be accumulated, which, when computed in terms of nonproductive wages and salaries, could result in a sizeable sum of wasted Federal funds. Such a situation is certainly and completely inconsistent with the objectives of efficiency and economy as expressed by President Eisenhower and the new administration. 5. A project to protect the area is part of a more comprehensive flood control and navigation project for the Anacostia River and tributaries, authorized by Congress in the Flood Control Act approved May 14, 1950, in accordance with the recommendations of the Chief of Engineers as contained in House Document 202, 81st Congress. The plan of improvement provides in general for channel improvement along the river and its northeast and northwest branches, together with the construction of levees, pumping plants, and appurtenant facilities. STATE CONTRIBUTION 6. The General Assembly of the State of Maryland, in 1953, likewise gave special attention to this problem by authorizing the expenditure of $4,250,000 to carry out the State's obligation of the floodcontrol plan as prepared by the Corps of Engineers, United States Army. However, there is a qualification on this money which requires that the Congress must make available a minimum appropriation as evidence that the Federal Government is prepared to meet its obligation. 7. In the absence of Federal funds, the State of Maryland has proposed measures which might alleviate, in part, these serious circumstances. The Maryland State Roads Commission would expend $600,000 to raise the level of certain main and arterial roads. Frankly, I believe that such steps are impractical and inconsistent with the planning of the project. Conceivably, and there is much authoritative opinion to substantiate this point, these roads would require further alteration when construction of the entire project is started. This would certainly constitute a needless waste of Federal and State funds, and would raise the flood level only about 1 foot, and I am happy to report that the Governor of Maryland has agreed to defer this plan until action can be taken on this request for Federal appropriations during the current session of the Congress. I respectfully urge that the proposed initial appropriation of $1 million for the Anacostia River flood-control project be approved. Further procrastination could be ominously fatal for, in my considered opinion, the grave and threatening portents of a military or civil defense catastrophe, in combination with the other hazards and factors which I have recited, must now be positively recognized and properly evaluated. Mr. Chairman, I thank you very much for this opportunity to appear before your committee. Senator CORDON. Thank you. STATEMENT OF HON. J. GLENN BEALL, A UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MARYLAND GENERAL STATEMENT Senator CORDON. Senator Beall. Senator BEALL. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, since the 53d Congress, the floods and flood control at Peace Cross have been before Congress. I think that period covers almost 60 years, and it is quite hard to add anything now to what has been said during those years to justify Federal participation. But I do want to express a few thoughts in connection with this particular project and the necessity for joint participation. If Federal participation in flood control was ever justified, it is justified here, because the waters which flood Maryland properties are the result of conditions within the District of Columbia. The Peace Cross, or the exact location, is so close to the District of Columbia that it is actually flooded by waters damming up in the District of Columbia. For that one reason I think this project is justified. Senator Butler called your attention to the fact that two main highways merge at the Peace Cross, and when the highways are inundated the traffic is held up for hours. I think he may have made a mistake about the number of cars. Sometimes, as many as 100,000 cars a day-not 35,000-but 100,000 cars a day are held up, and Federal workers going back and forth into Maryland from their homes-there are a great many of them and we are very happy to have these good people living out in Marylandand a great many Members of Congress are delayed in getting in here. Sometimes Members have had to miss a session of Congress, because they were held up there. They live out there and have their homes out there. But, I do feel that we can justify this project as a joint project of the Federal Government on the grounds of national interest. I hope that your committee will act as you did last year, favorably. I thank you. Senator CORDON. Thank you, Senator Beall. STATEMENT OF HON. FRANK SMALL, JR., A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MARYLAND GENERAL STATEMENT Senator CORDON. Mr. Small. Mr. SMALL. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I have a very brief statement that will not take long. In the interest of national defense, our national economy, the protection of thousands of our homes, and the free movement of essential emergency, commercial, and passenger vehicles, I wish to emphasize the urgency for funds for the Anacostia River Basin flood-control project contained in the President's budget recommendations now before this subcommittee. The following are pertinent factors to be taken into account in considering the need for construction funds for this project: 1. The Anacostia River Basin flood-control project was authorized by the 81st Congress, Public Law 516 (ch. 188, 2d sess., H. R. 5472), in accordance with the recommendations of the Chief of Engineers in House Document 202, 81st Congress, 1st session. 2. The 82d Congress provided funds for planning the work on this project. The planning has advanced sufficiently, according to the United States Army engineers' report, to make immediate construction practicable as soon as funds are made available. 3. While this project is fundamentally the responsibility of the Federal Government, the General Assembly of Maryland recognized that it would provide local relief. They accordingly authorized the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the Maryland State Roads. Commission, and Prince Georges County Commissioners to issue bonds in the total amount of $4,250,000 toward the cost of this project. It is to be noted that this authorization by the General Assembly is not merely permissive; it is mandatory on these agencies when an appropriation of Federal funds is made for construction on this project. The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has been designated by the State legislature as the organization in Prince Georges County, Md., to contract with the Federal Government in any matters relating to this project. The commission is ready to set up the necessary operating and liaison agencies immediately. Maryland is thus prepared to undertake this project jointly with the Federal Government. We have shown good faith in making this $4,250,000 mandatorily available upon an appropriation of Federal funds for construction on this project. The Federal appropriation should not be delayed any longer. It has now been delayed 20 years. too long. TRAFFIC VOLUME This flood-control area, usually identified with Peace Cross, at the intersection of United States Route 1 and United States Route 50, lies athwart two vitally important highways at the gateway to the National Capital. The recurrent floods seriously impede the flow of interstate commerce, the magnitude of which is virtually immeasurable. This major highway juncture is admittedly one of the heaviest traveled in the United States. And I would like to say here that Senator Beall said probably he thought Senator Butler's figures were low. We obtained these figures from the State Roads Commission. During 1953 the average daily traffic volume on each of the three legs of this intersection was respectively 40,367; 34,638; and 25,404; or a total of 100,409 vehicles converging at Peace Cross during the course of a single day. Tens of thousands of employees of the Federal Government, who work in Washington and live in Prince Georges County, are obliged to traverse twice daily this frequently flooded area, with the result that during floods much Federal time is lost because of traffic bottlenecks on detours. While there are no accurate figures as to the loss in man-hours sustained by the Federal Government because of this delay in travel time, it is estimated that it costs the Government hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. 42592-54- -30 Our national defense is directly affected by these floods. These routes are essential access routes for Fort George G. Meade, Headquarters of the Second Army, and for the United States Naval Academy, as well as for other Federal installations. An enemy attack during a flood period would have disastrous results. Catastrophic conditions would occur if these two vital highways were closed by floods during an aerial enemy attack. CIVIL-DEFENSE ROAD On January 18, 1954, it was announced that the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia had designated Bladensburg Road as a civil-defense road. If you will look at the map on the easel which is a civil-defense map of Washington, D. C., prepared for the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, you will see that Bladensburg Road leads directly to Peace Cross. If you will look at the map, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia designated Bladensburg Road, going right directly to Peace Cross on the edge of Maryland. New York Avenue goes into Bladensburg Road, and Rhode Island Avenue, which is congested now, is to try to pick up some of it, and when it comes to Brentwood you cannot even get past Rhode Island Avenue. So the Commissioners of the District of Columbia have designated those routes for civil defense. Bladensburg Road would be rendered virtually useless as a civildefense road during an emergency if Peace Cross were flooded at that time. Military and civil-defense forces would be confronted with very serious problems in their efforts to move military vehicles and equipment. The inundation of Peace Cross during a major disaster here in the Nation's Capital would greatly contribute to mass hysteria. It is impossible to estimate how many lives could be lost if a large segment of Washington's population were bottled up and unable to use designated escape routes. Property damage to thousands of homes and businesses in the expanding area of these recurrent floods runs into large figures annually. We have a picture there of an ambulance with a patient who was caught in the flood, an ambulance on the way to the hospital, which had to sit there until a tow truck could come out and pull it out with the patient. Those are actual photographs, gentlemen, that were taken. There is another instance of a time it was flooded. There is a bus there that is stalled, and a car. Protective measures are hampered because emergency vehicles cannot pass through the area during high floods, emphasizing the danger to life and property. Recurrent floods in this area have ocurred since colonial days, but at that time the surrounding terrain had not been developed and the grass, trees, and other vegetation held back some of the water. But now the idea is heavily populated, the former protective features of the watershed have been dissipated, and the Anacostia River has continued to silt up, with the result that within a few minutes after every heavy downpour, the area is covered with floodwaters. RECENT FLOODS The area was flooded 14 days in 1950, 25 days in 1951, 29 days in 1952, and 32 days in 1953-all calendar years-indicating that conditions are getting progressively worse. The area has been flooded for as long as 144 consecutive hours. The necessity of relieving this situation promptly has become imperative. I strongly urge that construction funds for the Anacostia River Basin flood-control project be approved, as recommended in the President's budget message. And if I might, Mr. Chairman, I have a letter here from the District Commissioners of the District of Columbia, and from Mr. Keneipp, the Traffic Director of the District of Columbia. If I might, I would like to have those put in the record, sir. Senator CORDON. Without objection, it is so ordered. (The letters referred to follow :) Hon. FRANK SMALL, Jr., GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, United States House of Representatives, Washington, D. C. DEAR MR. SMALL: The Commissioners have noted with much satisfaction that the President has included budget recommendations to Congress, which will provide Federal funds for flood control at Peace Cross. The Commissioners believe that this project should be approved by Congress for the following reasons: 1. The relationship of the Peace Cross area to traffic from and to the District of Columbia; and 2. Its relationship with the civil-defense road network recently approved by the Board of Commissioners. The Director of Vehicles and Traffic has already written you with respect to the importance of this project as it relates to traffic to and from the District of Columbia, and the Commissioners have read and support the statements contained in his letter. We believe this project is of value to the civil-defense program of the area for the following reasons: 1. Maryland Avenue and Bladensburg Road have been designated a civil-defense highway in the District of Columbia civil-defense plan (ch. XVIII, Disaster Operations Plan). 1. Maryland Avenue and Bladensburg Road have been designated a civildefense highway in the District of Columbia civil-defense plan (ch. XVIII, Disaster Operations Plan). 2. The above two streets and New York Avenue NE., which leads into Bladensburg Road, are also designated in the civil-defense road network recently approved by the Board of Commissioners for civil-defense purposes during disaster. 3. The civil-defense road network designated within the District of Columbia is coordinated with that of Maryland. Highways Nos. 1 and 50 in Maryland are designated "civil-defense roads" and so marked. 4. Although Rhode Island Avenue is used as an entry point for military traffic entering the city over U. S. 1, it is nevertheless pointed out that both U. S. 50 and that portion of Bladensburg Road between the District line and Hyattsville may be required for military traffic also. 5. With the inadequate road network leading out of the District of Columbia in the northeast section of the city, the unavailability of Bladensburg Road for any reason whould pose an additional serious problem in the event of disaster. The Commissioners feel that correction of the flood conditions at the Peace Cross to assure the uninterrupted use of Bladensburg Road as an entry to or exit from the city is highly desirable, at all times, and hope that your efforts to have this item approved will be successful. Very sincerely, SAMUEL SPENCER, President, Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia. |