Looking Back, Officials Say The U.S. Army Corps Slowed Flood Reduction Efforts

8/22/17 – 5:11 A.M.

It’s been 10 years since the devastating 2007 flooding in Findlay. In the wake of the disaster, local officials wanted to find ways to reduce the impact of future floods. What they found was gridlock courtesy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Some of those involved in the early part of the flood mitigation process talked about the Corps’ many delays in today’s Courier.

Former Findlay Mayor Tony Iriti says it would have been better to address the problem locally. Iriti would also serve as the president of the Northwest Ohio Flood Mitigation Partnership. He said the organization tried to get the Corps to work on several things at the same time, but the agency would only work in a linear fashion.

Local officials wanted to work with the Corps because there was a chance to get federal funding for flood mitigation. Scott Malaney is the chief executive officer of Blanchard Valley Health System. When it came to working with the Corps, he told the Courier, “we didn’t know what we didn’t know.” He added, “Personal opinion, speaking for me, I thought the Army Corps of Engineers was the most intractable, bureaucratic organization I personally have ever run up against.”

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