going on in Corinth.
Phillips Creek looking North from E. 3 rd Street Bridge
2/22/2012 Corinth Street Department employees Dale Peters and Mathew
Bradock (yellow safety vests) along with 2 inmate helpers and Gilbert Wooten,
supervisor (not pictured) clearing debris from Elam Creek under KCS RR Trestle
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