Levee summit held Saturday at Wolf Lake Several hundred attend event

Several common themes were shared by those who spoke during a Southern Illinois Levee Summit which was held last Saturday in Union County.

There was praise for a local teacher and her students for pushing the need for the summit.

And there was a focus on a spirit of cooperation which will be needed to address a problem which exists nationwide and is expected to cost  billions of dollars to fix.

Saturday's summit brought concerned residents from throughout the region together to be a part of an overview of regional levee concerns.

Several hundred people were on hand for the summit, which took place in the gymnasium at Shawnee High School at Wolf Lake.

The summit brought together two Southern Illinois Congressmen, as well as representatives of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Local levee district commissioners and county government officials attended the summit, as did many residents from throughout the area.

U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill., and U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., attended the meeting.

Costello and Shimkus represent districts in Southern Illinois which are bordered by the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The districts are home to extensive levee systems which are designed to protect residents of the region.

The role played by a Shawnee High School teacher and her students was praised by many of those who spoke at the summit.

Shawnee High School social sciences teacher Jamie Nash-Mayberry and her students raised concerns about the levee system in recent months.

Fifty students in Nash-Mayberry's history and government classes at the Wolf Lake school recently launched an all-out effort to bring attention to the deteriorating conditions of the Mississippi River levees, which date to the 1940s, in their communities.

The Shawnee High School students played key roles at Saturday's summit. Students introduced guest speakers at the event.

Costello, Shimkus and Army Corps of Engineers district commanders from St. Louis, Louisville, Ky., and Memphis, Tenn., all praised the work done by Nash-Mayberry and her students.

Col. Tom O'Hara, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' St. Louis District, thanked the Shawnee teacher and her students "for pushing this issue."

"This is a huge mission," O'Hara said.

Col. Vernie Reichling, commander of the Corps of Engineers Memphis District, thanked the students "for their civic involvement" and bringing attention to the levee situation.

Doug Bellomo, a civil engineer with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, cautioned that more will need to be done in the aftermath of last Saturday's summit.

"It's going to take a lot of work," he said. "The river's not going to sleep. It's not going to go away."

"This is a shared responsibility," he added.

Costello also said that addressing the critical needs of levees will require "shared responsibilty" involving local, state and federal officials.

"It's going to be a major, major problem," Costello said.

Ultimately, Costello, said, all of those involved in meeting the challenge will need to analyze the problem, determine the cost and move forward.

Shimkus agreed with Costello's assessment, and noted that dealing with the challenge comes at a time when less funding is available.

Union County Board of Commissioners chairman Randy Lambdin of Wolf Lake was among those attending last Saturday's summit.

He joined in praising Nash-Mayberry and her students.

Lambdin said the teacher and her students were able to accomplish something that many people have discussed for decades but had not been able to do.