Letter to the Editor

To the editor:

Marlene Nickels stated in her Aug. 22 letter that the Valley Park levee on the Meramec River is responsible for damaging Eureka and rich people’s homes in Sunset Lakes. She noted that she read “on the internet they built it 8 feet higher than they were given permission for.”

Ms. Nickels is all wet.

I worked in Valley Park — two blocks from the river — for better than 25 years. The levee was meticulously constructed with U.S. Army Corp of Engineers staff on site each day. The site was constantly surveyed as the levee was designed  — and approved — to protect homes, businesses, churches and schools in Valley Park from the projected worst case scenario.

Note that three of the five highest crests on the Meramec occurred after the levee was completed: The Christmas 2015 flood actually exceeded that worst case.

The problem is not Valley Park. The problem is Mother Nature keeps dumping record amounts of water into the Meramec.

Glenn Koenen
Oakville

Editor’s note: Democrat Glenn Koenen ran unsuccessfully for the District 95 Missouri House seat in November 2016 and the U.S. House District 2 seat in November 2012.