From: PAGAN, DAVID (b)

To: (b) (6)

Subject: No Border Wall group says levee-fence combo plan deserves new EIS
Date: Friday, February 08, 2008 9:06:40 AM

No Border Wall group says levee-fence combo plan deserves new EIS
7 February 2008
Steve Taylor

McALLEN, February 7 - The No Border Wall Coalition says

the Department of Homeland Security should begin a new
Environmental Impact Statement for the Rio Grande Valley if
it intends to back the so-called “vertical levee” plan.

“We are concerned that DHS intends to push through the idea
of a wall-levee combination in the Rio Grande Valley before it
has been thoroughly evaluated,” said NBW spokesperson
Stefanie Herweck.

“If DHS is serious about their plan they must prove the
efficacy and safety of the wall-levee combo with the
appropriate engineering and hydrological studies.”

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff will visit

Edinburg on Friday to meet with Hidalgo County officials Stefanie Herweck with
about the levee-fence combo or vertical levee plan. The baby Eliya Zay. (File
project, designed by the International Boundary and Water photo: RGG/Steve Taylor)
Commission, in consultation with Cameron and Hidalgo
county leaders, incorporates an18-foot concrete flood protection structure as an alternative to
border fencing.

Herweck said new engineering and hydrological studies on the levee-fence combo plan
should be made available for public review in a new draft EIS for the Valley.

“Construction should not begin unless we can be assured that this will not put the safety of
Texas residents at risk,” she said.

“DHS should not start tearing the sides off of our levees, and possibly destabilizing them
ahead of hurricane season, until they know how the wall will impact the levees' structural
integrity.”

Herweck said a cautious approach would see DHS abandon the plan to begin fence or levee-
fence construction in the spring, so that Valley residents do not go into hurricane season with
the levees in a compromised state.

NBW members fear that the new border wall-levee combination could have many of the
same terrible environmental impacts as the old plan.

“Endangered ocelots and jaguarundi will not be able to jump an 18 foot wall to reach vital
habitat and potential mates on the other side,” Herweck said.

“Habitat fragmentation is already the biggest threat that these cats face, and the border wall
could drive them to extinction.”

Herweck said Valley residents should question whether the “abrupt change” in DHS’s plans
is the result of a newfound concern for those who live in the border fence’s path, or is simply
a matter of political expediency.

“If this is actually intended to avoid the need to bulldoze homes DHS should immediately
drop the lawsuits that it has brought against landowners and homeowners in recent weeks,”
Herweck said.

Herweck also questioned whether Valley residents want to pay for part of the new border
levee-fence plan.

“Why should Rio Grande Valley taxpayers be forced to pay for a wall that we
overwhelmingly oppose just to save DHS money?” she asked. “Homeland Security will get
huge increase in funding in 2008, while the Rio Grande Valley is one of the poorest areas in
the nation.”

Herweck pointed out that, in Border Patrol’s own words, any border wall that is built will
only slow a crosser down by five minutes or less.

“Therefore, it will not make our nation any safer,” she said. “Instead of building a wall of
any kind, the Department of Homeland Security should focus on measures that might actually
accomplish their mission of protecting the United States.”