Bridge, Phillips, Elam Drainage District News

From the desk of Milton Sandy Jr June 30 , 2013 Vol 2013-2This 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.

K-MART LAWSUIT and the KCS Railroad Bridge Trestle

Back in Vol 2012-9, we examined the issue of “Stuff” in the floodways. While the KCS, originally M&O, then GM&O, briefly ICG, trestle might be considered “Stuff” in the floodway, it is more accurately something blocking the floodway. It has been blocking the floodway for a very long time- almost from the earliest beginnings of the City of Corinth.

I believe this trestle over Elam Creek behind the old Walmart shopping center is in basically the same place it has been since the railroad line was first completed here in Corinth in 1861 when sections built south from Columbus, Kentucky, were joined to another section built northward from Mobile, Alabama. The M&O Railroad was built to connect Mobile, Alabama with Cairo, Illinois. The Mobile and Ohio (now Kansas City Southern- KCS) was the second railroad to be completed through Corinth and where it crossed the Memphis and Charleston (now Norfolk Southern) in downtown Corinth created a military “choke point” which made Corinth the center of attention for the Civil War in what was then the Western United States.

The Mobile and Ohio began construction in 1852 with 30 miles of track between Mobile and Citronelle, Alabama. The railroad was constructed beside Chickasaw Creek. By staying close to the creek, the railroad avoided steep grades associated with the hilly terrain north of Mobile. When the M&O engineers designed the track North through Alcorn County, they crossed Bridge Creek South of the sewer plant on Harper Road and then followed the Elam Creek Watershed all the way into Tennessee. The trestle behind the old Walmart shopping center is pretty clearly shown with the arrow at right crossing Elam Creek on an 1862 map prepared after the Civil War.

The M&O was physically and financially devastated by the Civil War.

Contact: Milton Sandy Jr 662-286-6087 - Fax 287-4322 - E-mail mlsandy@tsixroads.com

Flood Threat for June

A statement from the 1866 annual report pretty much described the damages:

“The War came and the company has suffered largely by it ...the Confederate Government became our debtors, including bonds, etc … fifty Negroes costing $119,691.00 … makes the round sum in Confederate currency of $5,228,562.23, all of which was lost to the company. But our losses did not stop with a failure to get pay for services which we were by military orders, compelled to perform. All our bridges, trestle work, warehouses and station buildings between Union City, Tennessee, and Okolona, Mississippi, a distance of 184 miles, were destroyed. General Sherman's raid to Meridian destroyed north and south of that place all the warehouses, water stations, bridges and trestle work of 48 miles and on 21 miles of that distance, he bent, and as far as possible destroyed, the rails and fastenings...”

The M&O pretty much floundered after the Civil War until control was acquired by the Southern Railroad around 1901. The railroad prospered largely from the lumber industry in South Alabama until it was sold to the GM&N railroad around 1940 and became the GM&O. The Gulf, Mobile, & Ohio (GM&O) had a very attractive freight office in Corinth at the foot of Cruise Street along with a freight dock extending about a block down to the Weaver Pants factory building. The GM&O freight office and docks were torn down here in Corinth and is the location of the Hiking and Biking Trailhead Park today. It was torn down sometime in the 1960's, I think, about the same time as the Rubel Building was demolished- in an era when “Urban Renewal” was the rage. Today many of the “Urban Renewal” areas are urban blights and restored and preserved historic properties are most valued for their uniqueness.

The City of Corinth was chartered by the Mississippi legislature on March 12, 1856. Stephanie's deed research shows the earliest right-of-way agreements for the M&O in old Tishomingo County were recorded around October, 1851, so the railroads (both M&O and M&C) in Corinth clearly predate the town. From my discussions with almost all government officials, they feel like the railroads and their employees feel like this gives them some kind of divine providence.

To illustrate this point and before beginning to examine the KCSRR trestle, I did a little research on another aspect of the railroad at the trestle. The railroad track running beside Elam approaching the trestle forms the boundary between the white area along the Creek which is the FLOODWAY and the shaded area which is the FLOODPLAIN as first delineated on a floodplain map in 1981. The railroad's railbed in this area, in essence, forms a levee.

When our warehouse was constructed in the mid 1960's, nobody had delineated floodways, floodplains, but the common sense approach I was told by my father was to build higher than the main line of nearby railroads. The logic being that the railroads had been there a 100 years and

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1981 FEMA floodplain map

would have elevated their tracks above any recurring flooding. From the flood elevation certificate issued when we obtained flood insurance, I knew that our office was 430.05' mean sea level finish elevation. The FEMA NFIP flood map shows the base flood elevation between 430' upstream and 429' downstream of the building so extrapolation would indicate our office base flood elevation at somewhere around 429.5'. So, my office was built around 6” above the 100 year flood mark- sounds like a fairly safe position.

What I had never known was what the railroad bed elevations, which form a levee, were now or then. Engineer Robert Scott IV recently took some elevation readings for the KCSRR tracks behind my warehouse in an attempt to answer that question for me. The track closest to the main building is the spur which we used for many years to receive lumber and building materials by rail primarily from the West coast. This track has never been modified and would be the same elevation as when the building was built. It's elevation was 429.44' so the building floor was built almost a foot higher than the railroad track. To the best of my memory all the tracks were pretty similar in elevation at the time the building was constructed.

What was surprising to me was how the elevation of the center (Main) line track had miraculously risen - now 431.55' – almost 2 feet higher than our building floor. Whether this was done intentionally, at one time, as a response to flooding or whether it was a gradual process from the natural maintenance activity of the railroad- replacing track or ties, dumping new ballast, raising the track to seat it- I don't know.

What I find interesting is that this activity (raising the track) which clearly would have some effect on floodways, floodplains and flooding is not covered anywhere in any of the voluminous regulations FEMA and MEMA have developed for floodplain management. I can pretty much assure you that the KCS or any of its predecessor railroads did not get any floodplain development permit from the City of Corinth.

Now back to the KCSRR

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Feb 2013 KCSRR track elevations

Original Elams Creek Drainage District engineer's drawing - 1923

trestle, Elam Canal was constructed in 1923, largely by dynamite blasting in the section near downtown Corinth. Once again, the engineer's drawing shows the M&O trestle in approximately the same place as it was in 1862 and is today. On the drawing, the original Elam Creek is shown following a snaky, winding path while the dredged canal was designed to make it more efficient for the flow of water and a straighter, somewhat curved path. There were no drawings, plans or specifications for a new or modified railroad trestle so I assume the original trestle, rebuilt after its destruction during the Civil War, remained in place over the new canal.

The engineer's drawings show the dug canal being somewhat straightened in the area of the trestle, while, in fact, the canal today makes a near 45 degree turn approaching the trestle flowing downstream, a near 90 degree turn after flowing underneath the trestle and then dual 90 degree turns as it resumes it's flow Southward behind the carwash beside Hwy 72. Clearly there were some compromises made when the canal was dug- probably to save money. The only other possible reason for the compromised and contorted path would have been the Highway Department construction of present day Hwy 72 and the overpass over the GM&O and Elam Canal when it was originally constructed around 1935.

In any case, the question is whether the railroad trestle contributed to the flooding on May 2, 2010. As with all matters related to hydrology, I once again have to point out the subject is pretty complicated. Most anything in or blocking the flow of water can potentially contribute to flooding. It is very similar to plumbing- if you use too small a pipe, the pressure increases and the pipe bursts. With a ditch too small or blocked, the pressure increases and flooding occurs.

With a bridge over water, the ideal solution is to have a clear span structure so nothing blocks the flow of water. This is what was done with the KCSRR trestle crossing Bridge Creek

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9/18/2012 KCSR Trestle seen from above- Google Earth Image

just south of the sewer plant.

The area around the KCSRR trestle, which has been there 150+ years, and extending downstream to the Corinth sewer plant was highly engineered starting around 1990 with plans and drawings and the work completed sometime around 1998. The flood of 5/27/1991 gave an added

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2/18/2012 KCSRR clear span trestle over Bridge Creek south of sewer plant

12/7/2011 KCSRR trestle over Elam Creek looking South debris blocking water flow

stimulus to the need for something to be done and Mayor Bishop was very active in seeking grants to work on the problem. The SCS (now NRCS) through the United States Department of Agriculture did several “Emergency Watershed Protection” (EWP) projects during this time period in the City of Corinth. The majority of the work began at the KCSRR trestle on Elam Creek behind the old Walmart shopping center and extended downstream to the Corinth sewer plant at Elam's confluence with Bridge Creek.

Behind the old Walmart shopping center, construction included a major concrete retaining wall directly where the water from Elam would hit during high flow conditions, around 100 feet of reinforced walls consisting of boulders encased in welded wire gabion baskets, and rip-rap over geo-textile fabric, widening and sloping on both sides of Elam Canal all the way downstream to Bridge Creek. Other than some work on the western bank of Elam under the railroad trestle, there did not appear to be any modification to the trestle or its supports. Any restriction in Elam Canal at this point just past the trestle was pretty locked in place for the future with this construction.

When the SCS work was completed, Elam Creek looked wonderful. It is my understanding that the SCS (now NRCS) signed an agreement as part of this project with the City of Corinth, who agreed to maintain in the future, the work which had been completed. I have been told that part of that agreement specified that the rip-rap was to be sprayed bi-annually to control vegetation. I

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1992 SCS EWP plans showing KCSRR trestle behind old Walmart shopping center

have not been able to obtain copies of documentation for that agreement. It is my understanding that the City of Corinth only sprayed once and then it was either forgotten or ignored leading to the totally overgrown and out-of-control vegetation blocking this drainage ditch on May 2, 2010.

The problem with the trestle, in my opinion, is not the amount of open space available for water to flow under the trestle. It is the placement of the supports which are, in fact, diagonal to the direct path of water flowing down Elam Creek. These supports couldn't have been designed any better to catch floating debris coming downstream on Elam Canal and create a water blockage. The engineer's drawings from 1923 pretty much establish that has been the case for close to a hundred years. In addition to uncontrolled development in the floodway and floodplain areas of Corinth which is the subject of the K-mart suit, I believe lack of any control over storage of hazardous materials in floodways is the real danger of this trestle along with other low bridges, sewer, gas and water lines blocking Elam Canal.

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CARWASH area in the floodway just south of Hwy 72 and the KCSRR trestle engineered in the mid 1990's as part of the SCS Elam Creek EWP project

After the flood of 11/17/1972, we lost some loose lumber which floated down Elam Creek. My father and I built a fence along Elam creek, not for security, but to prevent material from floating off and that worked very well over the years. We also took precautions to have loose bundles banded securely and stacked promptly at the end of each day. After losing a floating propane tank which Pittman Brothers had to retrieve a couple of times, we had our propane tank secured with earth anchors. In 30 years, until 2001, we had never had more than a couple of inches of water from flooding and never suffered any significant property loss. I thought we were relatively safe from major flooding damage. Unfortunately, no matter what precautions you take yourself for flooding, you can't account for others actions.

With flooding, I learned this first hand on 10/12/2001 when culverts which were being stored on open ground in the floodway adjacent to Elam Creek floated down to the trestle, blocked the water flow, and caused around 13” of water to rise in my office. Unfortunately, it happened again in 2001, once in 2002, and again in 2004 as the picture above shows. Fortunately, the property owner finally got the message and no longer stores culverts unsecured in the floodway.

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8/1/2004 KCSRR trestle with floating culverts blocking

4/30/2011 KCSRR trestle with debris after flood event

After attending MEMA's Flood Plain Administrator training, newsletter Vol 2011-12 offered some suggestions for storage regulations within Corinth's Special Flood Hazard areas. I believe the flood plain ordinances have been revised twice since that time without any consideration that I know of for these changes. The City of Corinth can also join MEMA's Community Rating System (CRS) and lower the cost of flood insurance for every property owner within the city. Mayor Irwin was quoted by the Daily Corinthian as saying the City of Corinth has spent over $1.2 million dollars clearing our ditches. Along with the clearing done by the TRVWMD, I think this work should earn some benefits in the CRS. I think now that we've made some progress on clearing the ditches, it's time to become more proactive in preventing future flooding damage.

In summary, in my opinion the KCSRR trestle is definitely a continuing problem as a potential source of blockage on Elam Creek which, acting like a dam, certainly will cause increased flooding damage. The flooding on May 2, 2010, carried water over the levee formed by the KCSRR tracks and may have contributed to the significant flooding damage in Coombs Court in South Corinth. The devastation on May 2, 2010 to my own property took so much of my attention that I did not get pictures of the trestle immediately after the water went down. But this is my story about the KCSRR trestle on Elam Canal, and I'm sticking to it.

MAINTAINING OUR DITCHES

The City of Corinth under the direction of Street Commissioner Philip Verdung took a giant step forward this past week in controlling vegetation within our ditches with a chemical spraying program supervised by Philip and applied by ChemPro Services, an Ocean Springs, MS contractor. ChemPro Services specializes in chemical vegetation management for governmental, utility and industrial clients. As we discussed in Vol 2012-3 a year ago, now that we've made some progress on cleaning the ditches, we have to find a way to keep them clean.

Forty years ago, the ditches were cleaned by ripping out all the vegetation, roots and all. Vegetation took around twenty years to fully recover and again block the ditches. During that twenty years, silt created by erosion was carried downstream where it settled, causing flooding problems in the Tuscumbia River bottom. This time environmental restrictions limited the way clearing has been done. Cleaning and clearing, leaving stumps and roots in place, not disturbing the soil are the environmentally preferable approaches today . As a result, we probably have less than 5 years to come up with a continuing maintenance plan to retard the regrowth of vegetation blocking the stormwater flow of water out of Corinth and prevent flooding.

As I have stated before, I am not a big fan of adding more chemicals into our environment. I have tried to research the products which are being used and want to document what is being done so it will not be as easily forgotten as our last 50 years of drainage history has been. I also hope we will have a bench mark for our future progress with our able commissioner Philip Verdung.

ChemPro Services arrived in Corinth on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. Two experienced crews,

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identically equipped were under the direction of Jeff Mooneyham, application director, and Ryan Piatt, an environment specialist. I met with Jeff and Ryan on Friday, June 21, 2013, as they were completing the job and preparing to return to their base in Nashville, TN. Jeff told me he has been doing vegetation management for over fourteen years and shared the details of the work they had done here in Corinth.

The objective for this spraying application was to target broadleaf weeds and woody vegetation. Jeff, I thought, very accurately described this program as an “infant program”. They hope to help it mature into a successful effort to help prevent future flooding in Corinth by keeping vegetation in our drainage ditches under control.

Because of the extent of vegetation and its height, they first sought to kill the broadleaf weeds, vines and shrubs and trees growing and actively resprouting within the ditches. With this vegetation out of the way, a clearer picture of what should be done next will hopefully be apparent. None of the herbicides should have any significant effect on grasses, including any native grasses and bermuda. Johnson grass is undesirable but was not targeted at this time. Probably in August, an application will be made specifically for Johnson grass and a further application will follow up on any vines and woody vegetation which was missed in this application.

The products used included Garlon 3A and Milestone herbicides and Alligare 90, a surfactant. The tank mixture per 100 gallons was:

Garlon 3A 1% 4 qt/100 gal Application rate – 2 qt per acre Milestone .078% 10oz/100 gal Application rate - 5 oz per acre Alligare 90 .25% 1 qt/100 gal Application rate - 1 pt per acre

Garlon 3A was the main herbicide used this past week and is made by Dow AgroSciences. Garlon 3A is widely used on pastures, woodlands, and rights of way. Garlon 3A is a brand name for a broadleaf herbicide made from an amine salt of

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ChemPro Spray Rig- Kubota 4 wheeler equipped with computer controlled spray tanks and motorized hose reels

6/21/2013 - ChemPro employees Ryan Piatt and Jeff Mooneyham finish spraying on Elam behind car wash next to Hwy 72

triclopyr called triethylamine. Triclopyr imitates a plant hormone which causes the plant to start an extreme growth spurt- the growing tips of the plant elongate, then distort, wither and the plant dies. Triclopyr is selective because grasses are quickly able to transform it into compounds that do not have hormonal activity. Garlon 3A is labeled for aquatic use and is registered in California. Unlike the common glyphosate salt products such as Roundup which immediately breaks down in the soil, triclopyr has a more persistent lifetime. EPA studies show the half-life of triclopyr varied from 10 to almost 100 days and some field studies have found it persists for over a year in the soil.

Milestone Specialty herbicide is also made by Dow AgroSciences. The active ingredient in Milestone is aminopyralid, a newly formulated chemical developed specifically for the management of noxious and invasive broadleaf species. It is compared to 2,4-D which is a herbicide with the same mode of action. Milestone translocates throughout the entire plant, including the roots. It is particularly effective against thistle with little or no known injury to desirable grasses.

Milestone is unique compared to 2,4-D because of its very low labeled use rate. Milestone is registered with the EPA as a Reduced Risk Pesticide which is reserved for compounds that demonstrate lower risk to humans and the environment than other available alternatives. Milestone is registered with the state of California but is not labeled for aquatic use. ChemPro only used a spray mix containing Milestone on ditch banks, not directly on vegetation in standing water. A separate tank was maintained with Garlon 3A only for direct water contact.

Alligare 90 is made by Alligare, LLC, in Opelika, Alabama. Alligare 90 is a general purpose nonionic surfactant, used to enhance spreading and coverage of sprays. As we learned from Dr.John Madsen at Mississippi State, the EPA regulates herbicides but over 3,000 adjuvants are marketed in the US without regulation. Dr. Madsen recommended checking a couple of pieces of information. One is whether the product is labeled for aquatic use. Alligare 90 is labeled for aquatic use- with herbicides for surface and submerged vegetation. His second test is whether the product has a California registration number. California has the most strenuous registration process in

the nation which requires full disclosure of all ingredients in the product, both active and inert, and some demonstrated and documented test results of the product's effectiveness. Unfortunately, this product is not registered in California although the company does have a special labeled version of a similar named product which is registered.

Ryan Piatt informed me that, while spraying, they were on the lookout for invasive species which might require specialized treatment in the future. They did not note any special problems but he did notice a lot of Paulownia trees. I was familiar with Paulownia, a species native to China, named in honor of Queen Anna Pavlovna of The Netherlands (1795–1865), daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia. It is also called "princess tree" for the same reason, but I was not aware it was considered an invasive species. I remember in the 1970's, Mr. Jim C. Crone, a fine optician who ran the Corinth Optical Dispensary where Renasant Insurance is now located, was interested in growing Paulownia trees for investment purposes. He believed the timber could be exported to Japan where it was in high demand because of a blight to the trees there. It is known as the fastest growing tree in the world- up to 20' a year by some accounts.

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City of Corinth Spring 2013 Spray program included areas marked E-1,2 on Elam, P-1,2,3 on Phillips, and B-1,2,3,4 on Bridge Creek

The spray area was estimated at approximately 30 feet on each side. The areas which were sprayed and shown on the map above are described below:

Proj # Description Ln Ft (2 sides) Acres Miles

B-1 Sewer Plant to Hwy 72 12,430' 8.56 B-2 Hwy 72 to Redmont RR 7,112' 4.90 B-3 Redmont RR to NS RR 6,112' 4.21B-4 Norfolk Southern RR to Proper St 5,034' 3.47 Total Bridge Creek 21.13 5.81

P-1 Hillandale CC to NS RR 8,634' 5.95P-2 Norfolk Southern to Proper St 4,312' 2.97P-3 Proper St to Shiloh Road 11,240' 7.74 Total Phillips Creek 16.66 4.58

E-1 Sewer Plant to Hwy 72 15,212' 10.48E-2 Hwy 72 to Waldron St 9,752' 6.72 Total Elam Creek 17.19 4.73

In total, the project covered approximately 55 acres, 15 miles of ditch banks, and involved spraying around 2,750 gallons of herbicide solution. Some areas north on Bridge Creek which were mulched earlier this year were deemed to have too little growth to be sprayed but will be included in a fall application.

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6/21/2013 Jeff Mooneyham and Ryan Piatt, ChemPro Services