Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I do very much appreciate your courtesy this morning. I do have to chair a nomination hearing in the Committee on Governmental Affairs. But I did have a couple of issues that I wanted to raise, so thank you so much.

Mr. Woodley, first of all, congratulations on your nomination. I think we're very fortunate to have someone with your background willing to serve in this important capacity. With an annual budget of approximately $5 billion, the civil works projects of the Army Corps of Engineers not only have important implications for the environment, but they're also vital to the well-being and the safety of many of the communities across our nation.

I'd like to direct your attention today to once such community located in my home state of Maine. And I know my staff has had some discussions with you about this. Perhaps more than any other community in the nation, the safety and the well-being of the people of Camp Ellis and Saco, Maine, depend on successful action by the Army Corps of Engineers. Unfortunately, it's also precisely because of the Army Corps that the safety and well-being of the residents in this area are in jeopardy. And let me give you a little bit of background about this.

Over a century ago, the Army Corps built a jetty which extends out into the Saco River adjacent to Camp Ellis beach. And it's long been know by the residents of this area, and was recently confirmed by the Army Corps' own study, this jetty has altered the patterns of currents and sand deposition, and it's the primary cause of what is truly devastating erosion in this area that has been shown to have been caused by this jetty constructed by the Army Corps over 100 years ago.

And I want to give you some idea of the extent of the erosion. We've done a poster, which we've given you a smaller copy of, to demonstrate it. But more than 30 houses have been washed into the sea during the last 100 years. The 1998 shoreline is 400 feet from where the shoreline stood in 1908. The houses that are now in danger were once six rows back from the shore. I've toured this area and I've walked out to the end of the jetty, and it is an incredible sensation to look out at these blue waters and realize that once that was the site of roads, of houses, of city blocks, of even a railroad track.

Now, recently the problem has taken on an even more dire aspect. The beach and the dunes have retreated further and the sea is advancing to such an extent that there is a distinct possibility if there were a large storm, that it would breach the peninsula and Camp Ellis would turn into an island. That's how devastating the situation is.

And I apologize to my colleagues for taking so much time on what is a parochial issue, but --

SEN. WARNER: I acknowledge the chair is fascinated. (Laughter.

SEN. COLLINS: Good! (Laughs.)

SEN. WARNER: And I'm saying to myself, "Where was Margaret Chase Smith? Where was Edmund Muskie? Where was William Cohen? with this issue?"

SEN. COLLINS: That's right. Exactly. (Laughs.) Well, I'm coming to the rescue now, I hope --

SEN. WARNER: That is quite clear.

SEN. COLLINS: -- with the help of our nominees.

SEN. WARNER: That's quite clear.

SEN. COLLINS: But the Corps has recognized the extent of the erosion, the Corps has recognized it's a direct result of this jetty, and the Corps has undertaken steps to mediate the problem as a Section 111 project.

Now, the Senate has provided $350,000 in fiscal 2002 for a study, an additional $1.2 million for fiscal 2003 to start construction. But unfortunately, the Corps has discovered a flaw in its design and it's now gone back to the drawing board, and it's raised questions about whether it can even undertake the project.

So today I have two requests of you. The first is, I want to invite you—and you can bring your whole family, we'll give them lobster—but I want to invite you --

SEN. INHOFE: Can I come?

SEN. COLLINS: You can come, too. The chairman, the ranking Democrat can come. I want to invite you to come tour this area, because until you see it with your own eyes and see the devastation that has occurred and see where houses once stood and now the sea has taken them, it's really difficult to imagine just how serious this erosion is. So I think if you saw it for your own eyes, that it would be helpful.

And second, I'd ask you to work with me and with state and local officials to solve this problem once and for all. The people locally are very discouraged because they thought they had an agreement with the Corps to solve this problem once and for all, and now we seem to be back to square one. So I'm not asking you to commit to a solution today, but I am asking you to commit to helping us find a solution.

And I thank the indulgence of the other committee members. Mr. Woodley, could you respond?